This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Last October, if you recall, LAist took a road trip around the country. For 40 days we drove an old car around the nation and slept in hotels and motels and even at our friends' homes and the first thing we asked before we booked a room or accepted a spare guest room was, "how's your connection?"
And even though it was 2006, we were shocked at how many people we're all, "what connection?"
Your Internet connection! Damn it. The only connection that matters.
From doing our work, to blogging on our personal site, to watching "Lost", a good Internet connection could be the difference to a good night's stay or a bad one. And oddly, after a while we stopped asking for the wireless connections to the Internet and began hoping for LAN-based high-speed because it was generally more reliable and faster. We even traveled with our own 25-foot network cable for those jackasses who thought it was better to put the Internet jack way across the room from the bed. How's a man supposed to watch pornotube from a desk?
So we went back to looking for Wi-Fi at hotels and found that not all Wi-Fi is created equal.
Hotel Chatter just announced their best hotel chains in regards to wireless fidelity, and you'll be happy to know that many LA properties were given the tip of the cap from the pricey Standard and Chateau Marmont to the more moderately priced Marriott chain.
Of all the chains we visited this fall, only the Marriott hotels gave us problems, despite being some of the most expensive in our budget. But as far as judging from straight up Wi-Fi, we suppose it worked pretty good. If only they worked on fixing their early morning fire alarms, lack of hot water, and poor customer service.
Don't be surprised if you see Super 8 replace Marriott next year in HotelChatter, they certainly surprised us.
photo by Kelly Sue
