Public Wi-fi - Value add or revenue generator?+

Was at a hotel in the Midlands earlier. I won't mention their name because that would be like free marketing for them and I don't really want to do that. However, they are a 4 star hotel located just off the M69 and A5.

Great location, from what I saw of the hotel, it looks OK (in a corporate kind of manner) but, imagine my surprise when I opened my laptop and wanted to access Wi-Fi. £6.99 for an hour something around the £20 mark for an all day connection.

When will a business learn that Wi-Fi is a Value Add NOT a revenue stream. I was hampered by the fact there was no Orange or Vodaphone 3G signal so 3G was out.....so I decided not to go online AND I certainly won't recommend the hotel as a meeting point. Simply extortionate rates. 

I now realise that I was less than a mile from a McDonalds and their Wi-Fi is FREE. See, Mikey Ds understands Value Add - coffee for around a pound (and it's pretty good coffee too) and free Wi-Fi compared to coffee at over £2.00 (probably) and no free Wi-Fi.

Heck, a couple of miles further up the road and I'd have found a J.D Wetherspoons pub. Good coffee, soft drinks, reasonable prices and free Wi-Fi. Someone else that understands Value Add rather than Revenue Stream. 

Hmmm.....both the latter outlets are aimed at the general public, I suspect that my location was business person focused (read Expense Account).....wonder whether things will change in the credit crunch