Hotels are upping the stakes with high-speed Internet connections for guests. Whether in the room or in the lobby, free or for a fee, wired or wireless, most major chains are getting Web-friendly. Right now, says Katherine Potter, spokeswoman for the American Hotel and Motel Association, some chains are dipping their toes in the Internet waters. Today, hotel guests with the right hardware and software can plug their computers into a phone line and dial up their Internet service providers. But that requires lugging around lots of equipment and tying up the phone line.
Some hotels even provide PCs right in their rooms.
As of July, the company had wired all the rooms in 68 of its properties, most of them in big cities. Marriott plans to wire more than 500 properties by year's end. Marriott makes its system easy to use plug and play for any Internet-compatible computer, says spokesman Scott Carman. Choice International, parent company of Comfort, Quality, Clarion, Sleep, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and MainStay, also is pushing the Internet. Working with Stay Connect, Choice is providing Internet access and, in some cases, in-room PCs and laptops to its 3,700 domestic properties, with a goal of 50,000 wired rooms by the end of next year.