Hotels Without Free Internet

[morriss003]

I stay at the cheap and mid-range hotels when I travel. The Microtel in Minneapolis claimed to have free wireless, but it was non-existent. Courtyard by Marriott in Minneapolis had great wireless internet. The downtown Quality Inn in Waterloo, Ia. had fast and free internet if you used a wire. The Quality Inn in San Jose on Montegue had the same kind of service. But the best wireless so far was at the Red Lion in Oakland, Ca. and the Travelodge in Milpitas, Ca.

[CRussel]

I don't care if a hotel has free wireless, as long as it has free Internet. In fact, I prefer to use a wired connection. I always carry a wireless router with me. It gives me better security on the wireless network, and allows my Kindle, phone, and notebook to automatically connect to a wireless network they already know and trust.

Best hotel Internet I've run into has been the Silver Cloud. This is a "business class" small chain in the northwest US (mostly Washington state, but also one in Portland, OR.) The ones in the Redmond/Bellevue area cater to geeks and have plenty of bandwidth even in the evening when there's a fair amount of video streaming going on.

[Penforhire]

This is indeed one of the mysteries of life, why cheap hotels more often have free internet than expensive hotels (who charge too much for it!). Very noticeable trend and it had me scrounging for unsecured wireless access during my last European business trip. Yay for lazy router owners!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

This is indeed one of the mysteries of life, why cheap hotels more often have free internet than expensive hotels (who charge too much for it!). Very noticeable trend and it had me scrounging for unsecured wireless access during my last European business trip. Yay for lazy router owners!

It's not a mystery at all. As has been said, it's because the big chain hotels are primarily targetting business travellers who don't personally pay for their stays.

[DustyDisks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not a mystery at all. As has been said, it's because the big chain hotels are primarily targetting business travellers who don't personally pay for their stays.

+1

Or the well off that do not care or need too count pennies.

[kacir]

When I am choosing hotel [that I am not going to pay for out of my own pocket ;-)], free Internet access isn't what I look for. I am *much* more interested in free (or at least heavily discounted) access to "wellness centre"(*) or at least a sauna and swimming pool.
For entertainment, after I am finished with trying out all the goodies in wellness centre, a TV set with CNN, or, preferably Discovery Channel in English is enough. Of course, I never EVER travel without my trusty e-ink reader stocked with enough books. That is all I really need.

I can get enough Internet at home for very reasonable price . On a business trip - 15 minutes in the lobby with notebook on my knees, or a borrowed Internet account at the office of our business partner is usually enough for me.

But ... I do not travel that much on business nowadays. And when I do travel, we usually only stay one night in one place and we only sleep in a hotel, so most of the time we simply select least expensive 3 star, or even 2 star hotel. When you check in in the evening and have to check out early in the morning it doesn't make much sense to get into posh hotel.

(*) wellness centre here in Europe usually means: several saunas, cooling pool, tepidarium, pool with massaging jets, jacuzzi pool, salt cave ... hours and hours of fun ;-)

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by morriss003

.......... lack of free internet in hotels.................

These establishments are, quite simply, cheapskates.

Don't use them if you want free internet.