Do not disturb: Web surfing

I've always had an aversion to paying for broadband in hotel rooms. Maybe it's the $5 bag of honey nuts or the $15 hamburgers that scares me away.

But that hasn't tempered hotel chains from tapping a blossoming business. In 2003, there were 5,207 hotel properties with broadband access, according to a study by In-Stat/MDR. That number will jump to 26,828 by 2008 and generate about $1.8 billion in revenue, up from the $428 expected this year.

That's got to be a more lucrative business than mini-bar services.

So I decided to open my eyes and do a little broadband shopping among some fine, and not-as-fine, hotel chains. In San Francisco, the Hyatt and the Holiday Inn charge $9.95 a day, although the Holiday Inn charges extra if you start your session before noon.

Down in Silicon Valley, the self-appointed cradle of the Internet, it'll cost you $9.95 at the San Jose Marriott and the Westin Palo Alto. But they also include wireless access in certain areas and shoe-horn in local and long distance calls.

Then I decided to get my head out of the Valley, so I chose Dallas, perhaps the hottest place on earth right now. Most of the hotels stick to the industry rate of $9.95, but one hotel that I contacted gives it away for free. The Quality Inn Market Center gives most guests an Ethernet cord and wireless access at no additional cost as a perk.

Combine that to a $75 room bill and you get a night of guilt-free convenience. Pass the nuts.