BOLOGNA--I wrote a post over nine years ago complaining about the indifference to wi-fi in French and Italian hotels. Alas, nothing has changed. Used to say, half seriously, that one could live anywhere with indoor plumbing and a dial tone. That was before wireless. Trot the globe, we do, laptops on our knees. Can't live without wi-fi.
"Oui, le wifi, on a ça," they say proudly at the hotel desk, pronouncing it "oui-fee," like Fifi the dog. "Il wi-fi, si, ci l'abbiamo.." Over the years, I've tried to connect from hotels in a dozen cities across France and Italy with mixed results. Often the signal is limited to the lobby, sometimes, despite assurances, there's no connection at all. Pourquoi? one asks politely, only to be met with that infuriating Gallic shrug that says "Pff," I don't know, it's beyond my control. "Je n'y comprends rien," the girls say. "C'est le modem, je pense." The modem, right!
Have these people never heard of the reset button? C'mon, folks. Connecting to the Internet is not a luxury, not an upgrade, not an toy. Nowadays, access to broadband is almost as essential as running water. It's as important to tourism as the phone or the fax machine. Even before we start ranting about extortionist pricing, this message for innkeepers: when you install wi-fi, two things: first, buy a reliable system and second, teach the staff how to keep it running. You've got hot water, you've got electricity. You don't wait for a couple of days to call the plumber or the electrician, do you?
Latest preposterous excuse, at an airport hotel in Bologna: "It's not our fault, it's TIM, the Telecom provider. So sorry. But you can use our computer here at the desk if it's an emergency."
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