HotelChatter

terrible

shame on the W. that is a ripoff. in a city like new york too! and its the W the Court. it's not even a cool one! bleacccch. way to ruin a friday.

W in NY

Those NY Ws are so 1990s!!! Why aren't you staying at the Standard or any Thompson hotel?

crazy hotels

Ya I cant believe how much some hotels charge for internet. If you do your work over internet only, you get completely screwed. Your internet bill can sometimes beat your hotel bill lol

Oh, shut up!

You people are insanely whiny on the topic of hotel internet. If it is such a hot-button issue for you, do what Joe Brancatelli of Portfolio.com says: Go where the Internet is free. If you're spending $17 for hotel internet and you don't like it, who's dumber: The hotel for charging it or YOU for paying for it? Answer: YOU. The hotel has your $17. So, get smart or shut up.

Ridiculous

I stayed at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston a few days ago.  The had a crappy free wifi connection  in the lobby, that kept going in and out.  If you want internet in your room it will cost you.  If I am not mistaken it was $10.95 for 24hrs.  
If you think that is a ripoff, their water bottle in the room will cost you $6.25 + tax.  
Come on guys paying for the internet now a days is like paying extra, for towels, watching TV and sleeping in the bed.  Some of the large hotels have a mandatory resort fee, for use of the internet, fitness room and the swimming pool.  This is why I have taken the plunge and am now going to stay at mid scale hotels, where everything is included.

@Jemro

It's not my hotel! I live in NYC. We were visiting a guest there.

So you lied, too...

So besides being whiny, you didn't pay $17 for the post. Shameful and stupid. You should be ashamed.

The $17 Lie

I have never felt the need to comment on a hotel chatter story before, but this one calls for it: After being called out for whining about the $17 fee for internet, the writer admits it was someone else's room and thus she probably didn't pay the $17 fee. That IS shameful, as Mad Hatter says. And it makes me wonder what else Hotel Chatter has made up over the years. The writer should apologize and the story should be withdrawn. And you've lost me as a reader. I don't like being lied to and lectured at the same time.

Oops! To clear all of this up.

Sorry to be unclear earlier.

Nobody lied about anything -- HC is always honest! If you must know, my mother was visiting me for the weekend -- she did not bring her computer -- and I came to her hotel to meet her on Friday afternoon, but had some work to finish up; obviously online.

I paid $17 to connect to the Internet in her hotel room. I did not pay for the room. See that pink computer photographed on the bed? That's my pink MacBook, connected to the Internet, $17.

Sorry for the confusion!

W Wifi

Relax, nobody lied.  Also, at one point and time W did have free wifi in the lobbies Jenna -- do they still have it free in the lobbies, oops "living rooms" and pay in the rooms?

How dumb ARE you?

Let me understand this: You live in New York, go to your mom's hotel and voluntarily pay $17 for Internet access. Instead of going to a nearby free WiFi point or back home?

Sounds like you're just dumb. The hotel was charging $17 for Internet and YOU paid it. Sounds like the hotel is up $17 on you and all you have left is a stupid post about the high cost of Internet you voluntarily (and needlessly) chose to pay for.

As Bugs Bunny used to say, what a maroon...

$17 extreme

Irrelevant issue - why Jenna visited her mother and use the internet... I appreciate the reporting.  Jenna - Im still reading.  Who wants whiny complaining readers anyway??  

Relevant Issue:  $17 for 24 hours of internet usage is definitely on the high end.  Perhaps more guests should be ask the questions before they buy the room.

As far as free vs a charge, there are many high end hotels that cater primarily to business clientele.  In these hotels, most midweek guests are submitting their expenses for reimbursement and no one questions internet charges.  There are many fewer weekend transient guests using the internet. Its rarely an issue to hotels and generate few complaints.

One other factor: Keep in mind that hotel rates have been slashed in the last 6 months due to the economy. Maybe you have to pay $10 or so for internet but you are saving hundreds of dollars on your room rate.  Find the silver lining.  Use your blackberry or iphone to surf the net, buy your water and coffee at the deli accross the street instead of from the minibar or room service, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Just my opinion

Good point!

"Maybe you have to pay $10 or so for internet but you are saving hundreds of dollars on your room rate." -- true, we see this for sure at Thompsons, who used to offer free WiFi but now charges $10.95 a day for it. On one hand, lame that you have to buy WiFi; on the other hand, you're getting that Thompson room in NYC for possibly less than $200 these days.

Free the internet!

I think the hidden-fees creeping up in certain hotel chains are shameful - especially internet charges. Kudos to hotelchatter for putting a spotlight on this.

wow

are we really freaking out this much about this post?

don't we all agree that we'd rather not get bent over the barrel for $17 a day to check our e-mail and stalk...er, follow people on facebook?

late to the game

Sorry I am late to the game. Here is why a hotel charges for internet, because you want the experience that a full service hotel provides, period. Same reason you pay $12 for a burger. remmeber the hamburger doesnt cost them $12 to produce, but you're not complaining about that, hmmmmm. long story short, you don't feel like you're getting value because you can only use it when you are in the hotel.

There are alternatives, you can try getting an data card from one of the carriers, or there are companies that provide data card rentals.

Dont stay in a hotel that you have to pay for internet