Items tagged with NASDAQ:MAR
Give Marriott International a half-hearted gold star for finally committing to leaving Wi-Fi hotspots alone. Bruce Hoffmeister, Global Chief Information Office for Marriott, issued a statement saying the hotel chain has decided to withdraw its petition seeking "direction" from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on what legal Wi-Fi blocking efforts might be at its disposable. "Marriott International has decided to withdraw as a party to the petition seeking direction from the FCC on legal Wi-Fi security measures. Our intent was to protect personal data in Wi-Fi hotspots for large conferences," Hoffmeister said. "We thought we were doing the right thing asking the FCC to provide guidance,...
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After being hit with a $600,000 fine by the Federal Communications Commission over its Wi-Fi blocking efforts, the Marriott International thought better of its ill-advised policy and vowed to no longer block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of its managed hotels. Score a point for consumers, and kudos to the FCC, which has now taken things a step further by outright prohibiting people and businesses from intentionally interfering with Wi-Fi hotspots.In an FCC Enforcement Advisory issued this week, the FCC noted a "disturbing trend" by hotels and other commercial establishments whereby they've taken it upon themselves to block wireless users from utilizing their own Wi-Fi...
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Up until last week, Marriott had the not-so-bright idea of blocking Wi-Fi devices in order to force travelers and conference attendees to pay for its high-speed Internet services, which in some cases could run as much as $1,000. Wiser heads prevailed -- a $600,000 fine by the FCC tends to do that -- and rather than focus on Wi-Fi hotspots, the hotel chain is now reportedly piloting a service that allows guests to access Netflix and other streaming media services through their televisions. According to Bloomberg, the Marriott is testing the service at eight of its locations. By offering guests access to Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and so forth, Marriott is essentially modernizing its in-room entertainment...
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It seems as though cooler heads have prevailed over at Marriott International. The hotel chain has decided to drop plans that would block customers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hotspots -- Internet services that they have already paid for -- and push them to use overpriced Marriott Internet services. Marriott posted the following message to its official site this week: Marriott International listens to its customers, and we will not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our managed hotels. Marriott remains committed to protecting the security of Wi-Fi access in meeting and conference areas at our hotels. We will continue to look to the FCC to clarify...
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Following in the footsteps of the airline industry, hotels are starting to incorporate new ways to help streamline the check-in process for travelers simply by using their smartphone. From checking in via smartphone or using the device to unlock your door, hotels are starting to adapt these new digital programs with Starwood Hotels and Resorts leading the way. On Monday, Starwood Hotels and Resorts became the first hotel chain that will allow guests to unlock doors with their smartphones. Currently limited to only 10 Aloft, Element, and W hotels, the feature, called SPG Keyless, will come to 140 additional locations sometime in the middle of 2015. SPG Keyless is an app-based system that utilizes...
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