Hotels Revisit Fast Links

Marriott International today launched Wired for Business, which offers high-speed Internet access in guest rooms and unlimited local and long-distance domestic telephone calls for a fixed daily price.

The move comes in the midst of a revival of interest on the part of hotel companies, including Wyndham International and Loews Hotels, to provide Web access in either a wired or wireless format. After initial efforts to get travelers to use high-speed access fell short in 1999 and 2000, the industry paused to rethink the way it provided the technology.

Marriott is offering the new bundled services in 30 hotels, including both midprice and full-service brands, in the Washington, D.C., market. Should the effort prove successful, the company intends to roll it out more widely.

Also this month, Wyndham International announced it was using a new vendor to provide the connectivity in the 35 properties in its system not yet equipped. Sidestepping the issue of daily charges, Wyndham is providing the access free to members of its frequency program, who also get complimentary telephone calls. Non-members pay a charge.

Loews Hotels last month announced it was revamping its program, installing high-speed connectivity in the seven of its 18 hotels that are company owned. The pricing model still is being determined.

For buyers, interest remains high in working with hotels that have the best technology in place. In fact, the communications technology module of the 2003 National Business Travel Association request for proposals form includes dozens of questions concerning availability and charges for these services. Often in room rate negotiations, the fees for high-speed access become a value-add that can be negotiated. While a source of revenue, Internet access fees also are one of the charges hotels are willing to negotiate when there's no more leeway on room rates.

"The notion that high-speed usage peaked and then fell hasn't really been the experience here," said Lou Paladeau, Marriott vice president of technology business development. "Rather, we see that usage has been building gradually. What has improved significantly, in many cases, is companies' internal technology." He said many business travelers' companies have installed Virtual Private Networks, which allow travelers not only to access their e-mail, but to attach and forward document files efficiently. Salt Lake City-based STSN remains Marriott's main provider. Access is up to 50 times faster than conventional dial-up systems. "Performing these functions had been much more time-consuming previously, causing travelers a lot of frustration," Paladeau said. "With VPNs, travelers have the same flexibility and adaptability as they would in their own offices."

The idea of bundling the high-speed connectivity with unlimited telephone charges scored highly with travelers. "We tested the concept in eight hotels with a high percentage of business travelers across the country and there was a clear preference for travelers to have all their communications needs bundled and offered for one price," he said.

Given how confusing telephone charges have become in hotels generally, many travelers have resorted to using mobile phones. "But often the connection isn't clear or there are other problems, so travelers prefer to use the phone in the room," Paladeau said.

The daily charge Marriott settled on is $9.95, the same price non-By Request members pay for the service at Wyndham properties. Sprint is the new vendor working with Wyndham, using infrastructure supplied by Cisco Systems. Considering that travelers often had trouble in the past accessing the high-speed capability, hotel companies now are taking no chances the technology won't be understood. Both Wyndham and Marriott are providing 24-hour, toll-free customer assistance. "In addition to the help desk, Sprint is providing collateral to guests explaining the service," said Mark Hedley, Wyndham senior vice president and chief technology officer.