Hotel wi-fi rant......

[Remo]

So I checked my hotel in Orlando and they want 13 bucks a day for wi-fi, seriously 13 bucks...I am not spending 13 bucks a day to chat with you guys :r I was just gonna take the Ipad and use it (not 3g) with their wi-fi but now I have to take a laptop with an aircard. Seems like I could stay at a Motel 6 and get free wi-fi, WTH?

[Remo]

P.S I don't have a smart phone, wife does but she'll have it with her.

[Ogre]

Thats how hotels work now. Lower the price of the room and nit-pick everything. Next you will see a Quarter Machine on the Bathroom.

[MurphysLaw]

Swap sim cards, let her carry your phone with her card in it, and you get the smart phone!

[kydsid]

I have found two ways around this that generally work.

1) Become a member of the hotel's reward program. Marriott and the like will give free wifi to rewards members.

2) Politely discuss the issue with the front desk manager. Exagerate if you must the amount of travel you do in various chains and explain their wifi policies. In general low tier hotels, Motel 6, but even Residence Inn offer free wifi, but the likes of a regular Marrito or Hilto do not. Most often the manager will offer to comp your access.


Good luck.

[Remo]

I have found two ways around this that generally work.

1) Become a member of the hotel's reward program. Marriott and the like will give free wifi to rewards members.

2) Politely discuss the issue with the front desk manager. Exagerate if you must the amount of travel you do in various chains and explain their wifi policies. In general low tier hotels, Motel 6, but even Residence Inn offer free wifi, but the likes of a regular Marrito or Hilto do not. Most often the manager will offer to comp your access.


Good luck.

Good info, I'll try it. Still taking the laptop though just in case.

[E.J.]

Just find a cigar bar with wifi....problem solved....

[kelmac07]

$ 13.00 day?? Good googly moogly!!! :td :td

[loki]

people still charge for wifi? hell even starbucks gives it away for free now

[kelmac07]

people still charge for wifi? hell even starbucks gives it away for free now

And McDonalds!!

[Remo]

Just find a cigar bar with wifi....problem solved....

Now ur thinkin E.J

[loki]

And McDonalds!!

forgot about this

[SeanGAR]

Smartphone with Pdanet saves money time after time .. airports are the worst ... few places have free wifi.

[markem]

while not exhaustive, the free wifi locator website may have some useful information for you.

http://www.wififreespot.com/

The list of hotels can be used to leverage the one you are staying at ... possibly

http://www.wififreespot.com/hotels.html

I've never used openwifi, but they may have something useful as well.

http://www.openwifispots.com/

found a google map app as well: http://www.gwifi.net/

[MurphysLaw]

I'm pretty sure I was using the wifi at Corona cigars while waiting for Larry to show up last week. The selection there blew my mind :dr

[SNKBYT]

try Corona's for a smoke & Wifi......bonus is you meet a few from CA there....ask for Alex (not this one), he'll take care of you

[hotreds]

I've found the expensive hotels charge for Wifi- the cheaper ones do not. What's wrong with THAT picture?

[Remo]

I've found the expensive hotels charge for Wifi- the cheaper ones do not. What's wrong with THAT picture?

That's what i'm sayin!!!

[hotreds]

You are correct! It's ridiculous!

[hammondc]

I've found the expensive hotels charge for Wifi- the cheaper ones do not. What's wrong with THAT picture?

YEP! I stay in the Hilton chain very regularly for work. The higher in the chain you go, the less you get. Craziness.

[Remo]

YEP! I stay in the Hilton chain very regularly for work. The higher in the chain you go, the less you get. Craziness.

It is very odd, I assumed that all hotels nowadays have free wi-fi, guess not. Someone's gotta pay for Paris to be a dumbA$$.

[Eleven]

2 of the nicer hotels we stayed in while traveling with my kids hockey team had this same policy. And they just happened to be the 2 most expensive ones we stayed at (we generally get great rates with the entire hockey team staying).

Both times, I let loose the wife on the front desk and we got our wifi free. We even got a fridge comped along with the wifi at one of them.

The customer is always right, but they won't admit that unless you explain it to them.

[Bill86]

$13 a day? That's ridiculous!

[T.G]

$13 a day? That's ridiculous!

For you sir, special deal, twelve-fiddy.

[icehog3]

Stupid Home Depot doesn't have free wifi, I am so done with them.

[emopunker2004]

Thats how hotels work now. Lower the price of the room and nit-pick everything. Next you will see a Quarter Machine on the Bathroom.

Not here. Holiday inn express in davenport.$52 a night pretty nice room 2 queen beds. Free wi-fi

[markem]

Stupid Home Depot doesn't have free wifi, I am so done with them.

If you complain loudly enough, they will give you a gift card. Just sayin.

[cmitch]

It must be a Marriott you're staying at. They suck at customer service. I consider them bottom feeders when it comes to these tactics. I stayed at a Marriott on the river in Savannah. Worst hotel experience ever and I'll never stay there again. Toilet wouldn't even flush. No continental breakfast and WiFi charges. No access to internet, either. It sucked hind tit.

[Texan in Mexico]

Stupid Home Depot doesn't have free wifi, I am so done with them.

I also had a problem with them - bought some Spanish Cedar wood chips for the yard, turns out they were from Portugal! No problem, my neighbor's cousin's barber has a friend in Seville that's going to hook me up...
Posted via Mobile Device

[bonjing]

Try booking in Vegas. A lot of the hotels now automatically charge a resort fee ranging from $15 - $25. Some include: free local calls (uh cell phone), internet access, and gym use (which is usually open from 8am to 6pm or something like that) daily newspaper, blah, blah, blah.

I'm sure you can reason with them to remove the charge, but really why automatically charge me something that I'm not going to use.

[Remo]

It must be a Marriott you're staying at. They suck at customer service. I consider them bottom feeders when it comes to these tactics. I stayed at a Marriott on the river in Savannah. Worst hotel experience ever and I'll never stay there again. Toilet wouldn't even flush. No continental breakfast and WiFi charges. No access to internet, either. It sucked hind tit.

It's the Doubletree and I think they are Hilton. So they both suck!!!

[maninblack]

Stay with Larry and milk his wifi.He might even let you bunk with him. (I've heard he's like that).

[TheTraveler]

Stay with Larry and milk his wifi.

I misread that word while on the phone with a customer. :r :r

[floydpink]

It must be a Marriott you're staying at. They suck at customer service. I consider them bottom feeders when it comes to these tactics. I stayed at a Marriott on the river in Savannah. Worst hotel experience ever and I'll never stay there again. Toilet wouldn't even flush. No continental breakfast and WiFi charges. No access to internet, either. It sucked hind tit.

Too bad you feel that way.
I've worked for Marriott for a long time and see a lot of happy owners with the Vacation Club and our resort is free wifi and they even lend you an adapter for free if your computer runs slow. (we also enjoy a 85-90% occupancy rate year round with very high customer ratings on a 1600 villa golf resort.

Just the same, you still get people who are a pain in the ass and blame us if it's raining the whole week they are here.

If you're ever in town, try the Motel 6, I hear their toilets are on turbo flush.:r and the bottom feeding catfish sandwiches ain't bad either.

Never been to Savannah, but you're painting with a broad brush.

[cmitch]

I misread that word while on the phone with a customer. :r :r
You're not the only one who thought that it said 'wife'.:D

[cmitch]

Too bad you feel that way.
I've worked for Marriott for a long time and see a lot of happy owners with the Vacation Club and our resort is free wifi and they even lend you an adapter for free if your computer runs slow. (we also enjoy a 85-90% occupancy rate year round with very high customer ratings on a 1600 villa golf resort.

Just the same, you still get people who are a pain in the ass and blame us if it's raining the whole week they are here.

If you're ever in town, try the Motel 6, I hear their toilets are on turbo flush.:r and the bottom feeding catfish sandwiches ain't bad either.

Never been to Savannah, but you're painting with a broad brush.
If the shoe fits, then Marriott needs to wear it. They are so detached from the customer they don't know what customer service is. And to deal with them in special events is even a bigger pain in the a$$. Since you work for Marriott, perhaps you should pay attention to what customers are saying about you, investigate the complaints and act to solve them. From reading your post, it would appear you'd rather blame the customer for your troubles than to solve them.
If you're referring to the Marriott Grande Vista in Orlando, here are the overall ratings:

Excellent: 410
Very Good: 208
Average: 58
Poor: 56
Terrible: 34

This means 80% thought their stay was good or better and out of 5 stars, they got 3.5. Not a very highly ranked hotel. This hotel failed to please 90 customers out of 776. Acceptable? BTW, I'd rated my stay in Savannah, GA average. They did fix the toilet . . . eventually. But, there's no value for the money spent and the Hampton in Savannah is a much better hotel.
If I'm ever in town, I'll look up a Hampton, thank you.:tu

[TBone]

Just mention that you know Larry and see if that helps...

[floydpink]

If the shoe fits, then Marriott needs to wear it. They are so detached from the customer they don't know what customer service is. And to deal with them in special events is even a bigger pain in the a$$. Since you work for Marriott, perhaps you should pay attention to what customers are saying about you, investigate the complaints and act to solve them. From reading your post, it would appear you'd rather blame the customer for your troubles than to solve them.
If you're referring to the Marriott Grande Vista in Orlando, here are the overall ratings:

Excellent: 410
Very Good: 208
Average: 58
Poor: 56
Terrible: 34

This means 80% thought their stay was good or better and out of 5 stars, they got 3.5. Not a very highly ranked hotel. This hotel failed to please 90 customers out of 776. Acceptable? BTW, I'd rated my stay in Savannah, GA average. They did fix the toilet . . . eventually. But, there's no value for the money spent and the Hampton in Savannah is a much better hotel.
If I'm ever in town, I'll look up a Hampton, thank you.:tu

We'll keep the light on at the Ritz Carlton for ya and do whatever it takes to regain your loyalty.:D

[icehog3]

I also had a problem with them - bought some Spanish Cedar wood chips for the yard, turns out they were from Portugal! No problem, my neighbor's cousin's barber has a friend in Seville that's going to hook me up...
Posted via Mobile Device

I'm the barber of Seville! :D

[Eleven]

We stay almost exclusively at Marriott hotels when we take our hockey trips, and with the exception of the 2 hotels I mentioned earlier, the Marriotts we stay at almost *all* offer free wifi, free breakfast, microwaves, fridges, funny little mini-stores at the front counter and they have all allowed us to drink in the lobby until dawn.

They may not be 5 star, but Marriott provides a very cost effective way to travel en masse, on the cheap. We dig em and dread when we hear there is no courtyard or marriott to stay when we book for hockey trips.

I'm sure they can't measure up to 5 star ratings, or maybe even 4 star ratings, but when it comes to the little things, and especially the TOPIC AT HAND, Marriotts take the cake in my book.

[taltos]

Stupid Home Depot doesn't have free wifi, I am so done with them.Lowes doesn't have it either so I am stuck.:D

[forgop]

Best part-carry an ethernet cable and plug in for free. ;)

[forgop]

Try booking in Vegas. A lot of the hotels now automatically charge a resort fee ranging from $15 - $25. Some include: free local calls (uh cell phone), internet access, and gym use (which is usually open from 8am to 6pm or something like that) daily newspaper, blah, blah, blah.

I'm sure you can reason with them to remove the charge, but really why automatically charge me something that I'm not going to use.

You'll run into that around Disney a lot as well. I booked a great deal for a nice hotel a couple of years ago on a business trip only to pay a $12 resort fee when I wasn't using anything like the van to the parks, pool parties, etc. It's a scam IMO.

[forgop]

I've decided to try for 2-3 star hotels on priceline from now on. They'll give you a free wifi and continental breakfast, whereas if you get stuck in a 4 star, no free wifi and you have a $12-15/pp choice for breakfast.

[floydpink]

We stay almost exclusively at Marriott hotels when we take our hockey trips, and with the exception of the 2 hotels I mentioned earlier, the Marriotts we stay at almost *all* offer free wifi, free breakfast, microwaves, fridges, funny little mini-stores at the front counter and they have all allowed us to drink in the lobby until dawn.

They may not be 5 star, but Marriott provides a very cost effective way to travel en masse, on the cheap. We dig em and dread when we hear there is no courtyard or marriott to stay when we book for hockey trips.

I'm sure they can't measure up to 5 star ratings, or maybe even 4 star ratings, but when it comes to the little things, and especially the TOPIC AT HAND, Marriotts take the cake in my book.

Mine too, but I'm obviously biased.
You'll never see 100% satisfaction and always have people who you can't make happy, but the loyalty I see every day to the brand is really kinda amazing.

Not sure where the ratings posted earlier came from, but they're about 4 points under where just about any hotel would say, "we're doing really well with the guest satisfaction scores". They're also lower than the ones I recently saw, so I'm not sure where they came from or their validity.

I haven't stayed anywhere else in 10 years and am headed to the Marriott Marquis in Times Square in less than 2 weeks and can't think of anywhere I'd rather stay.

[thebayratt]

Thas like when me and a group of friends stayed at a fancy hotel in NOLA last year and they wanted $25 a day for wi-fi.....
We went across the street to a nice bar/resturant, got a drink and surfed the net there. We asked on the way out if we could continue to use there wi-fi across the street at our hotel loby. they said "sure, no problem!" We went to the hotel lobby and used the bar's and all it cost us was $6 for the two beers!

[emopunker2004]

I've decided to try for 2-3 star hotels on priceline from now on. They'll give you a free wifi and continental breakfast, whereas if you get stuck in a 4 star, no free wifi and you have a $12-15/pp choice for breakfast.

Try Holiday Inn express. We stayed in one the other night just outside orlando. $59 bucks a night after taxes. Free Wifi and Free HOT breakfast: pancakes, bacon, biscuits, cinn buns, coffee, juice, cereal, bagels etc.
:tu

[justonemorestick]

Im with you but I havent even used my laptop since I got my smart phone. it would seem that if you are paying over $100 a night its the least they could provide. I still ask the girl behind the counter if a happy ending is included in the resort fee. Now that would be a resort.

[BnBTobacco]

The same thing happened to me when I checked in a hotel. Mine was $6 per day. $13 is too much! Now, the first thing I do is ask if they have free Wi-Fi service.

[smokepuff]

So I checked my hotel in Orlando and they want 13 bucks a day for wi-fi, seriously 13 bucks...I am not spending 13 bucks a day to chat with you guys :r I was just gonna take the Ipad and use it (not 3g) with their wi-fi but now I have to take a laptop with an aircard. Seems like I could stay at a Motel 6 and get free wi-fi, WTH?

13 bucks :r

Invest in learning to use airsnort (http://sourceforge.net/projects/airsnort) or aircrack-ng (http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php) problem solved.

Although for educational purposes only, I am not responsible for the what one use the software for or any damages you may incur :2

[Don Fernando]

You're in Orlando, go to Corona, free wifi and lots of cigars.