Internet access in hotels

[richhagelin]

I am going to need high speed internet access during my next trip (May). Who has experience with high speed internet access in various hotels. How much extra did it cost, was it in the room, was it wireless, how reliable is it, etc, etc,

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I am going to need high speed internet access during my next trip (May). Who has experience with high speed internet access in various hotels. How much extra did it cost, was it in the room, was it wireless, how reliable is it, etc, etc,

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

Most of the major chains have high speed internet available. Some use wireless while others use standard ethernet cables, there are a few that have USB adapters in the rooms as well. Some of the hotels that use wireless have adapters available for guest use.

The cost is all over the map. Some hotels charge in the neighborhood of $10 per day with no weekly option. Other hotels will offer a weekly option of around $40 to $50 per week. Some have pay plans but it is free if you are a member of that hotels "club" or frequent visitor program. Make sure that you ask when you make your reservation. There are even a few hotels that offer competing services, like wireless with weekly rates on some floors and wired with daily but NO weekly rates on other floors. If you are going to stay in one of these hotels call the desk a few days before you arrive and make sure they block you into a room where the internet plan is the one you want.

Probably the best advice is to call ahead and make sure that you can use the service that they offer. If you are staying at a wireless hotel then you might need to switch rooms to get one that is closer to the access point, consider this before you completely unpack.

High speed internet is fairly ubiquitous these days but there are still a few hotels that will have you using dial up and charging you for the phone call to boot.

Good luck,

Mark Vlahos

 

[jmps]

Carbibe Blu has free wireless in the lobby. I saw a lot of people using it when I was there.

 

[scubawife]

Hotel Cozumel had free wireless in the lobby when we stayed there in Dec. Far from highspeed though. Not every hotel in Cozumel has internet, and of the ones that do, several just have a couple computers off the lobby. Not wireless and not highspeed.

 

[Moodiejeff]

Most of the major chains have high speed internet available.

Mark, it sounds like you are talking about hotels in general... Rich is looking for Cozumel specific info.

As I said in a PM to Rich, Casa Mexicana has "high speed" access in the rooms... bring an ethernet cable or you can use one of theirs. Supposedly the lobby also had wi-fi but I never checked and I never saw anyone down there with a laptop. They did have 3 or 4 computers off in a small room right off the lobby too.

Speeds were good but not blazing fast. I would guess about 150K. Definitely fast enough for surfing webpages... upoading pics took a while though.

As was mentioned, Caribe Blu has it in the lobby, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the wi-fi signal would reach the room directly above the lobby too.

Those are the only 2 hotels that are currently open that I have personal experience with, something tells me The Presidente's wi-fi isn't working at the moment :14:

 

[scubawife]

Jeff - Hotel Coz also has wireless in the lobby. It was painfully slow, but my husband had to do some work and it was better then nothing. And I knew about Carib Blu. I've also found a small place right in town that has wireless.

I didn't know Casa Mexicana had it in the rooms. Was it free or is there a charge? I'm trying to plan another week at the end of May and due to project commitments, my husband can only come with me if we can find a place with internet, preferably free and wireless.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Mark, it sounds like you are talking about hotels in general... Rich is looking for Cozumel specific info.

Yep, you're right. I did not notice that this was in the Cozumel forum, I saw it in new posts.

Hotel Cozumel had free wireless in the lobby and bar when I was there a couple of years ago.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Moodiejeff]

I didn't know Casa Mexicana had it in the rooms. Was it free or is there a charge?

It is included in the price of the room, you need an ethernet cable but they will provide you with one if you don't have it. Like I said, it wasn't too fast, most likely in the 150-200K range, but is definitely better than dial-up!

I highly recommend Casa Mexicana, it's a really nice place for the money. The breakfast buffet every morning is a nice perk. It was nice to have a good (and quick!!!) breakfast each morning before diving... normally we just chow on some cereal bars.

I believe all of the condos at El Cantil have DSL, not sure if it's wi-fi... but they are expensive. Right across from Chedraui.

 

[Giggi]

The data port in room 509 at Casa Mexicana doesn't work, but the wireless in the lobby does. Also, they have an area with 4 computers available for use by hotel clients. The Internet there appears to not work when it's raining.