Jeff Jarvis raised an issue last week that was one I had blogged about at the ALI Social Media Summit, when as part of my presentation I showed the group how easy it is to start a blog. We created a blog in just a few seconds based on the premise that “high speed” is seriously false advertising for the Chicago Hyatt’s wireless internet.
I don’t know whether Jeff’s call for legislation is the answer, but I’m happy to report that based on my experience so far at the Omni Orlando at Championsgate, I’m going to have high-speed wireless worthy of the name for the next couple of days. What’s more, it’s free.
That’s an interesting difference you see among hotels. The lower-priced hotels and motels put up banners advertising their free wireless internet, because they know it’s a differentiation that could get them extra business. The higher-priced ones that are frequented by business travelers with advance reservations must think most of their customers are getting reimbursed for wireless, so they just add it as a separate charge.
Maybe instead of legislation someone should start a social media site that would let travelers rate the wireless service at hotels, so we could know in advance whether it’s worth the $11.95 or so…or whether the hotel is among the enlightened ones who provide truly high-speed wireless as an amenity for customers.
Technorati: wireless, internet, wifi, hotel
