Free WiFi Doesn't Mean Functioning WiFi at International House in New Orleans

September 9, 2010 at 2:39 PM | by juliab | Comments (6)

How�s that for a list of WiFi options? We were beside ourselves with excitement when we arrived in New Orleans yesterday and got these babies from our hotel bed. Even better, the WiFi at our hotel--the International House, owned by hot hotelier Sean Cummings--would be free. (That�s actually why we booked it-- we even called to confirm, such devotees to the Free WiFi cause we are).

But--you could see a but coming, no?--unfortunately, our free WiFi was not to be. Mainly because we have an annoying Mac that occasionally isn�t recognized by hotel WiFi networks. So we logged onto the network fine, it accepted our password, but then we got network error messages instead of pages loading.

When this has happened to us before (at other properties), the hotels called their tech support and approved our IP address, letting us onto the network. Unfortunately, being a boutique hotel, International House has no tech support. The guy on front desk last night was a sweetie, apologized profusely and even took some time Googling our problem, but to no avail. We agreed to wait till the morning.

Wish we hadn�t. The manager was on front desk and her tech support consisted of phoning a colleague who owns a Mac to see if they had any bright ideas. Then she checked that her Mac in the lobby was connected, informed us that there must be something wrong with our laptop, and directed us to a coffee shop "two or three blocks to the left" (in fact, it was six blocks to the right). Where our laptop, mysteriously, is working just fine. Guess it just mended itself, huh? (Along with the computer belonging to the TripAdvisor reviewer who also couldn't connect to the IH network but managed fine elsewhere.)

Did we get an apology? Not a whiff. Some kind of rebate on our room? No chance. It was our fault, apparently, and she wanted nothing to do with it. The most she did was agree to a late check out (1pm instead of 12), but warned us sternly that if we got back after 1, she would be charging us. Oh, and as we left, she said that she could call "tech support"--but we'd have to pay for it. All $95-per-hour of it.

So, as we numb our behind on the hard coffee-shop chairs and freeze said behind off in the AC, we�re kinda regretting splashing out on a fancy schmancy hotel that would be nice to work in when the Motel 6 by the Superdome probably has better functioning WiFi.

Was the room worth it though? We�ll bring you a review tomorrow.

Post coffee shop update: when we got back to the hotel, as we checked out with another guy, we mentioned to the manager that the coffee shop was further than she'd told us. Her response? Nada. She just stared at us and didn't say a word. Which we think is the first time we've been totally ignored by a hotel receptionist.

Comments (6)

Return to » Free WiFi Doesn't Mean Functioning WiFi at International House in New Orleans

We had the same problem at the Intercontinental, where the WiFi is free (in the lobby only, or $10.95 for 24 hours (ergo 12 to 12) in the room, via ethernet). And we had the same list of WiFi - yet nothing seemed to work on our Mac laptop either. Until we went to a coffee shop (probably the same one you went to).

probably was the same place! wifi is free in the ritz carlton lobby as well but not in their restaurant and i really needed coffee...
but hey, the RC people were very charming about telling me it was a no go

I wrote about that exact same matter a couple of months ago fabriceburtin.com/2010/07/03/should-internet-connection-be-free-in-hotels/ and I must say my thinking as evolved with time. The priority is not free WiFi connection, it is reliable connection. The majority of hotels out there that are providing a WiFi connection (foc or not) are still providing average quality or let say unstable. Even if the connection is free, an unstable connection will leave your guests very frustrated and unsatisfied. The opposite is also true. A fast and reliable connection will make your guests happy, no matter whether they have to pay for it or not. You need to compare the internet connection with the telephone 30 years ago, a stable connection was not a given. It was unstable and annoying. So first get your technical infrastructure in the right order and you can worry about your price policy later. It is also important to note that in most cases hotel owners have not paid for the connection infrastructure, a third party did. This third party is getting a percentage of the revenue. So providing WiFi FOC is just impossible contractually in some cases. fabriceburtin.com/2010/07/03/should-internet-connection-be-free-in-hotels/

I wrote about that exact same matter a couple of months ago http://fabriceburtin.com/2010/07/03/should-internet-connection-be-free-in-hotels/ and I must say my thinking as evolved with time. The priority is not free WiFi connection, it is reliable connection. The majority of hotels out there that are providing a WiFi connection (foc or not) are still providing average quality or let say unstable. Even if the connection is free, an unstable connection will leave your guests very frustrated and unsatisfied. The opposite is also true. A fast and reliable connection will make your guests happy, no matter whether they have to pay for it or not. You need to compare the internet connection with the telephone 30 years ago, a stable connection was not a given. It was unstable and annoying. So first get your technical infrastructure in the right order and you can worry about your price policy later. It is also important to note that in most cases hotel owners have not paid for the connection infrastructure, a third party did. This third party is getting a percentage of the revenue. So providing WiFi FOC http://fabriceburtin.com/2010/07/03/should-internet-connection-be-free-in-hotels/

I travel with my mac and have never had connection problems from Days Inn to Fairmont and everywhere in between. I have had a few painfully slow connections, but for me my mac has always lived up to the ads -- "It just works."

i actually had a conversation last night wiht a guy from the hotel who said that a lot of european guests have problems connecting to the network - i always assumed it was because it's a mac (tech people had told me that before) but this makes lots more sense (i bought my laptop in london)
the worst is that it's an airbook so it has no hole for ethernet. bane of my life.

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