Complimentary Internet for members who book through Starwood sites or on the SPG app
 

SPG is happy to announce that all SPG members who book through Starwood’s digital channels will be offered free standard in-room Internet access during their stay at all SPG participating hotels worldwide. This benefit is in addition to earning Starpoints and getting our Best Rate Guarantee when booking through Starwood channels.

Beginning February 2, 2015, free in-room Internet access will be available to SPG members who book their hotel stays through Starwood’s many digital channels including: spg.com, Starwoodhotels.com, brand websites, mobile sites, the SPG app or through a travel professional, who books on spg.com. Here is how it breaks down for each tier:

• Preferred members will receive standard in-room Internet access and have the ability to upgrade to the highest tier of internet, where available, for an incremental charge.
• Gold members will receive the highest level of Internet access available as well as a welcome gift choice of Starpoints or complimentary beverage.
• Platinum members currently receive the highest level of in-room Internet access.

Visit spg.com/internet for more information on receiving in-room Internet access for your next stay or a stay booked on behalf of your clients.

Best regards,

Christopher Carman
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Thanks for posting. ^

For clarification,

says


but the FAQ says :

whereas the T&Cs say :
Is the Windows App included or not ?

What's my alternate amenity as a Platinum? LOL, just kidding! Good news for Gold members.

One less reason to go for Platinum...

Not necessarily. At some properties the standard internet is pretty slow and getting the fastest version would be a definite benefit.

The idea of paying $10+ for incredibly slow internet access in 2014/2015 is ridiculous. It's gratis almost everywhere these days. So I guess this is a good move to save a little face with customers.

The idea of having slow (unusable) and premium (barely useful) tiers of for charge wifi service is equally laughable these days. More often than not I'll use wifi tether through my personal cell phone because it's faster than even the premium tier of hotel wifi.

Heck, while they're at it, can you get rid of the splash page where you have to agree to the terms and conditions of internet access? No one reads that and it's just an additional, sometimes frustrating, step before you get online and go about your business. NO ONE likes that step.

Thank you for pointing that out. Yes, eligible reservations booked through the Windows App would qualify to receive internet.

Best regards,

Christopher Carman
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Good move. Doesn't help me as a Plat, but follows in Marriott's footsteps.

I imagine SPG, too, will upset travel agents.

Well, that's better than Hilton -- it just limited the free elite internet to a throttled tier that can barely cope with web browsing and doesn't handle Skype, streaming video, or VPNs. $5 upcharge for the usable kind. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...e-benefit.html

I didn't know that "Platinum members currently receive the highest level of in-room Internet access." I sometimes picked the basic one to avoid potential arguments at checkout.

Internet is probably the least valuable platinum amenity for us. We can just hotspot with our phones for (usually faster) internet and often do if we need it to be fast. The reason I want to be platinum is for upgrades and breakfast at resort/vacation stays.

I tethered my roku streaming stick to my phone at my last stay, and it burned through my 5GB tethering allotment in 3 hours. Not smart. For the next 13 days of my stay, I tethered the Roku stick to my laptop which was physically plugged in to the ethernet port. Worked great.

That said, my beef is with properties (like my last stay at an aloft) which have only a single tier. In this particular case, service used to be uncapped, so i'd get 25-40mbps in the past. This time, it was capped at 3mbps with no upgradeable speeds. It was enough for lower-quality netflix, but according to the FCC, 3mbps does not even qualify as broadband, and has not technically qualified as broadband since 2011.

So, I'm curious what SPG plans to do for properties which choose to cut out their higher-speed tier(s) and keep everyone on the lowest possible speeds. While I feel that all SPG members should have basic free wifi, as a Plat and if I were a Gold I definitely feel like it wouldn't hurt to guarantee that if this is a benefit, that all properties have an upgraded tier for Golds and Plats...

Good to see. I'm new to Starwood program and to be honest this was one thing that sways my decisions. Having to pay for internet for whatever reason when staying somewhere bothers me and I mainly avoid it. It's 2014 not 2000 anymore. This was actually weighing in on a trip I was booking for Jan and I was thinking of passing up Starwood because while personal trip I may need to get some work done and slow internet (unreliable) and paying can be a pain. While I see this doesn't change till Feb maybe it will encourage me to stay more in the future

Great news. Thank you SPG

sfozrhfco you haven't read what Starwood Lurker IV said. mahasamatman is correct in that getting the fastest version of internet is one less reason to go for Platinum because

Starwood Lurkers,

How is this new benefit handled at a resort when a resort fee that lists "daily internet access in room" as one of the services is being paid for?

Sincerely,

I was wondering how long it would take for that can of worms to be opened! :D

I found this in the FAQ:

If I am an SPG Member and made a reservation through a Starwood Website or an SPG App at a SPG Participating Hotel that has a resort charge that includes Internet access, do I still need to pay the resort charge and am I entitled to a separate benefit for my reservation?

An SPG Member will need to pay resort charges at SPG Participating Hotels even if he/she has made a reservation through a Starwood Website or an SPG App and will be entitled to a replacement benefit for the Internet portion of the resort fee, to be determined at the SPG Participating Hotel’s discretion.

Does that help?

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Well someone had to!

Also, does this apply to existing bookings made through the proper websites etc?

Thanks for any replies^

The benefit kicks in on February 2nd. When the reservation is made has nothing to do with it. More relevance might be placed on where/how the booking is made, however.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

I would wholeheartedly disagree with that. Since most of my travel is outside of Canada and I don't have a roaming plan, free wifi is very important to me.

Even when I'm in Canada and I hotspot with my phone, it consumes a whole lot more MB and I often hit my allowable free monthly maximum.

It shows that SPG has though about it so yes it does.

However, it would really depend on the "replacement benefit for the Internet portion of the resort fee, to be determined at the SPG Participating Hotel’s discretion" to know if members are receiving an appropriate value for the service which althougth now a free feature for members is still required to be paid for.

Agreed. What has happened in the past is a resort will charge a $25/day resort fee (which includes internet) yet the replacement benefit will be a one-time free drink up to a $15 value. That does not really equate when you are staying more than one night and pay the resort fee each day but only get the replacement benefit once per stay.

Very happy to see this. I'm ending up a couple of stays short of Gold for next year and would have been booking away from SPG to avoid internet charges. Now let's hope the speeds aren't too horrible.

Personally, I think it's crap. If it's a benefit that is hung out as a carrot that I paid money to achieve then by giving it to everyone you've in essence taken it away from me. With more bandwidth being used it slows down my connection.

I would expect an enhanced benefits to compensate. Perhaps full breakfast instead of continental?

What exactly is the difference between "standard" internet access, and the "highest level"? I haven't stayed often at Starwood hotels in the past couple of years, however no Starwood hotels outside of the US gave me an option (or an upsell) or stated there was standard or highest.

Since internet access speeds are measurable, does Starwood have a standard for internet speed and bandwidth for what is "Standard" or "Highest Level"?

It is great that Starwood finally is including internet access as a benefit for all (if booking through the preferred channels).

Highest level is faster.

No. Each hotel defines it themselves.

Only if hotels handle this better than they handle the "alternate Platinum amenity".

Starwood Lurkers,

Does this benefit apply to award stays?

Thanks for your reply^

Understood that Highest level is faster. With no clear performance minimums, several properties may have "Standard" internet which is superior to "Highest Level" internet at other properties. The lack of definition amongst levels, will not allow for consistent delivery of intended benefits. As a Platinum, Gold, or Preferred, how would one really know the internet performance level they should be getting as part of the room rate (and status level), prior to booking? Some hotels disclose internet throughput specs; most do not.

This is pretty big news, and I feel that Starwood has got a bit of a whiney response here. Paying for Internet is the hated charge of the 21st century in 4* hotels, and I'm glad that Starwood is really the first chain in that price range to go after it.

I would hope that this is a move towards abolishing Internet fees altogether - I think that Starwood would find the positive press coverage to be worth something.

True. Just like every other aspect of the hotel experience.

It depends how you define consistency. If you have specific bandwidth requirements, you're not going to be satisfied anywhere. If you're more reasonable and want "the best they have", you'll be fine.

If it matters to you, call.

From my experience, I haven't had problems with the internet access from a limited sampling of Starwood hotels. I assume that I was granted "Standard" wifi internet access as an SPG Gold member, but I really don't know since I was never told about any "Higher Level". Maybe Standard was the same as "Higher Level". Whatever wifi internet level I had, was acceptable. I have only had a couple of isolated issues with internet performance at non-Starwood hotels in the past 3-4 years.

It is just the road Starwood is taking with tiered internet access, there are sure to be disenchanted people with both Standard and Higher Level access. In the future, SPG members may be blaming the tiered internet performance offerings (As a Plat, the Highest Level was worse than 2G, for example) as opposed to not having tiered internet offerings. When that happens, I will have my popcorn ready to read the SPG Flyertalk forum :)

Not necessarily. If there aren't many users, the difference would not be noticeable. Or if the property improves its bandwidth because of this enhancement, then your connection may become faster.

As a PLT, internet access isn't a problem for me. That said, however, I think that this is a good move on Starwood's part and I applaud it.

The only way to know if there are multple levels is by the login page. If it shows different rates, then there are different levels.

It's a hotel-by-hotel decision. It is not a Starwood decision.

Even the fastest hotel Internet connection can be significantly slowed by just a few people streaming videos.

I agree with this. I'm a platinum and I'm delighted that Starwood is offering free internet to all members. I've long been perplexed that the lower tiers of hotel chains offer free internet to all but the higher tiers do not. Internet use is almost as necessary as breathing and water in this day and age. Phones are free. TVs are free. And now internet is free. Kudos to Starwood.

duplicate - also complimentary

As with a phone you may be able to admire the internet router too, but usage of both often attracts a fee. Very few places have free phone usage even if the existence of the phone is free :p

For me Internet is valuable, but, 100% of my travel is International (I live in Singapore), so it cuts down on roaming data or limited speeds in some countries

The award stay must be booked through our digital channels to qualify.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd