Tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.
Walk into a coffee shop, airport or hotel lobby and invariably someone is on a laptop. It’s all about connectivity 24/7/365. And, if it’s not a laptop, people are glued to a wireless BlackBerry. Or a cellphone.
No wonder hotels are wired to provide their guests high-speed Internet access (HSIA for short) from the comfort of their rooms – normally for a price. Or public spaces with Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, a wireless means of connecting to the Internet.
Last month, Radisson Hotels & Resorts said it would provide its guests in more than 200 hotels in North America with complimentary high-speed Internet access starting Jan. 1.
An expected amenity
“High-speed Internet access is no longer a novelty in hotel guest rooms,” said Bjorn Gullaksen, the chain’s executive vice president, in announcing the move. “It is among the most important amenities our guests have come to expect.” Radisson-related properties in Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Africa already offer free HSIA in guest rooms. The free access expands to Latin America in 2007.
From high-end to budget properties, most hotels and motels offer Internet connectivity.
Here’s a rundown of Internet service that major hotel chains and groups provide to keep their guests cyber-linked.
From Atlanta to Tokyo, 71 of 72 Four Seasons properties have in-room high-speed Internet connections, as well as experts to help if needed. The service is available hourly, daily and weekly, and varies by market, said a Four Seasons spokeswoman.
A high-speed, in-room connection typically costs about $10 a day, but in some cases it’s free. In Chicago, for example, the Four Seasons offers complimentary high-speed Internet service in its guest rooms and free Wi-Fi in its seventh-floor lobby.
The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, a Four Seasons property, also provides free in-room Internet connections and Wi-Fi in its lobby.
Ritz-Carlton, with 57 hotels worldwide (35 in cities, the remainder resorts), provides Internet connections in all guest rooms, with charges ranging from about $30 a day in Istanbul, Turkey, to complimentary in such places as Sarasota, Fla. Generally, though, the cost is $9.95 for 24 hours. By the end of 2006, all Ritz-Carltons should be offering Wi-Fi service, a spokeswoman said.
Hard-wired and Wi-Fi
HSIA is available in guest rooms, public space and conference areas in all Hilton Hotels. The access can be either hard-wired or Wi-Fi, a Hilton spokeswoman said. Costs vary, she added, but the typical charge is $9.95 per 24-hour period.
Homewood Suites by Hilton, Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn, part of the Hilton portfolio, offer high-speed access in guest rooms and public areas for free. Two other Hilton brands – Embassy Suites Hotels and Doubletree – have HSIA at rates that do not exceed $9.95 a day.
All Hyatt Hotels provide either wired or wireless access in guest rooms, and many provide both, a spokesman said, adding that nearly 85 Hyatts have T-Mobile HotSpots installed in their public areas. The Hyatt standard daily access fee is $9.95 for a 24-hour use. Hyatt’s international hotels have different access fees, available in 15-minute, 30-minute, 60- minute and 24-hour increments. InterContinental Hotels Group said high-speed Internet access is available at about 2,700 of it North American hotels, including its brands. Charges at InterContinental and Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts vary by market.
HSIA is free at other InterContinental group properties – Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and Staybridge Suites.
Ask what’s available
Marriott International says in-room high-speed Internet access is essentially 100 percent installed in the U.S. and Canada and nearly complete worldwide, a total of 2,700 properties. “The overwhelming majority of our hotels offer a hard-wired connection, and more than 800 also offer Wi-Fi in guest rooms,” a spokesman said.
In Marriott, JW Marriott and Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, there’s a $9.95 bundled package that includes HSIA, unlimited local phone calls and long-distance calls within the U.S. At Marriott’s other brands – Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites – high-speed Internet connections are free.
At Starwood hotels, which include Westin, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, W Hotels and Le Meridien, high-speed Internet service is a brand standard, although not fully fulfilled. More than 80 percent of all Starwood hotels worldwide have HSIA, closer to 100 percent in the U.S., a spokesman said. Some 90 percent offer Wi-Fi in lobbies.
Wired/wireless costs from $4.95 for 30 minutes to $9.95 to $16 for 24 hours, but all Four Points by Sheraton hotels offer free service.
To be on the safe side, laptop-toting travelers are wise to ask their hotel about the type of access available, how easy it is to access, what steps are needed to get online and what information is needed to use the Internet, according to about.com. Also, don’t forget special phone numbers and passwords required by your Internet access provider.
