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In Solidarity with Expedia for Free Wi-Fi For All

February 11, 2009 at 3:31 PM | by | Comments (2)

What a travel blogger's nightmare looks like.

Expedia totally has our back: Like us, they’ve started railing against hotels to offer free Wi-Fi. After a study that examined its top destinations for UK travelers, the booking site concluded that budget hotels are more likely to offer free Wi-Fi than expensive ones.

The good news for those of us on this side of the pond is that U.S. rates were found to be cheaper here (but mark our words, we won’t rest until it’s FREE everywhere!). The lowest rates Expedia found were in Florida, where average rates are reportedly just over $1 an hour. In New York, rates average around $3 an hour. Of course, those are just averages, meaning plenty of places still rate gouge with the best of ’em.

But that’s nothing compared to Venice, the city with the most expensive rates (at least among the destinations Expedia examined), averaging roughly $9.50 an hour. More offensive rates: around $8 an hour in Madrid and $7.50 in Paris.

The take-away tip? Look for hotels with lower star ratings, which are more likely to offer free Wi-Fi. (Five-star hotels are the worst, charging up to $27 an hour for the basic right of Internet access.)

In the words of Alison Couper, communications director for Expedia: "In the 21st century, getting online while you travel should be simple and cost effective — instead it seems it is confusing and overpriced.”

Amen, sister.

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Hotel Wi-Fi

I've definitely noticed that the very high end is beginning to include Wi-Fi in their rates, and they're making it quite obvious to travel agents who book them -- as the words 'free wi-fi' are appearing right after the words 'nonsmoking king.'

As far as Venice goes, do you really expect the Italians to jump on this bandwagon? Or should they? This one-world global thing might just be going too far. The Italians still required the extra revenue to pay for the linen foot pads by your bed. I'd rather have those linen foot pads + pay for Internet.

That said, just did a quick look and in Venice, the Luxury Collection hotels (Gritti Palace and Danieli)charge Euro 15/day and the De Russie is 20.  But in Paris Fouquets Barriere - where I recently stayed is free.

Josh
www.joshfriedmantravel.com

JoshFriedmanTravel on February 12, 2009 at 9:59 AM #Permalink

Not just wi-fi....

I think we should move further forward, and include worldwide calls for free... I own/manage The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona and we offer free wi-fi, parking, and local/long distance/international calls to all of our guests.   We don't even have VOIP - it's just that calls to Europe are now 1.9 cents/min and Australia & SE Asia are 3.4 cents/min - it just doesn't make sense to charge for phone calls any more!  We have been doing this for 3 years now, with the only problem being that we'd have to block a few "scam" countries in the Caribbean and South Pacific that charge up to $5.95/min, which I think is a throwback to the days of computer viruses that would dial your fax modem to rack up expensive bills.

Ben Bethel
Owner/General Manager
The Clarendon Hotel
Phoenix, Arizona

bbphx on February 12, 2009 at 11:25 AM #Permalink

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