outwrdbound

I experienced this recently at the HGI in Dover, DE, a property that I have stayed at several times earlier this year. Until my most recent visit last week, the free internet at this property was quite good. Last week however, it was so slow that I couldnt even connect to my company VPN, so I purchased the "enhanced" internet. I stay with Marriott far more than Hilton and wrongfully assumed I would be comped the internet as I am at any Marriott property. Of course at checkout I found out otherwise. My fault since I did not read the policy, so I had no problem paying the charge, however, I have a huge problem with Hilton making the free internet so slow that most business travelers (all guests really) cannot use it and are forced to buy a faster package. I expressed this concern to the front desk staff and they seemed to sympathize a bit and told me that the free internet is really only good for basic e-mail and ist recommended for VPN or even "moderate" web browsing. I expressed my concern to the Hhonours line but was completely brushed off.

In 2011 and again 2012 I had somewhere around 150-160 nights with Hilton and only about 15 with Marriott. So for two years, that is over 300 nights at Hilton. Last year, that changed dramatically (due mostly to redemption difficulty) and I spent 50 nights with Hilton and about 110-120 with Marriott, thus making me Hhonours Gold this year. Now, after this internet downgrade that impacts even their most loyal customers, I will not even make Gold. I will only stay with Hilton when there isn't any reasonable alternative in sight. I hope they are happy with the $14.95 internet charge they got from me. I would try to status match to another chain, but where my travel takes me (many small towns and rural areas), Hilton and Marriott properties are really my only choice more often than not, I will just try to avoid Hilton at all costs. A shame since I really like the HGI.

lifetimeblue

Hilton Strathclyde Park (Glasgow) today...



This is now becoming a fairly aggressive rollout.

I should add this the free service. Gold/Diamond get this(along with every other guest in the hotel), and have to pay extra for 'Premium' access.

diver858

While I am in no way attempting to justify such actions, I would not jump ship just yet. Like the airline industry, major hotel chains are finding ways to increase revenue, which includes devaluing loyalty programs, reducing benefits and free amenities. Hilton may be leading the race to the bottom, but I find it hard to believe that once their service providers perfect throttling, make it available corporate wide, it should not be too long before other major chains do the same.

Other than the Trop in LV, I have yet to experience difficulties access the internet. If/when this occurs, my plan is to complain to both the local property and provider until they provide a functional signal, call the Diamond desk if necessary, in an attempt to discourage such actions, suggests others do the same.

lifetimeblue

In the Hilton Glasgow tonight. Similar speeds to JohnnyColombia - Complimentary wifi is pretty much unusable. I can barely using my Gmail account on it!! What is the point?

wizla

It ain't too bad up here on the 20th floor, no problems so far

wizla

Hey did you get upgraded?

lifetimeblue

We did. Dropped into the lounge for some afternoon tea.
Admittedly, a bit rough today from yesterdays antics in town Sure I'll still manage a glass or 2 in the lounge.

ILovetheReds

The chains have started rolling out higher speeds as well.

But unlike Hilton, they are offering the highest speed for free to their top tier.

If I stay at a Hyatt as a diamond and there are multiple speeds of internet, I get the highest speed gratis.

I don't understand why Hilton can't give their diamonds the same benefit for wifi that Marriott, SPG and Hyatt give their top tiers.

Points Scrounger

Yesterday, IHG (Crowne Plaza) gave me "basic" for free (which was admittedly okay) as a Platinum, but wanted $4.95 for "upgrading" to additional bandwith.

wizla

Hmmm......I stayed at Hilton Glasgow last night and I'm at the WA Edinburgh tonight ......these hotels apparently have crap wifi but so far I've not noticed any different?.....seems fine to me....maybe I got lucky?

Sisosig

Stayed at IHG (Holiday Inn) Leiden this weekend. Frontdesk said I could either use the free 512k or the chargeable full bandwith wifi, in which case they would remove the charge from the folio.

I only have 'member' status with IHG. Under normal circumstances I would have stayed at the nearby HGI Leiden. But staying at IHG HI will get me two free night certificates after just three stays. My roomrate was 44 EUR (excl food + bev.), I hope to be able to use the certificates on $300 nights in Alaska.

JumboJet

This sounds so 90's

bk3day

Stayed at Chicago Conrad this week and at checkin, the clerk may have briefly mentioned something about free internet.

Later that evening, I pulled up the wifi splash page and noticed standard wifi was free for everyone.(downloads to 1.6mps) OTOH, the "hi-speed" option was $12.95.

The splash page made no mention of HH status. Given that the fdc made no real mention of my Diamond status, I didn't know if his comment about free only meant the standard free wifi.

Not wanting any surprises, I called the front desk to ask if HH Elites get hi speed for free. No one picked up the phone.

I selected the "high speed" option but soon thereafter thought it seemed slower than my TMo phone's data had been. Ran a speedtest on both and results were:

Conrad "high speed" service: Down: 0.12 Up:0.28
TMo phone data plan: Down: 3.58 Up:1.06

Needless to say, I stuck with my phone's data plan.

Checking out, my bill reflected the $12.95 charge.

Had same clerk at checkout. Mentioned the charge & he asked if I had used the code that was in my key packet? I said no, as I'd never noticed it. He immediately took the charge off.

I then commented that if they're going to charge for "high speed", the hotel should in fact, provide speeds that exceed the 1.6 they offer for free. He said he would alert mgmt.

Bottom line: Conrad Chicago gives free "high speed" to elites (look for code) but you may be sorry you asked.

ElieW

Did I miss something? I checked in to my hotel (HGI) Monday night and internet was lightning fast. On Tuesday night it's pretty slow and no videos will stream. This morning, when I log on, I have to sign back in (after 24 hours). The page now has several options for internet access.

There is a note that complimentary internet is only for email, chat, and browsing. Streaming and VPN are not included in complimentary access.

• Diamond and Gold (always Complimentary)
• Complimentary
• Premium $4.95 for full internet

whl

I was in Conrad Bangkok last week and used VPN to stream video with the free internet for Diamond members. No issues and the speed was pretty good as well.