I didn’t get to do a blog yesterday, which bums me since one of my resolutions is to post to the blog daily. Even though I had some issues and didn’t get to post daily back in April while on senior trip, that doesn’t make me any happier to miss a day now. And why did I miss a day? Because while I was at the Galt House in Louisville yesterday, I wouldn’t pay for the wi-fi service.

Most hotels where I’ve stayed offer “free” wi-fi service. I’m not naive enough to believe that it’s really free. Obviously, they simply add in a charge to the room rate that will cover the wi-fi service. Why can the Galt House of all places not do the same? I’d been in meetings all day, then went out to dinner, so by the time I got back to the hotel, I would have been paying to use the Internet for only about three hours. I refused to do that, even if it meant no blog.

I could, technically, do the blog on my phone. I have a WordPress app on there, and I could have used my QWERTY keyboard and typed up a blog, but honestly, that is difficult. It’s much easier to post with the app after I have already saved a draft to the WordPress site, which means all I did last night was to check Facebook on my phone and call it a night.

A place like the Galt House, which hosts multiple conferences every week, needs to offer guests “free” wi-fi. When we called the desk to ask about wi-fi service, we were told we could get the slower connection for $5.95 per day or the faster connection for $9.95 per day. When they’re charging $115 a night for a room to start with, how hard is it to just add $10 to the room rate and let guests have “free” wi-fi? If it’s part of the room rate, so be it, but don’t charge $115 a night and then ask for another $10 for Internet access. Since we were attending a conference, we had the “conference rate” for our room. Normal rates for the Galt House are more than that. Rooms booked at a non-conference rate range from $145 to $255 per night. And then they want to ask for a nominal daily fee to use the Internet?

After I got home, I checked their website, and it does say on the website that the wi-fi is free in the public areas of the hotel but is available for a nominal fee in the guest rooms. Really? When you’re traveling, if you have work to do that requires the Internet, do you really want to sit in the lobby and try to work, or would you rather work in the privacy of your room? Obviously, the Galt House knows that for the most part, people will pay the “nominal fee” for the privacy of working, or just Internet browsing, in their own room. However, it seems to me it would be more prudent and make more sense to simply charge $10 more for the rooms and allow guests to have wi-fi in their rooms without that nominal fee. It doesn’t matter how accommodating the suites are, how comfortable they are, or how private they are, if the guests have to leave the room to have free wi-fi in the public area of the hotel. With that, there’s no changing into your pajamas and settling in and making yourself comfortable to check your email or browse the net in the privacy and comfort of your own room.

And some may wonder what the big deal is. Why does it matter if you’re going to pay the nominal fee of $9.95 or if you pay $10 more for the room? Either way, you’re paying $10 to use the Internet. For one thing, the Galt House gets the fee whether the guest uses the net or not. For another, the guests will appreciate not having to go through the extra steps of paying for Internet services every day they are there. As I said before, I’ve no doubt that the hotels offering free wi-fi have absorbed the cost of that into their room rates, and not everybody who checks in will use the net, but everybody has the option of using it in the privacy and comfort of their room.

It’s really quite simple. Everything costs so much these days, and while even the places that have “free” wi-fi are getting their money from the guests in some way, it does make the guests feel good to hear the word “free.” A place as nice as the Galt House should be able to offer free wi-fi services in the rooms for their guests, even if it means that their conference rates become $125 and their regular rates become $155-265. Most guests would feel better about paying that kind of money for a room if they knew free wi-fi was part of the deal and not extra. Honestly, if you’re paying $255 for a room, wi-fi should be included.

Of course, if there’s another conference I need to attend, I’ll be back at the Galt House, and I hope by that time, they will have figured out how to offer wi-fi free throughout the hotel.