I think it’s the same as any other “feature” or “amenity” in a hotel in that it is optional on the part of the business. What I find is that more of the budget-minded hotels (Travelodge, etc.) tend to have free wireless whereas the distinctly higher class (Sheraton, etc.) places tend to charge you an arm and a leg for Internet, simply because they know their clientele typically has that money to burn, especially in the case of business travelers with expense accounts.

When I look for places to stay while traveling, one of my top criteria is always the availability of Internet access either for free or at a reasonable price. You’ll find that when you go to Las Vegas, for instance, that nearly every hotel charges for Wi-Fi, anywhere from $12-$16 a day and oftentimes the connection is sub-par at best. Sad, really.
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I’m fine if I don’t have wireless – I work well enough with a wired Internet connection – but Internet access generally is a must have. When I’m often paying up to a few hundred dollars/night, basic communications infrastructure is a must have. This is especially true if you ever want me to speak well of your establishment, recommend it, or even think of coming back for a second or third time.

I read an article not too long ago about pricing strategies based on the fanciness factor (not exactly in those words). Their example was restaurants, where in the fanciest restaurants, all of those little extras (an amuse, fancy water, bread plates, palate cleansers) are included, whereas in some budget-minded places, every single extra is also an extra cost.

If you think about it, that definitely extends to things like airlines (pricier ticket has everything included; cheapest ticket means you pay for bags, food, earphones) and hotel rooms.

And this is a roundabout way of saying nothing is actually “free.” But depending on what’s important to that establishment’s clients, they may or may not choose to include some amenities in the price.

Whenever I’m traveling for business, I assume I’m going to want things like internet and gym access (both extra costs in Vegas, where they want you to be gambling if you’re awake), and make sure I factor those costs in if they’re not included in the list price.

Oh, though there is one thing that absolutely chaps my hide whenever I encounter it: the hotel listing says “free wireless internet access” and when I arrive, it’s only free in common areas like the lobby, but paid (or unavailable) in the rooms.

A fee is fine, limited access is not. And in either case, tell me upfront!
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Travelodge Canada has required all franchisees to have free wireless Internet access in all rooms since 2009. It is possible that they may not have yet achieved 100% compliance, but I think it demonstrates that in Canada, guests staying at mid-scale/upper economy brands should expect to have free Wi-Fi available to them. Travelodge Canada has entirely different standards (better standards) than other Travelodges around the world, so I’m not sure if the same could be said for international travel. Best Western offers free Wi-Fi at all their properties, too, but I’m not sure if that means that Wi-Fi is available in all rooms or if it is limited to hotspots at some properties. Because I don’t travel a lot, I do check to see if the hotel has free Wi-Fi before we make a reservation, though lack of Wi-Fi doesn’t mean we will completely overlook a property. We consider location, price and amenities.

I stayed at a Best Western in Paris in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, we had to pay to use their guest computer terminal. The amount was substantial enough that after 5 days, we decided it would be more economical to purchase a net-book before we returned the following year.

Of course, just having free Wi-Fi doesn’t mean that the Wi-Fi is actually usable. At our property, it was a frequent source of complaints until we made some upgrades last summer (more IP addresses!). Last year, the two hotels I stayed at (one in Tofino and one in Victoria) had such weak signals that my iPod wasn’t able to connect to their Wi-Fi with any stability. I find this in a lot of places (restaurants, stores), though.

One place that doesn’t have Wi-Fi that I keep insisting should offer it is Woodgrove Mall in Nanaimo. I can’t fathom why they wouldn’t have free public Wi-Fi in their food court area.

Disclaimer: I work at a Travelodge in Canada… but they don’t pay me enough to say nice things about them!

Seems like most high end hotels want to charge you for wifi where budget minded hotels will provide wifi for fee. Same thing goes for breakfast.

I’d prefer hotels provide wifi for free… if not at least have a free LAN connection in your room.

I’m of the belief that we as consumers can speak with our dollars & I typically try to ensure internet (wired or WiFi) is included.
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When we stayed at the Bellagio last month we had “free” wifi. Only until after I looked at our bill, we had that daily hotel tax of $25/day So, it wasn’t really free was it?

I think hotels should offer it for free. I remember when I was up at Whistler working as a photographer, I needed access to wifi and the hotel I was staying at waned $16 or so per day for their internet and when I did buy it for 1 day, it was pretty crappy. High latency and low bandwidth made me frustrated that I just hung out at Starbucks and Blenz to do some uploading of photos for the WSSF.

No matter we’re we stay, I always look to see if they offer wifi of some sort. I’ve had to complain about a wifi at one hotel, and they refunded me a night stay because it was so bad.

I don’t trust hotel LAN connections. Why? Because the ones I have seen usual have had someone nut cram something into the RJ-45 jack and bend the pins.
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