Broadband robbery at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City

I visited Davao City recently and stayed at the Marco Polo Hotel, supposedly the best hotel in Mindanao. I have no complaints about the food (try the moussaka at Cafe Marco!) or the accommodation.

I have a beef, though, against its Internet service. For one thing, they don’t have free wifi, not even in the lobby.

For another, and this really raised my hackles, they charge an exorbitant 300 pesos an hour (!) for broadband service inside their rooms. Actually, they charge 600 pesos a day for the wired broadband service but you can get that rate if you buy a Globe broadband card for the whole day. If you intend to use the connection in the room for, say, only three hours, you are going to be charged 900 pesos.  That is probably their way of pressuring you to get the full day card worth 600 pesos.

I understand that hotels do charge exorbitantly but 300 for an hour of Internet connection? That should be a deal-breaker, as far as I’m concerned.

And to think that just across the street are coffee shops that offer free wifi.