About a year and a half ago I wrote an article for a national publication called the Shamrock Principle - where I argued that companies would do well to honor the division of labor which I first found in a saloon called the Shamrock that I frequented in college - they had a sign over the bar - "We have an agreement with the bank, they don't serve beer and we don't cash checks." It was a near perfect restatement of a Ricardian division of labor. I've always thought that sentiment made a lot of sense.
I am the kind of traveler that the hotel chains lust after. Last night was my 80th night away from home this year. That is a lot by any count. I look for hotels which have a couple of characteristics. First, I would like a place that has an adequate gym. Second, I would prefer a place that has windows that open. I don't like feeling cooped up with air conditioning. But third I would prefer a place which offers WIFI, preferably free but if not a recognized service like T-mobile.
I bring this up because last night I stayed in a Hilton chain (Doubletree). This particular one passed the first test but failed in the other two. A month or so ago I was in an actual Hilton in Pasadena and filled out a comment card for the manager where I said I would be a lot more likely to stay a lot more in Hiltons if the WIFI were free. The manager wrote back to me and said "If you were a higher level in Honors, you would get free WIFI."
Hilton is one of the last chains that continues to maintain its own WIFI system. I respectfully disagree. Most of the other chains I stay in either have free WIFI (Holiday Inn and Marriott) or have T-Mobile (many Hyatts). I stay there because of the free service not to get the reward. Surprisingly my level in the other chains is much higher because they offer the service.
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Its been my observation that the more expensive the hotel, the more likely they are to charge for basic amenities. Comfort Inn always has not only free internet, but free breakfast and is typically much less than $100 a night. The Charles Hotel in Boston is $500 a night, and charges more for internet in my room than a month worth of internet at my apartment.
As far as I can tell, its because the latter caters to business travelers who don't care what things cost because they'll just get reimbursed by the company. But it drives me up a wall when I have to stay at Ritzy Conference hotels because I pay more to get less...
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