Marriott throws in the (wifi) towel

"The hotel chain had asked the FCC for permission to block access to Wi-Fi devices in its conference spaces. After a social media firestorm that turned into a PR nightmare, Marriott backed down from that request this week ......"

Notice what I put in bold. Marriott wanted to block wifi access in the conference spaces, which the media reported as Marriott wanted to block all access.

I would think that groups using a conference room could pay for access (expense to be written off on taxes) not get it free.

It was a lot more than that Colette. Anyone attending a conference was going to have their own cell data connection blocked. And if it worked for conference centers, there was no reason not to do it with hotel room guests too.

Colleen, most conference exhibitors would be happy to pay a reasonable price. However, at the Gaylord Opryland, Marriott blocked all wifi for exhibitors and was charging upto $1000 a device for internet connection. The FCC saw this for the outrageous scam it was and fined them $600 000.

$1000 per device for an internet connection - that's OBSCENE! Why would any hotel even consider that?

Okay, okay, I get the message. I considered "conference areas" to be like a conference room where there would be streaming video or video conference calls going on. It did not occur to me the fuss began with a convention of people showing their wares.

The people who were participating in the convention were probably staying at Gaylord Opryland, also. Gaylord was doing a durn good business. I wonder if that convention will find another venue this year?

It doesn't really matter what it started with, the plain fact is that blocking someone's personal data connection - which they pay for - was just wrong.

Just got an email from Hyatt. They are adopting Marriott's new policy on 2/14: free wifi in rooms and public spaces. Gotta love competition.

Great article on hotel WiFi access in today's Wall Street Journal. You may need to be a subscriber to read it:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pay-for-wi-fi-only-at-a-luxury-hotel-1424304981

Rab,

You are correct; one must be an e-subscriber to read the link. I will read the WSJ AT the coffeehouse.

:-)

The gist of the article is, there's a change coming in the hotel world. Almost everyone is realizing that wifi access is now just a given, like little soaps and shower caps. Except the biggest, fanciest brand name joints which are holding out to squeeze whatever they can out of their clients for as long as they can.

If you're concerned, always research before your trip to find out what you need to do. Sometimes it's as easy (but annoying) as sitting in the hotel's lobby or coffee shop to use the free wifi that is not available upstairs in your room. Go figure. And like the airlines, sometimes the hotel will try to upsell you a "special package" that includes the free wifi, for a fee, along with other things like perhaps a free breakfast.