Need for Speed

Once you've gotten used to zipping around the net with a high-speed connection at your home or office, the dial-up connection you might have to use at a hotel seems as slow as molasses. Luckily, major hotel chains have been installing in-room, high-speed connections, but until now, they charged about $10 per day. Good news: That fee is disappearing.

• Wingate Inn
• was one of the first midscale hotel chains to offer free high-speed Internet access as part of its price (about $99 per night). You'll also find free high-speed wireless access at an increasing number of the chain's 130 properties. Wingate Inn hotels will have free wireless Internet access installed in all guestrooms and public areas by the end of the first quarter of 2004.

• Marriott
• now offers free high-speed Internet access at all its Courtyard hotels. By the end of this year, free high-speed access will be available at Marriott's Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites and TownePlace Suites brands. At full-service Marriott and Renaissance hotels, you'll still pay $9.95 per day for a high-speed connection.