02-28-2003, 07:30 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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More WiFi Access In Hotels
http://rss.com.com/2100-1039-986273.html
"Marriott International and Intel on Thursday announced a campaign to promote high-speed wireless access to the Internet at about 400 hotels in the United States, Canada and several countries in Europe. Marriott, based in Washington, D.C., said the co-marketing agreement with Intel will include advertising and direct mail that inform travelers of its wireless network service built on 802.11b technology."
Marriot International is the owner of Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn and other hotels in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
On the face of it, this sound like great news, but when you read the fine print, I can't see using it that much. "Travelers with laptops that have wireless capability will pay $2.95 in the United States for the first 15 minutes, and 25 cents for each additional minute." I'm not saying they should give it away, but something reasonable like a $5/day all-you-can-eat plan is far more attractive. Paying by the minute or in 15 minute blocks is insane. Get online, suck down all of your messages, get offline, respond, get online, shoot out the replies, get off line. $6. All the while you are unable to have IM running in the background. No thanks. I'll use my GPRS connection and pay the speed penalty. Your thoughts?
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02-28-2003, 07:50 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 95
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It's just like any other new technology: Charge as much as you can for as long as you can to bleed enough green (or whatever color YOUR currency is :wink: ) out of the consumer. Like everything else, this too will come down in price. Gouge the early adopters, compete for the mainstream.
Sign me up for $5/day buffet.
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02-28-2003, 07:57 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 145
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$5 all day sounds good to me! I would definitely buy that, assuming you could get WiFi throughout the entire hotel, of course. Actually, if it was aroudn the entire hotel (out by pool, in lobby, in room, restuarant, ect.) I would pay $10 a day, $5 if it was in lobby and room. Depends on the coverage IMO... :P
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02-28-2003, 07:59 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 20
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Current going rate is $10/day for high speed broadband access in-room.
(At least in most parts of US I"ve been traveling).
I would like to see WiFi included in this fee, making it more likely I'll sign up. Lately I've been signing up late evening, and using it early evening th following day (making it come out to $5/day).
-->Tom
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02-28-2003, 08:05 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 433
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$5 all you can eat plan is attractive, if by block for 15 minutes is insanely expensive 8O
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02-28-2003, 08:05 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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If these guys were smart, they would jack up the price of the room $10 per night and advertise WiFi/wired broadband as free. Then everyone pays for it whether theyuse it or not, and they would have a massivly loyal group of consumers. Namely, me!
Everyone hates to be nickeled and dimed. This is why Disney did away with their pay per ride at Disney World. Cut out the crap, jack up the prices at the gate and everyone is happy.
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02-28-2003, 08:12 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 58
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I would love $5 a day wifi access in a hotel. But I think to be more realistic, at least in the early stages, $10 a day is the best we can expect.
Currently wifi service is considered a premium and when you have a premium service expect it to be at a premium price.
A friend of mine who attended the Black Hat conference in Seattle this week was IMing me from the airport while waiting for his flight home. I think he mentioned paying 7 dollars for a few hours use, possibly even the day (not that many spend a WHOLE day in an airport barring bad weather or some other "event"). Personally if I was sitting in an airport I would gladly fork over the 7 bucks to surf, email and chat while waiting for a flight. And I would most probably do so for 5 or 10 bucks a day in a hotel. But $2.95 for 15 minutes and 25 cents each additional?!?!
I think that is a bit much, reminds of me of the old dial up days when you got a few hours from AOL and then paid an arm and a leg for each additional hour. Man, way back then when I lived at home and didn’t have a job my Mom was not fond my internet use! :wink:
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02-28-2003, 08:13 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,185
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
If these guys were smart, they would jack up the price of the room $10 per night and advertise WiFi/wired broadband as free. Then everyone pays for it whether theyuse it or not, and they would have a massivly loyal group of consumers. Namely, me!
Everyone hates to be nickeled and dimed. This is why Disney did away with their pay per ride at Disney World. Cut out the crap, jack up the prices at the gate and everyone is happy.
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There aren't enough of them to call it a completely national chain, but many of the W Hotels do exactly this. Of course, perks are the theme at the W.
The other thing to remember (As I harken back to the days of working for someone else...) is that business travelers are the most likely users of this and the least likely to be so price sensitive. Being on my own now, I say $5!  It's no worse than a plane leaving with an empty seat. It's a commodity that can't be recovered, so you better do what you can to get each room activated. On a trip to Canada not long ago, I avoided using the hotel phones for calls back to the U.S using their broadband connection.
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02-28-2003, 08:15 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 717
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Fairmont Hotels which owns such wonders as Banff Springs, and the Plaza in New York has wireless in all of its hotels in the public areas. All of the hotels also sport in room high speed internet access. An average price is about $10/day and I hear that soon you will be able to go from your room to wireless at no additional cost, they even provide free wireless cards in some hotels. Wireless printing will also being offered very soon. I think $10 is good and not too much considering what it cost to put this in, especially the wired solution to the rooms. I know Fairmont and Delta, which is owned by Farimont, uses Cisco BBSM which is not the cheapest of the lot but it is very reliable.
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02-28-2003, 08:18 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by bdegroodt
There aren't enough of them to call it a completely national chain, but many of the W Hotels do exactly this. Of course, perks are the theme at the W.
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THe "W" in Seattle is $10/day, which I think is a bit high. I only spend a few hrs in the room, early in the morning and late at night. It works out to $3/hr or so. Too much IMHO. But given their nightly rates, if they crammed it in there, I'd never see it and would feel better about it. As it was, I was there 6 days and only used broadband 3 days for $30. That is a month of my ISP at home! The other days I used my cell phone for quick email via bluetooth.
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