korea71

I realize that many people value the abillity to get online while travelling. On the other hand, I also value travelling as light as possible. How many Hilton's offer PCs in the room with internet access and where are they? Wouldn't it be nice to leave that laptop behind. I'll start.

Grand Hilton Seoul on Executive Floor
for 6 Nights

Free Internet PC
LCD Monitor
Printer/Fax/Copier
Ream of paper
Jack for another PC


Anywhere Else?

elbidercni

Never heard of this one before.

Sounds like a good idea at first, however, I can't say that I would like to use a "public" computer for either business or personal use. Plus, I am sure it would never have exactly the right software that I need...

fredmartens

Many of the Hilton properties have a sort of "Web TV" setup with a wireless keyboard (placed on top of the TV) that hooks up through your TV in the room. Probably best to check with each individual property you are thinking of staying at to see if they offer that. From what I've seen, it's $9.95 a day from checkin until checkout.

I haven't used this service (as I carry a laptop aka ball and chain everywhere I travel) but I understand it's somewhat clunky and uninspiring to use; however, it beats nothing if you really need to get online.

If access is really important without carrying a laptop, you might also want to try to focus on staying at Hilton Garden Inns, many of those have "business centers" (often right behind the front desk) with a free use PC in them that has hi speed access along with a printer (beware squatters that can lurk in these rooms and spend hours on FT!). I've used this on occasion to print boarding passes when SOME airlines used to give bonuses for checking in online (are ya hearin' me, AS?. Again, I'd check with each individual property to verify this before booking.

pseudoprime

The Hilton London Metropole had these in executive rooms. The front desk claimed they were 10p/minute, but I think they were confused as no charges ended up on my bill.

MoreMiles!

The Hilton in Istanbul has a computer with reasonable web connectivity in the lounge. As does the Hyatt Regency a couple of blocks away.

andrzej

That is the MOST useless application of modern technology that I've ever seen. Little piece of advice - Pass Go/ Do Not Stop!!! Couple times I've tried it, it ended up with a call to the front desk, to make sure I was not charged. I'm surprised these people are still in business.

monahos

This seems to be more of a Seoul-related phenomenon than a chain-wide move.

The 'Guest Office' rooms at the Westin Chosun, and IIRC the business floor rooms at the Seoul Hilton have the exact same setup, along with a rental cellphone.

Great when available, but some of the PC's I've run into were in less than top condition (due to previous users and MSFT rather than the machine itself).

Football Fan

I agree 1000 %. Now to something more interesting - when will all Hilton hotels have wireless Internet access in all rooms and next to the pool (which should then be free as a benefit for their elite members ).

afrugal1

Was at the HGI [Addison, IL] last year for NASCAR race. Pleased to find free access to web on PC which was in business center. Nobody hassled me and there were no other guests attempting to do same. I clicked my little fingers off before finally retiring to the hot tub!

UKTony

For the UK not aware of any rooms with PC's but the webTV solution is available in many althought at 10p a minute they are having a good laugh because the service is pretty unusable.

Also watch out because although the Hilton web site is free some hotels have the system configured so you get charged for accessing the reservations page!

The good news is BT are rolling out WiFi hotspots in nearly all English Hiltons .. the bad news is BT feel the service is likely to be used by business people so have priced the offering at 6GBP for 60 mins during one day for adhoc usage! Of course you still need PC/PDA.

Nanook

I agree, too. The Webtv things I've used in both Vienna and the London Metropole are so slow it took me well over ten minutes to send one email (with only a few sentences in the email). Worthless!

korea71

Definitely not talking about the WEBTV option available in the rooms. Completely agree WEBTV IS ABSOLUTE crap. It may be an overall Asian thing because alot of big hotels in Korea and Japan offer PCs in the guest rooms. The PC in my room was not the greatest and latest but more than sufficient for web browsing and printing. I believe it would be a nice touch for executive floors in the US.

andrzej

We were not talking about your type setup. Fredmartens brought up WebTV. Anyway, some hotels are doing the same thing around the country. I don't know if any Hiltons are, but I know for a fact that Alladin in Las Vegas has a computer setup in every room. I believe some W Hotels have them on executive floors. I agree with you, that should become standard at hotels with executive floors.

UKTony

Funny last time I was trying to watch TV in a Hilton room I was thinking the UK TV's are getting old and very out of date, with replacement by modern LCD flat screen units equiped with decent on demand PPV and DVD players well over due. With a decent networked system it's pretty easy to add PC services (Word,Excel,www) to such a platform and I'm surprised Microsoft have not looked at the XBox platform for this market.

I presume at the current time economics are against it although I'd always thought the TV service was outsourced.

Stefan Daystrom

What kind of things exactly do you want to do on the internet while using such a PC? Hopefully not shop or pay bills or check your accounts!

Unless you completely trust the hotel staff (the cleaning staff who change your towels, or is there someone else?) to check after each person's stay for spyware not having been installed on the computer (knowningly or unwittingly) by the guest previous to you.

You may know "safe computing" practices and follow them on your laptop (to whatever degree you feel is right for you), but do you really trust the previous guest to know/care not to open any old attachment when they're using "someone else's computer"?