Hi Chrstina,

Thank you for your thoughts on this subject!

As I stated above to Sam, if the charge was nominal, I could swallow it, without an issue. I think hotels, in their scramble to capture every last dime of revenue they possibly can, in these tough economic times, are not “seeing the forest through the trees!!”

Your idea of leveraging sponsorship opportunities is an interesting and compelling concept. I like it! Hey Hoteliers, what do you think? Let’s hear your feedback, please!

All the best,

@michaelmccurry

Hey Sam, thanks for participating in this discussion…

The original intent of my article was to focus in on the individual hotel guest and the issue of whether they should pay for Internet access in a hotel for their guestroom. It has sinced morphed into some sub-themes, one of which is the events side.

As I reflect on what is really troubling me here, I think it has more to do with the excessive nature of Internet access fees in hotels, than the concept of charging for it. If the charge were reasonable (under $5 US per day) I could swallow it without much issue.

On the events side, there are going to probably always be tech issues… and sometimes no matter how well you plan things go awry. I get that… I just wish hotels would realize they are not building customer loyalty by gouging their hotel guests with hefty Internet Access fees. This situation is very similar to the ridiculous “overcharging” for phone calls that we all endured in the 80′s and 90′s.

Thanks again for your comments!

@michaelmccurry

As an alternative, do you think that it would be possible for the hotel to sell internet access as a sponsorship? So hotel guests would have to log in through a screen that thanks the supporter of the cost of internet access with a link or short advertisement?

Personally, I think that the cost should be free. Here in Europe, two issues contribute to the fees:

(1) The internet and wireless providers cut deals with the hotels to install the infrastructure for free if they got to manage the service and revenue. The venue gets a cut of the revenues with little investment and no risk. These contracts were long term contracts, so hotels have their hands tied until the contracts expire.

(2) Not all venues are capable of handling the demands that some events want to place on their networks. The demands could be volume, number of connections or Reliability/dependability. Even in that case, some of the tech providers can’t get it right…you probably heard about the LeWeb 2008 debacle: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/13/swisscomm-tries-to-deflect-criticism-of-le-web-internet-failure/

Dave, while there may be a significant frontline investment in building the infrastructure for a wifi network in a hotel, the truth is the cost of delivering Internet service is exponentially less than it used to be, and continues to shrink.

Internet access in a hotel is as commonplace as cable television or even electricity and to place a premium price on delivering this service to hotel guests already scraping their pennies to afford travel is short sighted and not customer-centric.

As you know The room rate incorporates all of the costs of delivering the guestroom product plus profit. The use of Internet service by travelers, whether business or leisure, is commonplace now, and not unique or unusual. I would love to see some data as to the cost of delivering internet service, on a per room basis at a typical business hotel. My guess is it will be a fraction of what hotels are charging their customers.

Regarding Gaylord, I truly hope they rethink the resort fee concept as it is a sore spot with most event professionals.

Thanks for contributing Dave, as always your comments are valuable!

@michaelmccurry

Your comments are right on Midori!

I think many people share the same opinion that you do regarding the “mandatory” resort fee at Gaylord.

I don’t always have a choice of hotels when I travel as normally I stay at the hotel where my client’s event is taking place but when I do have a choice, I will pick a hotel that has free Internet access over one that doesn’t

It will be interesting to see, especially in light of a tough economy if the business model of charging for this service prevails.

Thanks again for contributing to this discussion!

@michaelmccurry

There is a HUGE difference in infrastructure investment and ongoing bandwidth costs between installing and managing a wifi network at a Hampton Inn vs. a Hilton & Towers. It’s really unreasonable to think that a hotel shouldn’t try to recover some of this expense and it’s unfair to fold it in the room rate for those that don’t use it.

I think a happy medium would be to have limited wifi service available for FREE in certain public areas of the hotel – i.e. coffee shop, lobby, business center and to charge a premium for those requiring more bandwidth or convenience from their guest room.

For me, I’m going to stick to my wireless mobile card and argue with the Gaylord hotel about paying the $15 resort fee.

Dave Lutz – @VelChain

If I’m paying less to stay at a hotel with free Internet and probably free breakfast every day but with comparable amenities to a more posh hotel (pool, fitness room, gift shop) – why would I choose the more expensive option? To have the option of paying $20/day for parking? For what they might consider nicer decor?

It doesn’t equate. And in this climate when the business proposition doesn’t make sense, it’s just not going to endure.
Midori Connolly
http://www.twitter.com/GreenA_V