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How much have you paid for hotel internet access?
If our Hotel Madness tournament taught us anything, it's that people really hate paying for internet access when traveling. No free Wi-Fi handily won our tournament by proving itself as the most hated hotel nuisance. While it bothers so many of us, we've all taken the plunge and paid a hefty fee for in-room internet. Whether it's because we have work to do, pictures to upload or loved ones to Skype with, we've paid exorbitant fees to get online. Just how much have you paid? After seeing just how (un)popular paying for Wi-Fi was in Hotel Madness, we're more curious than ever. Well, that's what we want to know. Vote in our poll and let us know the most that you've ever paid for hotel internet access.We're talking about the most you've paid for one session of internet access, be it five hours, 12 hours or one full day. After you've voted, please share more details about your experience in the comments. Let us know exactly how much you paid and which hotel was gouging its prices while cheating its customers. Lastly, tell us about the quality of the connection. Was it excruciatingly slow and/or intermittent.
This is your chance to vent. Let it all out!
This is your chance to vent. Let it all out!
| Under $10 | |
|---|---|
| Between $10 and $20 | |
| More than $20 | |
| I refuse to pay anything for hotel internet access. |
Filed under: Hotels and Accommodations
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scott Carmichael Apr 6th 2011 3:34PM
Once paid EUR39 for a day of Internet access at a Parisian hotel. Of course, the service didn't even work, so I ended up disputing it with my credit card company.
Sam W Apr 6th 2011 4:38PM
Most I have paid was $30/night in downtown NYC near the Citigroup Center. Room was $350/night too... ugh
Mike Barish Apr 6th 2011 4:39PM
$30?! Wow! That's impressive. Thanks for sharing.
Andrew Apr 6th 2011 4:45PM
I once paid $24.95 per 24/hours at a Marriott in Zurich. After paying for it the first day I found a Starbucks down the street that had free Wi-Fi. I refuse to pay for internet when staying at a hotel. Such a scam! What pisses me off is that the 4- and 5-star hotels are the biggest offenders too. Enough already. Spoke to a rep for a hotel chain and they said the reason their hotels continue to charge for internet is simple...people keep paying for it.
Chanize Apr 6th 2011 4:47PM
A hotel in South Africa not only had different charges depending on how many hours you wanted, but also depending on the "speed" you desired. The rates were in ZAR and absolutely bananas to figure out. I think for 3-nights at "low" speed, I paid around US$40
Daryl Apr 6th 2011 5:40PM
I once begrudgingly paid $15 a day, per device. I had a work-related laptop and a personal mobile device that I wanted internet access to. Staying at the hotel for a week, my internet bill was about $180! That's how much I pay yearly for access at home!
TR Apr 7th 2011 12:32AM
Paying 25 Euros right now in the Hotel Arts, Barcelona.
arex Apr 6th 2011 8:53PM
There have been lots of times I've paid for internet at a casino/hotel in Las Vegas (listen up, Harrah's chain) when the bandwidth I got was less than that of a 1200bps modem from the early 1990s. That's just $15 for nothing.
Michael Apr 6th 2011 11:26PM
I paid somewhere around $20 for 24 hours at a couple of different Ibis hotels in the UK a few years ago. I hated doing it, but the only free or cheap(er) Wi-Fi connections nearby the hotels were so slow as to be almost unusable. At least the Ibis Wi-Fi was fast (not that there's any way it could feel worth the price). So, every 2 or 3 days I'd cuss and then pay the $20 for Wi-Fi at the hotel. And the other days I'd get by the best I could, or just do without.
TheInfamousJ Apr 6th 2011 11:45PM
I have yet to pay for wifi at a hotel. I once stayed with a woman who paid for wifi (in Philadelphia at a hotel called Lowes), but despite calling IT, we still couldn't get online. The username/password database refused the username and password we were entering, and IT claimed that we had the correct information. I just took my laptop down to the lobby and used the free wifi, there.
I have, however, paid for wifi at the airport while waiting to pick my mother up from a return from Israel. Despite having AT&T home internet - which promised to be free - I still couldn't get my username/password to work with the wifi connection, even after calling AT&T, so I just sucked it up and paid $3 for an hour.
Satish Kumar Apr 13th 2011 7:48AM
I went to Singapore in Feb and was shocked to find very high charges for not just Wireless but also Wired internet access. The hotel where I stayed charged SGD 33 for a day's wireless internet access. Since it was close to airport, I walked into airport a couple of times to enjoy free wireless internet access (which was really good).
Greg Jun 10th 2011 4:51AM
Why shouldn't guests pay for internet access, our company pays extremely high prices for our multiple high speed load balancing connections to allow our guests access to a stable high speed wifi connection. We're in the accommodation industry we sell accommodation, why can't we pass on some of the costs of additional services to our guests. Lets look at some other industries and see what they charge for.... Does a phone call from a lawyers office really cost $75.00 for 15 minutes. Why does it cost me $80.00 for a tradesman just to turn up on my door before they do any work... Why because that's business we're all apart of it, we all like to take home a paycheck at the end of the week, what is your business giving away for free or what mark ups do you have on products..... For those that think you shouldn't pay for it then fine don't buy it it's your choice, but stop complaining about not getting it for FREE.