riddle@hoss.unl.edu (Michael H. Riddle) (09/05/90)
From the September 10, 1990, {Insight Magazine.}
Story by Susan Dillingham
HOTELS GET MESSAGE ON PHONE CHARGES
Hotel telephone service, the bane of many a business traveller, is
getting a much-needed revamping. After years of runaway pricing, and
growing complaints by guests, major hotel chains are starting to
reduce or even eliminate surcharges on long-distance calls.
First to go at most hotels are charges on tool-free dialing and some
credit card and collect calls, says Corporate Travel magazine, a New
York monthly that recently reviewed the phone policies of eight hotel
chains that cater to corporate travelers. According to the magazine's
July survey, only Westin imposes a fee (75 cents) for 800-number
calls. Stouffer, Marriott and Radisson all received high marks for
having abolished surcharges on collect and credit card calls, while
Hilton, Hyatt and Westin still charge 75 cents to $1. Rates for
Ramada, also included in the survey, are under review.
The hotels are also moving to standardize rates for direct-dial
long-distance calls. For those calls, most operations use AT&T's
operator-assisted day rate plus a surcharge of 30 to 50 percent. Only
the Westin and Hilton chains do not impose surcharges on direct-dial
long-distance.
Look for the new phone policies to be featured in the hotels'
marketing efforts in the coming months. Plans are already under way
at Sheraton to offer frequent business travellers a free "safe
arrival" call home, says Bill Oates, manager of hotel systems and
telecommunications. Free local calls are also under consideration.
Says Oates: "Telecommunications has become the latest areas of
competition among hotels."bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu (David E. Bernholdt) (09/06/90)
In article <11738@accuvax.nwu.edu> riddle@hoss.unl.edu (Michael H. Riddle) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 620, Message 6 of 8 >Look for the new phone policies to be featured in the hotels' >marketing efforts in the coming months. ... >Free local calls are also under consideration. It might be worth mentioning that Motel6, a budget hotel chain (catering to poor grad students & the like :-), has been offering free local calls for at least a year or two now. I have found this extremely handy. Of course you can't charge toll or long distance calls to your room tab (must use calling card, collect, etc.), but that's okay with me. David Bernholdt bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu Quantum Theory Project bernhold@ufpine.bitnet University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 904/392 6365
John.Ockerbloom@gs6.sp.cs.cmu.edu (09/10/90)
Michael Riddle writes: >>Look for the new phone policies to be featured in the hotels' >>marketing efforts in the coming months. ... It's already happening. When I went out to Beaverton, Oregon at the end of May, the Nendel's I stayed at was offering a free hour of long-distance calls (to standard US numbers) to anyone staying there. Having just left the east coast, I gladly took advantage of the offer. (The base room rate was reasonable, I might add.) John Ockerbloom ockerbloom@cs.cmu.edu ...!uunet!cs.cmu.edu!ockerbloom ocker@yalecs.bitnet (forwarded) 4209 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15217