Starwood Preferred Guest - On our own for internet at Starwood

I followed up a 4P stay that lacked any form of high speed internet access with a note to Starwood asking about brand standards for all Starwood properties. This is the reply:

Thank you for your recent e-mail. We welcome this opportunity to assist you.

Please be advised, Starwood does not have a set standard for internet access. It is up to each hotel what internet access they provide.

We appreciate your patronage of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Best regards,

xxxx xxxxx
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

This makes reliable Marriott and Hilton brands much more attractive to me.

Starwood doesnt but Four pts does. Who is the reps name who provided this info? Perhaps they need to be apprised of the Four pt Internet policy?

welookgood...you must have missed several posts about this.

There seems to be some inconsistency and internal mis-communication within Starwood about the complimentary hi-speed at Four Points.

Despite Starwoods initial Press Release and our own Starwood Lurker's assurance that complimentary hi-speed was indeed a Four Points brand requirement, later Starwood (or Four Points) seemed to back-peddle off of that by stating that it was only complimentary and even available at all, at "participating" Four Points and not all of them.

For more details and a list of participating Four Points, see:

http://www.starwood.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=FP_HSIA&IM=FP_HP_SECB_FPHSIA

From all of that I would say that not only is complimentary hi-speed not available at all Four Points, but even if they have it, they don't have to give it to you for free. It appears that it's now up to the hotel whether they want to participate and to what degree. :(

You will note that some hotels that have hi-speed are not on the participating hotel list. The Four Points LAX is an example of one that apparently opted out.

I was out of the US and Flyertalk for the month of March so I assume thats when this new policy occurred. Sort of messed up because you either have a policy for all hotels or none.. Participating hotels is too vague.

Yes, you are on your own when dealing with each individual property. I recently did a trip to the FourPoints Fullerton. They are on the list for free internet service. Their web site shows a fee for internet access. The reservation confirmation also states there's a charge for internet access. When you check in they have a form you must sign agreeing to the charge before they will give you their "Special network cable" and your login information.

Knowing the front desk people don't make the rules, I signed the form writting "Under Protest" at the top. No charge showed up on the bill for internet access and no one made any comment to me during my stay. So I guess it's still a "caveat emptor" world out there.

It would be a good intern project for SPG to review property web sites. Most I find to be out of date and heaven forbid getting the correct hits when using their search engine.

Apparently even those that are on the participating list do not have HSIA in all rooms anyhow, (see T&C). I stayed at the MKE North 4pts a few times, and they only have some rooms with HSIA. Even if you specifically "requested" one in your reservation does not mean you'll get it, if none is available when you check in. :( Definitely not cool.

4 points in Austin (Motel 8 would be more appropriate for this place) has only 4 rooms that are wired with high-speed. They do not charge though.

4pts at DTW has wireless access for free. When connecting I noticed many Access Points on several floors, so my guess would be they have it everywhere.

I had assumed that all 4pts were participating. This was definitely swinging my decision to stay at a 4pts. If this is not the case well.....

All in all that's pretty sad, given that every Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden, and even AmericInn that I've stayed in this year has has real, true, free high speed internet access.

I booked a 4pt in BOS for tomorrow night, presuming that the free HSIA policy was in effect, having missed the recent discussions. Had I known about the various "exceptions" I most likely would have booked one of the other brands.

(As I write from the Green Bay Hampton Inn, where the HSIA is so fast that even SPG.COM seems almost usable.)

By my calculation, only 60 of 109 US and Canadian 4pts actually offer HSIA. I'm not sure how many are free, however, nor how many are truly HS.

You will note that some hotels that have hi-speed are not on the participating hotel list. The Four Points LAX is an example of one that apparently opted out.

Four Points LAX has HSIA in some rooms, but not all. And in those rooms that have it, only the lowest of the three different high speeds offered is free. (IIRC, that speed is stated as 128 kbps, which I've found adequate for my purposes.)

IIRC, that speed is stated as 128 kbps, which I've found adequate for my purposes.

Unfortunately for those of us that regularly download huge files on average of 600mb, a puny 128kbps is hardly going to cut it. Even at say 1,200kbps (which I consider true hi-speed) it can take over an hour to download one of these files.

Funny thing about the Four Points LAX was that until very recently, the wired in-room 128kbps "hi-speed" was complimentary, but if you were on one of the floors or went down to the lobby where they had wireless coverage, you did get very high 1,200kbps for free too.

Unfortunately, they seemed to have discovered this and now the wireless is also restricted to a measly 128kbps if you want it comp.

Also on the free 128kbps there, I regularly only clock actual speeds of 44 to 77kbps. Not much better than some dial-ups. :(

Yes, you are on your own when dealing with each individual property. I recently did a trip to the FourPoints Fullerton. They are on the list for free internet service. Their web site shows a fee for internet access. The reservation confirmation also states there's a charge for internet access. When you check in they have a form you must sign agreeing to the charge before they will give you their "Special network cable" and your login information.

Knowing the front desk people don't make the rules, I signed the form writting "Under Protest" at the top. No charge showed up on the bill for internet access and no one made any comment to me during my stay. So I guess it's still a "caveat emptor" world out there.

When I stayed here in Feb they charged me the $9.95 fee. I called SW customer service and it was credited back to my credit card. When I stayed here again in April I argued the fee up front and was told they'd give it to me for free since they were changing their policy in May to allow free High Speed. Their (4 pts Fullerton) web site says it's free, which was the basis of my complaint in the first place.

Sometimes they are their own worst enemy.

Although they are not on the list of "partcipating properties" the Four Points Woburn, MA does offer free high speed wireless, with good coverage and more speed than a lot of properties.

Good on them.

LightingGuy writes: When I stayed here in Feb they charged me the $9.95 fee. I called SW customer service and it was credited back to my credit card. When I stayed here again in April I argued the fee up front and was told they'd give it to me for free since they were changing their policy in May to allow free High Speed. Their (4 pts Fullerton) web site says it's free, which was the basis of my complaint in the first place.

I just checked-out yesterday from a 2 night stay at the Four Points Fullerton. Perhaps your complaint did some good as when I checked-in I inquired about hi-speed internet and was told it's free, and that I'd find the special cable along with instructions already in the desk drawer in my room. The clerk then gave me a user ID and Passcode to enter on the welcome screen. :)

The cable and instructions were in the drawer waiting for me, and with the provided codes I was able to get on in seconds. Blazing 1,340 kbps speed with no dropouts, stalls or disconnects, I might add. One of the best hi-speed connections I've ever experienced at any hotel. :)

I was very curious why they even had IDs and Passcodes if it was free, so the next time I was in the lobby, I asked. The answer: Unknown to me, they actually have wireless Wi-Fi here too, in public and meeting room areas and even in most guestrooms! But it's $9.95 a day, which is why they require codes linked to your room...for billing accountability if you use it.

The Wi-Fi there is set up to also use a WEP encryption key, which you can get from the front desk. I decided to try and test it as far as the Billing Acceptance/Welcome Screen. From my room my Wi-Fi card found the signal at once (very strong) and after entering the WEP key I got a Welcome Screen that looked just like the wired one, but this one indeed stated it was $9.95 if you logged on via this Wi-Fi.

The front desk clerk says that any room facing the Courtyard gets great signal strength (as mine was and did)...other rooms facing outwards from the property get weaker or (a few) no signal strength. So be sure to ask for a Courtyard view if you want to use and pay for the Wi-Fi.

So at the Fullerton...Free wired hi-speed -- or -- $9.95/day Wi-Fi hi-speed.

FYI, I plan on doing a more detailed updated overall property report of this hotel in a more appropriate existing thread, shortly.