Travel plan idea blog

Should You Pay for Internet Access in Hotels? / Some Even More Expensive Hotel Rooms!

Mancunian is back:

If you are reading this in a hotel room somewhere, you may be paying more than you want to in order to access the internet. A USA Today survey of 80 major hotel chains found that around 40% of them charge for internet access in guests' rooms. Strangely enough, the more expensive hotels tend to charge, whereas cheaper hotels generally don't charge. The daily charge can range from $9.95 to $14.95 per day and often guests don't realize or understand that they are paying extra. Hotels that charge include Marriot, Omni, Embassy Suites and Sheraton.

The outrageous cost of some of the world's most expensive hotel rooms never ceases to amaze me. It's something this blog has looked at before, although it seems that the worse the economic situation gets, the more some people will pay for a night's stay.

The latest contender to have prices so ridiculous that one wonders who actually stays there is the Palms hotel and resort in Las Vegas, that offers a 10,000 square foot suite with its own basketball halfcourt, for $25,000 a night. But that seems quite a bargain compared to the hotel's Hugh Heffner Sky Villa, which rents for $40,000 a night. I trust there is no additional charge for internet access in the room...?

And just when I thought that $40,000 a night could not possibly be beaten, I came across this list of hotel superlatives, which lists the world's most expensive hotel room as the $50,000 a night Royal Villa at the Grand Resort Lagonissi in Greece. Apparently, if you stay there, you enjoy a wonderful view of the Aegean Sea; well, I should hope so, for that price!

If you are looking for an unusual - and not necessarily expensive - room, this site is exactly what it sounds like - a guide to some of the oddest and most intriguing hotel rooms around the world. Using this guide, you can sleep in a 747 Jet, a tree house, at the bottom of the ocean and even in a hotel that straddles the border of two countries.

And here is an interesting concept - the Westin Resort in Aruba is offering couples a credit of $300 toward a future stay, if they conceive while staying at the hotel, anytime between now and December 19th. Apparently, if you become pregnant, you would have to supply a doctor's note stating that it probably occurred during that period. No word on the hotel's policy if you conceive, but you didn't actually mean to.

Posted by James Trotta at September 26, 2009 11:22 PM