NEW YORK (CNM) -- When choosing a hotel, 72 percent of business travelers now say a room telephone with a data port is "essential," according to a survey by the Corporate Travel Forum. Only 31 percent said the same about a fitness center.
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| A business traveler gets online from a hotel room |
Many travelers carry a small kit of adapters, cords and acoustic couplers to get their laptops online. "I have unscrewed more hotel phones than I care to admit," said one sales executive.
Hotels are responding. Several chains now promise "in-room Internet access," which in most cases means a phone line with no extra charge for local calls. A few luxury properties have begun offering high-speed connections for $9.95 a day.
The survey also found that 18 percent of respondents had at some point checked e-mail from a hotel bathtub. The survey did not ask how that went.
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