International Hotel WiFi Hell: El Coloso in Madrid
We're working out of Madrid today, staying at the Hotel El Coloso. We're a bit hard-pressed to say anything good or bad about the room, the service or the location, mostly because we're so floored by the WiFi Fee: 17 euros, or $26, for 24-hours worth of access.
That's only if you want to surf the Internet and instant message people ("OMFG srsly? $26 for IM??!!?" is how we imagine those real-time chats will go.) But if you want to branch out and go wild with e-mail attachments, downloading files and opening a VPN? Well, that will cost you 22 euro ($34) for a mere 24 hours worth of surf time. Plus, this is a ticking clock, people--not one that deducts how much time you use in one sitting and then saves the rest for later.
To be fair, there is free WiFi in the lobby, which the seemingly embarrassed front desk clerk suggested we use when we inquired about Internet access. Perhaps we're just high maintenance, but when we have a day's worth of work to do, we want to be in the confines of our hotel room. And so we ponied up the Amex to the Internet provider, Swisscom.
We know upscale hotels have a penchant for ripping off guests when it comes to WiFi, but this hotel certainly isn't any Four Seasons. If you have a more horrendous story of WiFi extortion, share it with us in the comments. Don't be shy.
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