Saw this from Terry Heaton at Instapundit….
I just got back from a series of meetings in a conference room at a Hilton hotel here in Dallas, during which the hotel wanted us to pay for wireless internet access on a per-user basis. Here’s the scenario:
There were 11 of us in a small conference room with a table that seated 12. Naturally, we all wanted access to the net, but the charge for that was $175 per person! That’s $1,925 for internet access for the group. We (I) pitched a fit, and they agreed to cut it significantly, but it was still far more than what we were willing to pay.
Access in a room at the hotel is $12, but $175 for the same access in one of the conference rooms. “It’s standard in the industry,” I was told by the frightened girl I confronted in Conference Services (this challenges the meaning of that word). Can anybody say rip-off?
I’m no world traveler,yet, but I was at the Denver Tech Center Marriott covering the Republican Elections Headquarters last week. I turned on the laptop, connected to the free wireless, and proceeded to work.
Now is this the industry standard? I don’t know, but if I owned a hotel, I’d have free wireless.
I think Mr. Heaton might have been fibbed to, but as I said, I’m no world traveler…yet.
Darren Copeland 