aww3583

What are your expectations for a hotel offering premium TV channels like HBO and Showtime?

I'm at a Hampton Inn in a major college town in the southeast and there are 33 channels (only half of which are HD), and no HBO. The hotel puts an HBO Guide in each room and has been doing this ever since I started visiting here three months ago.

jerry a. laska

I think I expect some premium channels in the upper level Hilton brands, not so much the lowest level brand, Hampton. Although it seems that most Hamptons do provide HBO.

As for the HBO guide in the room that's strange, did you ask the desk? Is it a temporary problem?

jebr

I expect HBO at almost any hotel I go to (very low-end chains like Motel 6 and such maybe not, but even at Super 8s I've usually had HBO.) Replacing it with another premium channel will sometimes frustrate me, especially if it's a Sunday night and I'm hoping to be able to watch Last Week Tonight. (I stayed at a Hyatt a couple weeks ago and they only had Starz. Since I was staying on a Sunday night, it definitely left me with a bad taste in my mouth.)

There wouldn't be any Hilton brand that I wouldn't expect some sort of premium channel, and I would hope that it would be HBO. However, unless they advertised it as an amenity at the hotel (premium channel or specified HBO) I wouldn't expect compensation for it or complain to the front desk.

3Cforme

My expectation is that the hotel will offer them if the channels are part of the brand standard, and not offer them if they aren't. You might have a chat with the GM and ask - and choose brands accordingly.

timfountain

I'm wondering how many people actually watch TV anymore? I know I don't watch anything live (all recorded or streamed and I don't follow and sports). I seriously can't recall the last time I turned on a TV in a hotel room. The signal to noise ratio is way too low.... I am amazed that anyone pays a cable company or satellite broadcaster to receive endless, mindless advertising. It boggles the mind.

aww3583

Front desk said "oh we've always done it that way" at check-out. This isn't a make-or-break situation, but a minor annoyance.

loomis

I can't speak of the other Hilton brands, but Hampton Inns must offer one premium channel, which can be either HBO or Showtime.

If one certain TV channel is so important, I think that it is best that we call that hotel in advance, then ask them if they have it.

N965VJ

I've been noticing DirecTV in more small market HIs, with a full lineup of all the HBO channels. Even at some properties that have been around a few decades.

IsleOfMan

My main expectation with hotel TV is I won't be able to find anything to watch and I end up breaking out my HDMI cable to hook my laptop up for Netflix, Hulu, or whatever MKV I've downloaded for the trip. I can only handle so much local news...

oranjemakker

My tv fix in hotels is CNN (international)!

I am pretty sure every HH hotel I have stayed in (almost exclusively Hilton and Conrad and mostly outside US) have had CNN.

KENNECTED

Does Hilton list a TV Brand standard per chain? In addition, if a property is owned by a company with several hotels (in a area) perhaps they have a volume discount?

I think that TV is going the way of the telephone. Rarely do people use the in room phone. Most people customize their TV programming around their own schedule at home, so one could assume they do it while traveling, unless they are "disconnecting" while on holiday.

What did the hotel management say? I doubt someone at the front desk is authorized to speak on behalf of the property?