Tech
A guide to WiFi in Toronto Hotels
There are certain hidden costs associated with traveling that I think of as complete rip-offs. $25 to check a bag on a flight is a good example - you already bought a plane ticket, why do you need to pay extra to bring stuff with you?
But being the wired gal that I am, I find paying for WiFi in hotels is the worst. You're already paying a hefty chunk of change to stay in a hotel, and other amenities like maid service, the pool and the gym are already included in the cost of the room. If you're not from Toronto or you have friends/family looking to visit the city, you'll likely want to ensure you find a hotel with free WiFi (unless you plan to completely disconnect on your vacation). Read on for a breakdown of the major hotels in Toronto and how much you can expect to pay to stay connected.
Hotels with free WiFi:
The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St. W) - free WiFi everywhere in the building, plus a laptop guests can borrow and a workstation.
The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St. W) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.
Radisson Admiral (249 Queen's Quay W.) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.
Hilton Garden Inn (92 Peter St.) - all rooms including the business centre have complimentary WiFi and printing privileges.
Hotel Le Germain (30 Mercer St.) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.
Hotel Victoria (56 Yonge St.) - complimentary WiFi everywhere in the building, no need for username/passwords, just click-and-go.
Novotel (45 The Esplanade) - free WiFi everywhere in the building.
Windsor Arms (18 St. Thomas St) - free WiFi in guest rooms and common areas.
Hotels with free WiFi in common areas/with upgrades:
Cambridge Suites (15 Richmond St. E) - No free WiFi with deluxe suite, with a cityscape suite WiFi is included. WiFi is free at the business centre for anyone as long as you have your room key.
Four Seasons Toronto (21 Avenue Road) - $15 for 24 hours of in-room WiFi, the business centre located on 4th floor is complimentary.
Park Hyatt (4 Avenue Road) - All rooms in the north tower offer free WiFi including the lobby roof top lounge and all meeting rooms. In the south tower there's free internet but you have to plug in because it's considered a heritage building (not exactly the hotel's fault).
Le Meridien King Edward (37 King St. E) - WiFi is free in the lobby, otherwise the cost depends on the package - they start at $13.95 for 24 hours.
Marriott Bloor (90 Bloor St. E) - WiFi in the lobby is free, in-room it's $13.60 for 24 hours.
One King West (1 King St. W) - complimentary WiFi in the lobby, $9.95 per night in the guest rooms.
Renaissance Hotel (1 Blue Jays Way) - WiFi in the lobby is free, $12.95 per night in the guest rooms.
InterContinental (220 Bloor St. W) - Free WiFi with a Club Room. Otherwise $9.95 per 24 hours. To use the business centre you have to buy a pre-paid card that is $3 for 10 minutes.
Sheraton Centre Toronto (123 Queen St. W) - Internet in the room is wired only - $14.95 per night, Internet cafe in the lobby allows 30 minutes free at a time.
Hotels with no free WiFi anywhere in the building:
Fairmont Royal York (100 Front St. W) - In room, $14.95 for 24 hours and $5.50 per 30 minutes in the business centre.
Hyatt Regency (370 King St. W) - $14.95 for 24 hours. At the business centre you can pay 49 cents per minute or purchase a $5 or $10 card.
Pantages (200 Victoria St.) - $12 per night. Not free in common areas.
Hilton Toronto (145 Richmond St. W) - $14.95 for 24 hours, in the business centre you pay 59 cents per minute.
Westin Harbour Castle (1 Harbour Square) - $12.95 for 24 hours, price after August 19th going up to $14 + per night
Cosmopolitan Hotel () - $12 per day, not free in common areas.
Service fee included in rooms:
Hazelton Hotel (118 Yorkville Ave.) - WiFi is $9.50 per night but that's included in the overall price of the room. That charge also includes access to the business centre on each floor.
SoHo Metropolitan (318 Wellington St. W) - $8 service fee includes free WiFi, also includes the business centre.
There are exceptions to some of these rules though. For example at the InterContinental Hotel you have free WiFi if you upgrade to a Club Room. If you get the business package at the Hyatt Regency it's included in the price. And technically the Hazelton and SoHo Met do have free WiFi, but there's a charge included in your room. Oh, and if you're a Marriott Rewards member you get free WiFi because you're in the club.
In my opinion WiFi should be unconditionally free - regardless of how fancy your room is, or whether you have a points card. And it shouldn't be a service fee included with your room - and if it is, it should be optional. The Toronto Twitter community certainly agrees with me:
In fact who wouldn't agree that WiFi should be free in hotels?
Photos by sniderscion and wvs, respectively.
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I did it all the time when I travelled with my last job.
WiFi quality can vary dramatically. It can be cheap, spotty and insecure, or it can be reliable, plentiful and rock solid. Some hotels (typically owner-managed, non-brand properties) chose to install the minimum possible, just to claim it was available. Most often in this case you get what you pay for.
Limited service brand properties (recognizable names, 2-3 stars) are usually mandated to offer the service free as part of the brand standard. This is a good example of the herd following one or two early adopters of the free-to-guest model. The quality generally tends to be better, since it must comply with a minimum standard.
In the high-end market, things get very confusing. Most often, the brands have chosen to charge for the service because they can. The belief is that someone paying $400 a night for a room will not object to paying extra for items such as broadband. In their defense, the cost of installing, maintaining and supporting (with premium 7x24 multilingual call centers) high quality, secure WiFi is not cheap. Some older properties require significant wiring to cover all areas with adequate coverage. It is not uncommon for a large property to spend well into the 6 figures to provide wireless throughout. That said, more and more "enlightened" properties are starting to follow Starbucks' approach and open up wireless access to everyone within their property - recognizing that the service adds to the overall visitor experience, and keeps customers coming back.
This doesn't make sense. If they're providing WiFi, the cost is being included in your bill, whether they explicitly itemize it in the bill or not. So your preference is
1. Everyone's charged for WiFi but isn't told how much it's costing ("free").
2. WiFi is optional.
3. Everyone's charged for WiFi but is told how much it costs.
My preference is that WiFi is free. Barring that option, my preference is it's an optional add-on. If the cost of WiFi had been absorbed into the room cost all along (like maid service, gym access, etc) then I can understand being okay with it, as they wouldn't pull out the specific cost of WiFi (it would just be included under the room rate). In the case of SoHo Met they're not saying "included with the room," they're saying it's a certain price ($9.95) and has been added to your room rate whether you'll use it or not. I think people should have the option to save that $9.95 if they're not planning to use the WiFi.
Erin
@Dean Wermer: I see what you're saying, but even if hotels are providing WiFi as a kind of loss leader to attract clients, the cost is going to show up in higher restaurant prices, drink charges etc.
This was a useful post, since I very much prefer to just have WiFi available and not have to go through the hassle of worrying about rates, logging in, etc. - I just don't think it's ever actually free.
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<span class="author">Christopher Hylarides</span>
<span class="date"> / August 6, 2010 at 10:57 AM</span>
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<p>You'll notice a pattern here. Most of the hotels that charge extra are more business traveller oriented, where they can easily add these fees that people will just expense when they're all done.</p>
<p>I did it all the time when I travelled with my last job.</p>
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I think sometimes you just have to speak out.
What the hell does this mean?
From your examples, there's some alarming hourly charges, when broken down further, especially in the business centre areas:
"InterContinental (220 Bloor St. W) - Free WiFi with a Club Room. Otherwise $9.95 per 24 hours. To use the business centre you have to buy a pre-paid card that is $3 for 10 minutes."
$18/hr is way too much for wifi access. Why is the business centre so special?
"Hyatt Regency (370 King St. W) - $14.95 for 24 hours. At the business centre you can pay 49 cents per minute or purchase a $5 or $10 card."
49¢/minute translates to $29.40/hr. for wifi access. Are they nuts? People actually pay this much? Isn't there a Starbucks or Tim Horton's with free access nearby?
"Hilton Toronto (145 Richmond St. W) - $14.95 for 24 hours, in the business centre you pay 59 cents per minute."
This equates to $35.40/hr for wifi access in the business centre. WTF?
These prices remind me of some of the wired internet access options I had while travelling in France and Spain. In 1999! What year are we in now?