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From: riddle@hoss.unl.edu (Michael H. Riddle)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Hotels Get Message on Phone Charges
Message-ID: <11738@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 4 Sep 90 21:19:33 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 620, Message 6 of 8


 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."