I'm suffering from "net deprivation" at the moment, staying in a Marriott hotel in the centre of Moscow. The price for using the Wi-Fi for one hour is 320 roubles plus VAT, which comes to £7.57 or $15.45. That's even more expensive than London (Docklands), assuming you can't pick up a free connection, or get one free with a coffee and cake. Here, you can't.
I was even more amused to find I couldn'tjust get an access code over the phone. No, I have to see the lovely Lyudmila (from Moscow.net) in person, because there are papers to sign. I have agreed that "any actual or attempted use of this account for sending SPAM/USE mailings or virus related activity will result in service suspension." Since I never check into expensive foreign hotels to send spam, this is not a problem....
As an aside, to get to the lobby, and back, I have to use my room key in the lift, or it won't recognise my floor.
All this is in aid of Kaspersky Lab's annual international conference about malware. It's exactly like any other conference in an American hotel chain, and with many of the same people. But most conferences nowadays include free Wi-Fi....
