I’ve done a lot of traveling over the past two years, and one thing that’s really started to bother me is the outrageous rates hotels charge for internet access. At my current hotel it’s $7.99 for 30 minutes, or $15.99 for 24 hours.
Does it really cost them this much? No, of course not. Sure, to power connections for so many rooms they’ve got some sunk networking cost and a monthly connection that can handle it all, but $15.99 for 24 hours?
I’m guessing they charge outrageous rates because they can. Business travelers are willing to pay it to get work done because their companies will pay for it. Thankfully my employer pays for it, because I’d really have to have some important recreational web browsing to do to pay $15.99 to connect. So really, it’s almost just extracting money from companies opposed to people.
I can’t think of a single hotel I’ve stayed at that actually has free connections. Maybe that’s an opportunity for a hotel chain to get a step up on the competition. But then again, if it’s being expensed by everyone, does anyone care? It seems like we should. We don’t pay $15.99 for soap right?
We recently ran a conference in the Morisson Hotel in Dublin, Ireland. They have a number of free wireless connections. Really good service, I’d highly recommend it if you’re in Dublin
The funny thing is that hotel chains like Red Roof Inn or Motel 6 will have FREE internet access. Yet when you stay at a so called “luxury” hotel, they charge you $20.00 for internet access. What a racket.
Hotels should never charge for Internet access whether it’s wireless access, broadband or even for T1 service . It’s bad enough that they charge an arm and a leg for regular phone calls!