Hotel Business Centers: What to Expect

Hotel business centers can vary widely between chains and even between different hotels that belong to the same chain. A business center can be a couple of old computers tucked away in an alcove off the lobby providing little privacy, or it can be - as the name implies - a large room equipped with just about everything you need to work and keep in touch with the office.

Although many hotel websites will tell you that they have a business center, details can be vague or misleading and you may not know for sure until you arrive. If in doubt, call the hotel directly - the hotel itself and not the chain's toll free reservations number - and ask. You may want to ask some specific questions: Is the business center open around the clock? Would you have access to color printing? Are lasers and inkjets available? What about a copier and a fax machine? Is there any kind of tech help, should you need it? And of course, you'll want to ask whether all of this is free to use when you need it - even in the middle of the night.

The Best and the Worst

Perhaps surprisingly, many luxury hotels actually assess an extra charge for in-room wireless Internet access, although luxury hotels tend to have the best equipped business centers. Ritz-Carlton hotels are considered to have the best facilities for the business traveler. As far as mid-price hotels go, the chains that are considered to have better than average facilities for the business traveler are Wyndham, Sheraton and Embassy Suites.

More and more business travelers are choosing to stay in bed and breakfasts instead of the anonymity of a large chain hotel and some B&B owners have realized the importance of attracting the business traveler with basic business facilities. Don't expect a fully stocked business center in your next B&B; however, you may at least be able to check email and send and receive a fax, and many innkeepers are arguably more helpful than some hotel staff.

Doing Business in Your Room

Some hotel chains - especially extended-stay hotels - offer rooms specifically aimed at business travelers. The best chains for business facilities in the room are considered to be Hyatt, Quality Suites, Days Inn and AmeriSuite. If you have your own laptop with you, it's almost certainly safer to take advantage of the Ethernet connection in your room rather than logging on to the shared computer in the hotel's business center. Even if you aren't staying in a room that is designed specifically for the business traveler, most hotel chains today offer wi-fi in the rooms or the public areas.

Are Hotel Business Centers Safe to Use?

If you use the computer in your hotel's business center, the sad truth is that many have inadequate security features. Some use the administrator account for logging on, without the need for a password, thus allowing any user to change settings or install programs. Some experts even advise business travelers not to use them at all - or only use them for the most essential of tasks. You probably should not conduct any banking, investment or extremely confidential transactions on a computer in a hotel business center.

When you get back home, it's also a good idea to change the password on any accounts or secure sites that you may have accessed on the hotel's computer. When you are finished using a computer in a hotel business center, make sure you log out of any sites that you have visited and make sure the computer won't remember your password for the next user.