Well, let me tell you. It’s so awesome that I walked out of Yew Restaurant for not having it the other day. Rather not like me. It was 4pm and I was in between meetings. I wanted an early supper and a couple of beers in the lounge while I caught up on work on my laptop.
No dice. They actually had wi-fi, it was just that I wouldn’t be given a password to use it. I had to be a guest of the hotel. This utterly confused me. Despite myself and my affection for the Four Seasons (and Yew Restaurant, which I love to little bits), it sort of felt like I was dealing with a dinosaur.
Is it wrong that I assume that if they can have the concierge arrange a diamond encrusted dog collar for me at 3am on a Sunday night whenever I’m a guest, that they should be able to spring for free wireless for me when I’m a guest in their lounge?
Note: any comments on the sanctity of the dining experience and the offensive encroachment of technology in daily life will be treated as spam and thoroughly destroyed. ;-)
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I have never stayed in a hotel where I get free wifi……so I am not surprised. Hotels are in the business of gouging people for all the money that they can. Wifi is just an added charge that they can tack on to the room. I paid through the nose for it while we were in Thailand, until of course I found far cheaper service elsewhere.
This city, which follows the trend seen throughout most (but not all) of N. America, is shutting down WiFi quicker than light. It’s depressing.
I don’t understand the all or nothing approach to Wifi. In some cities, the trend is more towards metered or regulated wifi, and something very easy to do. The idea is, you don’t want some one-coffee luser camping out at a cafe table or restaurant spot for six hours while they surf the web, but you want to still offer the service and convenience, so you run readily available programs or settings (my two WAPs have it built in) that limit the amount of time a computer can be connected to the net. Simple as pie, it checks your MAC address, and if you’ve been on for a set time (1/2 hour, 1 hour, whatever), you’r booted off until 24 hours pass.
It seems Vancouver has a real fear towards open wifi access that’s growing bigger every day. Two years ago, I could go down the Drive and get two or three open access points almost anywhere. Today, almost everything’s locked down.
I personally don’t like the two, three four hour campers myself, and I don’t enjoy walking into a cafe or restaurant or lounge and see a gazillion 17 inch laptops open. But there’s a medium ground here – it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
SPAM!
I pay, you have, we talk… end of conversation.
Can you say, other hotels coming to a hood near you making you change your mind now that I’m already gone? OUI!
I wonder if it’s so much a fear towards open wifi access (I typed open wife access twice by mistake) or if people are finally figuring out how to access their router settings and close the network.
When wireless became more common a few years ago, most people buying routers did not know how to configure them beyond the standard “wide open” setting.
Good for you, Andrew, for taking your business somewhere else. Money talks.
The only place it’s free in hotels (for the most part) is Silicon Valley or some of the mid-tier chains (Hampton Inn). In a Four Seasons, W, Westin etc, it’ll always be >$10. If you do find free hotel wireless, it’s usually pretty crap wrt speed & reliability.
My advice, especially in Vancouver (and if you travel throughout Canada) – get a 3G card from Telus (if you are in BC) or Rogers – pay the ~$60/month and connect whenever you want.
Free wifi in European hotels seems pretty normal as does in many small boutique US hotels. I think if you having a glass of wine or a beer they should give you some form of limited access time via a password.
Opus does exactly that, Stephen. Elsewhere, I believe there’s unlimited free wireless in Bacchus Lounge.
My new iPhone 3G almost makes it a moot conversation, but I’m loathe to tap its buttonless keyboard for more than a few lines. Great for surfing and email, though. I love this thing!
just had free wireless access in NYC at hotel 57