Originally Posted by cltwbb
Does anybody else think it's irritating that a full service luxury hotel (like a Four Seasons) would charge for thing like internet access? To me, that is a standard that most hotels that cater to business travellers should provide. I think it's ridiculous to get charged for that at a super high-end hotel. Thoughts?
Do you mean in-room or at a business centre?
Oddly, for business centre access (which is all I use) I like there to be a fee. If not - and I have plenty of experience of this - you find that the PC's are always being used by people who have decided that surfing the web is a good way of spending a few hours of their holiday. A nominal charge means people moderate their usage sharply.
That said, some of the fees are astounding. At the IC Warsaw recently, it was literally 10 times more expensive than the internet cafe five minutes walk away. The IC Amstel was charging the equivalent of £10 per hour, I seem to remember. Oddly, the Four Seasons Hampshire business centre PC's are free.
I was charged recently for a tray of tea, delivered to my room in the morning. When I checked in I was offered a tray of tea or coffee in the morning by the recepionist, in the same breath as offering me a newspaper, so I assumed it was free. Nope. And this was a hotel charging £250 ($400) per night.