Resentment Flares Over Fees for Internet Access at Hotels E-Mail

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I stayed at the Inn at Penn and they wanted $9.99. I went to a free  
site nearby. BTW they wanted L$9.99 at the $600/night Presidential  
Suite (I asked not stayed).

Dave

http://select.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2005/10/11/ 
business/11road.html&tntemail1=y

Columns On the Road Resentment Flares Over Fees for Internet Access  
at Hotels E-Mail This Printer-Friendly Reprints Save Article By JOE  
SHARKEY Published: October 11, 2005 A COUPLE of weekends ago, I  
stayed at a Hyatt Regency in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., while attending a  
trade show.

...Out in Wisconsin, Tom Hill sympathized with me about being hit for  
Internet service at four-star hotels when you can get it free at  
lower-priced competitors, not to mention a growing number of public  
places and, for that matter - as I noticed on my way home from the  
trade show - the entire Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

...Evidently, it is one, judging from the heavy e-mail response to a  
column on the subject two weeks ago. The backlash against charging  
for Internet access, whether hard-wired or Wi-Fi, has been building  
for years, especially among younger business travelers who have been  
accustomed to free high-speed Internet access since college.

...Spira, the chief executive of the research company Basex, wrote  
last year in a survey titled "Romancing the Road Warrior: The Case  
for Free Internet Access."

...Some readers, like Tom Nobles, have found ways to avoid hotel  
charges and tap into free Wi-Fi.  Recently, after brooding about  
paying Internet access in a four-star Atlanta hotel, Mr. Nobles found  
that he could get a free Wi-Fi signal on a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I sat in the parking lot of the Wingate Inn and did my work on my  
laptop; also in the parking lot of a Panera Bread," he wrote.

...Rich Roberts, a Cendant spokesman, noted that Wingate also offers  
a menu of other services that business travelers look for, like free  
local phone calls and 24-hour business centers that do not charge for  
a printout or a photocopy.

...Typically, you can log on free in midlevel brands like Hilton's  
Garden Inn, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites, and Marriott's  
Courtyard, Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn properties.

..."My son, who is en route home from Europe as we speak, said they  
charged $29 at some place for his Internet connection," said Sally  
Traidman, who admits to having occasionally "walked over to a  
Marriott Courtyard lobby" for free Wi-Fi use when faced with a hotel  
charge.

..."The Hyatt Regency in Amman, Jordan: beautiful hotel, terrific  
service - and free high-speed Internet."

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