Everybody knows that the prices many hotels charge for making calls from the room is, well, a rip-off. Just like the $4.50 Snickers bars in the mini bar thing. To avoid an ugly surprise at check-out, more and more business travelers nowadays use either VoIP or cellular service to make calls from their rooms.
Charging outrageous rates for the convenience of calling from your room used to be a big money maker for hotels. Not so much anymore. Hilton Hotels seems to be acknowledging that fact with a new program called Stay Connected @ Hilton. It's a service bundle in which guests get wireless high-speed Internet access and unlimited local and long distance calling within the continental U.S. for $12.95 a day. That's a pretty good deal if you have to buy Internet access in your room anyway -- the Internet access part alone costs $9.95. The unlimited calling from room phones is cool, and the wireless access allows you to connect Skype or Google Talk calls using other broadband-connectable devices like the Blackberry and Nokia N95.
Programs like Hilton's are just one example of hotels getting more in tune with the needs of tech-savvy, laptop-carrying business travelers. Our Jim Martin has a wealth of advice for the mobile traveler in his Mobile Computing column.
Also, my friend and VoIP blogger Andy Abramson has some good advice for hotels in his "What A Global Nomad Wants In A Hotel To Work Anywhere" list.
