Why hotels want to make sure that free Internet doesn’t become the norm

Free Wi-Fi. You can get it while sipping a double tall latte at Starbucks, eating a Big Mac at McDonald’s or waiting for your flight at an increasing number of airports.

While relaxing at your hotel once you arrive? Maybe not as hotels continue to buck the free Internet trend in pursuit of millions of dollars in daily fees. According to the latest survey from PKF Hospitality Research, U.S. hotels took in $269 in telecommunications revenue per available room in 2011, an increase of 51 percent from two years earlier.

It’s safe to say that precious few of those dollars were earned from people using their guestroom phone.