Hotels' charges for Internet irk some

— -- Frequent business traveler Randall Blinn refuses to stay at hotels that charge for Internet access.

"It really irritates me that the more expensive hotels charge for Internet access when the inexpensive hotels provide it for free," says Blinn, a computer consultant in Louisville.

Blinn is one of many travelers disturbed by hotels that charge a daily fee for Internet access. He says he books less-expensive hotels with free Internet access, even if his company will pay for a more expensive hotel that charges for online access.

Yet, charging guests for Internet access in their rooms remains common as hotels continue to look for revenue, especially as occupancy rates have fallen during the recession. According to a USA TODAY survey of 80 hotel brands, 40% charge such a fee at all or most of their U.S. hotels. The charge can vary at hotels within the same brand but often ranges from $9.95 to $14.95 daily.

"As long as hotels can generate the revenue, they will charge for it," says Jeff Weinstein, editor in chief of Hotels magazine, a trade publication. "There is no more telephone revenue, and this is one way to replace it."

Weinstein says he thinks that most upscale hotel guests "can live with" a $10 daily fee for Internet access but find some higher charges unacceptable.

For Blinn, who has spent about 50 nights in hotels this year, any charge is unacceptable. If he must stay at a hotel that charges, he says, he leaves the hotel for a fast-food restaurant or a coffee shop that provides free Internet access.

A few weeks ago, Blinn says, he spent a lot of time in the concierge lounge of the Marriott hotel in Salt Lake City, because the hotel was charging for Internet access in rooms but not in the lounge.

Going around charges

Some frequent business travelers avoid hotel charges by bringing their own devices for Internet access.

Michael Sommer, a consultant in Jacksonville, uses Sprint's MiFi device, which is about the size of a credit card and provides Internet access for up to five people for a monthly charge.