Tuesday, October 16, 2007

When I was at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas last week, I paid $10.95 for high-speed, broadband Internet access, a hard-wired ethernet connection in the room. I needed it to record my podcast—my co-host, Neville Hobson is in the U.K., and Skype is our method of recording.

The Net connection was so bad, so slow, that we could not hear each other over Skype, and we finally gave up. Then I tried to get my email. The connection was so slow that I couldn’t get one message. I disconnected from the hotel line and popped in my Sprint wireless broadband card and got my email with no problem.

When I checked out later, I told the clerk at the front desk how awful the connection was. “I’ve heard that,” he said. “Sorry.” He did not offer to refund the $10.95.

The Hilton Anatole is a nice hotel. I won’t be staying there again.

And can somebody explain why the pricier hotels charge for Internet access while the cheaper ones (like Fairfield Inns) do not? Especially when they’re managed by the same groups (Hilton, Marriott, etc.)?

Posted by Shel in • Hotels
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