Luxury Hotels Often Include Standard Wi-Fi and Charge for Premium

At many luxury hotels, standard Wi-Fi is free and a faster “premium” tier costs extra. The free tier often goes only to loyalty members or guests who book directly, so check the hotel’s internet policy before you book.

Once your laptop is signed in, you can share that connection with your own phone, tablet and the devices that can’t open a hotel login page. Download Connectify Hotspot free to do it from your Windows laptop. The steps are further down.

How Hotel Chains Handle Wi-Fi Today

Policies change and differ from one property to the next, so treat this as a pattern rather than a price list. At the time of writing:

• Several large chains, Marriott, Hilton and IHG among them, give free standard Wi-Fi to loyalty members, usually when they book directly with the hotel. Joining is free.
• Some luxury brands include Wi-Fi for every guest, and some give the premium tier free to their top loyalty tiers.
• Rooms booked through third-party travel sites may not get member benefits, and free Wi-Fi is often one of them.
• Resorts often fold Wi-Fi into a daily resort or facility fee, sometimes with a cap on how many devices can connect.
• Budget and midscale hotels often include Wi-Fi in the room rate, with no premium tier at all.

Check the chain’s site for the current policy at the hotel you plan to book.

Standard Wi-Fi Is Enough for Most Stays

Standard Wi-Fi, sometimes called basic, usually handles email, browsing, messaging and video calls. Premium tiers promise more speed, which helps with 4K streaming, large uploads or several people streaming at once. Some hotels sell premium per device rather than per room.

Try the free tier first. Upgrade only if it can’t keep up with what you need.

Check the Wi-Fi Before You Book

• Read the hotel’s internet policy on its own website, usually under amenities or fees.
• Look for a resort, destination or facility fee and what it covers. Wi-Fi is often part of it, so you may already be paying for it.
• Read recent guest reviews that mention Wi-Fi. They are the best guide to whether the connection is reliable.
• At check-in, ask which tier your rate includes, how long a login lasts, and whether there is a device limit or a charge per device.

What to Do When the Connection Is Weak or a Device Can’t Sign In

If the Wi-Fi is slow in your room, ask whether the room has an Ethernet port. A wired connection is often steadier than the hotel’s Wi-Fi. If your mobile plan includes hotspot data, your phone can cover light use for a short stay.

Hotel Wi-Fi almost always sits behind a login page where you accept the terms or type your room number and last name. Phones and laptops show that page. Game consoles, Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku sticks, Kindles and smart speakers often can’t, so they never get online. Our guide to fixing hotel Wi-Fi that won’t connect covers the common causes.

Sign In Once on Your Laptop and Share It with Your Own Devices

Let your laptop do the sign-in. Connect it to the hotel Wi-Fi, sign in on its browser, then use Connectify Hotspot to share the laptop’s connection as a new Wi-Fi network. Your other devices join that network with a password you set and never see the hotel’s login page. If the room has an Ethernet port, plug the laptop in and share the wired connection instead.

Some hotels charge per device or limit how many devices each room can connect. If yours does, check its terms before you share. Many hotels charge per room or per stay, and in that case sharing with your own devices is fine.

How to Share Hotel Wi-Fi from Your Laptop in 5 Steps

First connect your laptop to the hotel Wi-Fi and sign in on the login page in your browser. Then share it:

1. Download and install Connectify Hotspot on your 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC.
2. Open it and choose Wi-Fi hotspot.
3. Under Internet to share, pick the connection you want to share: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, a VPN or a phone plugged in with USB.
4. Set a password. Turn on Block ads if you want lighter pages on every device.
5. Click Start hotspot. Devices join by scanning the QR code on the Hotspot screen, or with the network name and password, like any other Wi-Fi network.

Connectify Hotspot 27 runs on 64-bit Windows 10 (version 1703 or later) and Windows 11. On a Windows 7 or 8 PC, use Connectify Hotspot 2021 instead: see our Windows 7 and Windows 8 guides.

Keep Your Devices Connected for the Whole Stay

Hotel logins expire, often after a day or at checkout time. When your devices stop loading pages, sign in again on the laptop and they come back on their own.

On laptops with Modern Standby, Windows stops the hotspot about 10 minutes after the screen turns off. Keep the screen on while you stream to the TV.

Connectify Hotspot Lite is free and runs in timed sessions. PRO removes the time limit. For more detail, see how to connect to hotel Wi-Fi once and share it with all your devices.