HotelChatter

Before placing calls to the U.S. from the hotel, I called the hotel operator and told them I was using a 1-800 card and what would be the charge? They replied back 1.75 pounds per call connection with no mention of a charge per minute (in actuality it was 2 pounds per connection since they had recently done some kind of in-house upgrade). Later that night I check my in-room TV and the bill was not available. The recording made no mention of the charge per minute. When I checked out, I recieved a shocking bill of over 500 pounds for less than 100 minutes of calls. The on-site manager even argued that it had been a problem in the past (yet nothing had been done to correct these problems). I did not have all day to fight the charges since I was catching a flight out, so I was able to get 40% of the bill taken off still reflecting 3 pounds per minute. Many hotels only pay 1-2 pence per minute that would give them 150x profit at 2 pence per minute for the "operating overhead." I gave them notice that I was not satisfied and they would be taking it up later. After multiple letters, the hotel refuses to change their stance. All I can say is "buyer beware."

Based on my calculation (27 pounds for a five minute call to New York), the Athenaeum would be the top of the list of shame on charges from London hotel for outgoing calls. The article can be found at:
travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/essentials/article1839906.ece