Marriott, Hilton & Other Big Chains Give Away Internet Service This Year – But Only to a Special Few

Monday, January 18, 2010

Pssst…Did you know that Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton and other full-service chain hotels that normally charge guests for internet access might give you free internet access this year?

If you work for a company that negotiates hotel rates on a volume basis, then it’s worth checking with your travel department.

That’s because one of the big trends among corporate travel managers this year has been to include free internet in negotiated hotel rates, said DeAnne Dale, vice president of sales and account management for online business travel management firm Travelocity Business.

Paying for internet service at hotels where you’re already paying more than the average guest is a major pet peeve for many business travelers  – and a factor in why some travelers prefer to go to mid-priced chains that include internet access in the rate (like Marriott Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn and Hyatt Place).

“In 2010, travel managers who proved they can move the market share (for hotels) were very successful in negotiating internet service,” she told me Friday during an interview about 2010 corporate travel trends. Free internet service was the No. 1-requested perk among travel managers, she said.

That means you may not have to pay the daily, internet service charge, whether at Sheraton, Hilton or Marriott.  It’s a charge that can add at least $10 to your tab per night, depending on the hotel chain and location. A few years ago, I paid an astonishing $18 per night at the W Times Square hotel in Manhattan.

Yet, as big a deal as this could be for a company’s travel budget, it doesn’t always work.

Why? Some hotels still add the fee to a traveler’s bill perhaps not knowing about an individual company’s contract provision – and some travelers simply don’t know they’re entitled to it, she said. Sometimes, corporate travel departments don’t communicate changes like this well enough or they tell travelers about it on an itinerary that the traveler never reads, she said.

That’s why it’s important for companies to get word out in new ways – such as in pop-up messages on the company’s online booking engine, she said.

“Using technology for travelers is really critical because the hotel may not broadly be giving away free internet access to everybody who walks in the door,” she said. “It’s negotiated.”

So what happens in the future, as corporate travelers get used to receiving free internet service at chains that never used to give it away?

Dale doubts travel managers will let go of the perk, even when travel recovers and takes away some of their bargaining power. So whenever hotels do gain an upper hand, they’ll likely let travel managers keep the “free”  internet service but just build it into the rate, she said.