You'd think a $200+ a night hotel located in the heart of a city that has benefited from years of superlative community organizing would offer free net access.
Nope.
No unicorns either.
Things are going very well in the ring, however. Three days in, and the crew here has taken half of the points wins on offer - the Friday male points were won by my puppy MInuteman All About Fly Fishing, and we've put majors on Minuteman Madrid and Scandals Starry Starry Night, with Ch.Kampfer's Tainted Sunshine winning a Best of Opposite Sex on Friday to the dog who won at Westminster a couple of weeks ago.
Today and tomorrow are even busier than the last three days, and we'll be driving straight through as soon as we're packed up on Sunday afternoon, so nothing more from me until we've returned home, I'm afraid. But by the looks of things, the guest bloggers are outdoing themselves.
Now, I have to get back to the building and start washing dogs.
Congrats, Kate, on your doggies' wins. Well-done!
I'm just back from Chicago and didn't stay in a first-class hotel, but one that my daughter booked a few months back for less than $50/night. 'Very comfortable, however, very central (two blocks from The Magnificent Mile) and, ta-da: free internet access!
OTOH: no room in our room for canine comrades.
We were in Chicago a while back, and stayed at the Residence Inn at the north end of the Mile. Fantastic - you can get 1 or 2 bedroom suites, all with full kitchens, free breakfast (which includes hot items, not just bagels and doughnuts) and a complimentary social hour in the evening. There were a lot of great restaurants in the area, and since Chicago tends to offer gargantuan portions, after a steak dinner the night before, we got up, went down to get juice, eggs, coffee, etc., and then came up and sauteed the leftover steaks - that was some breakfast!
And, yes, free high speed including WiFi in the lounges.
Why stay at a fancy hotel? They charge for everything. Give me a Homewood Suites or Residence Inn where I get free internet, a living/dining/kitchen separate from the bedroom, breakfast, evening reception (some of them are substantial enough to serve as dinner), and super friendly service since the staff are trained to make you feel 'at home'.
Whenever I get 'stuck' at a fancy hotel I get really grumpy. Aside from paying $10 - $30 per day for internet, phone calls also start at $2 and there is no fridge for me to fill with food bought nearby; just a mini-fridge with $4 bottles of water and $20 breakfasts.
No thank you.
Chicago is my favorite city in the U.S. to visit, but man, they charge you for the priviledge. I'll have to look into KevinB's suggestion... our HoJo was about $150/night with cockroach massage and live music provided by the eses in their whips parked outside the latino night club.
I travel a lot, and the more expensive the hotel, the better the location, and the less likely you are going to pay less that $20 for internet. Forget Europe. On a truckstop on I-81 in rural Pennsylvania you will get free high speed broadband without a problem.
I think this is one of the corollaries of
Hilton's Law: The more expensive the hotel, the less likely you will receive any service for free
It seems to hold true with very few exceptions.
You should name one of your next puppies "Prime Minister James T. Kirk", Kate:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4854183a1860.html
"Hilton's' Law" - yep, you nailed that one. Was in Quebec city last June on a last minute business trip. Every 'average' hotel was booked due to a convention. Had to stay at the Hilton for about $270 a night plus $20 a day for parking and IIRC $14 a day for internet access.....
Bravo! I had to have my wife translate (she breeds and shows whippets), but it sounds like you're doing pretty well!
Incidentally, I'm kinda new to the blog. What breed do you show?
In case isn't back soon MB, I'll fill in the blanks:Schnausers
Welcome! Good brains meet here, and I come to get educated!
Congrats again Kate!We miss you.Will you be filling us in on the American coverage/perspective of Prime Minister Harper's visit with President Obama?
Must be some chuckles about the PR stunt by the Count,too.
Hoping to see some pix soon and I'm wondering if we'll be able to see the show on the tube, just like the Westminster.
I used to have the pleasure of transiting Chicago to get to the Delphi plants in Milwaukee.
One night, I90 north was shut requiring a detour around a Haz-mat spill....onto back streets...
The CB was busy. Low bridges were a constant obstacle.....finally at an intersection dominated with rigs turning left.....a twit with a Lexus ignored a foot cops direction and pushed into the path of the rig's trailor boggies, sounding his horn, in front of me. The driver stopped before colliding with the fool.
The cop screamed "go"...the driver pointed to the fool....the cop walked forward...assessed the situation and then roared "drive-over him". The driver obliged....the Lexus north of the windshield was 1 ft tall.....(the driver claimed 38,000 in the box.....)
I always felt more charitable towards Chicago after that....
The comment on the CB was that the cop was writing the guy in the LEXUS up for obstructing traffic....
Yeah I got to drive over him too.
Very theraputic.....
edit:
We were turning right......
oops! That should be:
'In case Kate isn't back soon..'
Those names are confusing, I didn't know where to stop reading, I thought
Ch.Kampfer's Tainted Sunshine winning a Best of Opposite Sex on Friday
was the whole name!
: sasquatch at 12:43 PM
here in Brampton, many years ago, TT turning rite, was tight for room, and motioned left turning car to back up, to which car driver flipped a bird. The car pretty much lost the whole left side as the TT had to swing a lttle wide. Me, I was behind the idiot in the car and had already backed up a ways. Left my name with the TT driver just in case, but never ever heard any more:-))))
McDonalds. Free wifi. Better food than the hotel too, I bet.
Not that McDonalds is the pinnacle of food by any means, just that hotels are usually execrable.
Kate, I just got back from Fremont for an engineering thing, hotel was $99/night with free web access.
Hilton's Law! Perfect, and perfectly named as well! I attend an annual conference held at the Chicago Hilton, and the experience confirms all aspects of the aforesaid Law. Plus, the place is decorated in a style reminiscent of the tastes of a 1930s plutocrat. And staffed by haughty hotel staff who seem to feel they're doing you a huge favor by even acknowledging your miserable existence.
Having worked for a company that provided internet access for hotels, I'll say this: you get what you pay for.