By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer

The tweaks are done. The kinks worked out, and now all five properties owned by Charming Inns are equipped with wireless Internet capability.

Charming Inns, which owns Wentworth Mansion, Fulton Lane Inn, Victoria House Inn, Kings Courtyard Inn and John Rutledge House Inn, all in Charleston, began the process of installing wireless technology about a year ago.

The system was available in February, but it took several months to perfect, says revenue manager Michelle Woodhull. That process ended in June.

“We have quite a bit of repeat customers, and we’ve had comments from them about how great it is. All we had before was dial-up, so people are pleased we’ve added this,” Woodhull says.

Charming Inns, with 126 hotel rooms between its five Charleston properties, made the move to install wireless technology to keep up with “amenity creep,” Woodhull says.

“That’s when something like wireless becomes something that you have to offer to be competitive or to have an edge,” she says.

Large chains have begun offering wireless regularly. In 2002, Marriott announced it would install wireless in 400 hotels. During the past couple of years, wireless has evolved from a novelty to an expectation, and now small hotel companies are finding ways to unwire, speed up and otherwise enhance their high-tech offerings to keep up.

At Charleston’s Andrew Pinckney Inn, for instance, wireless was installed during the past two years as a way of keeping up with the big-time competition.

“It’s definitely a selling point. We use it in our dialog when selling the hotel. We’re not a name brand (hotel), so we have to be head and shoulders above the name brands,” says assistant manager Stacy Vipperman, who says eight to 10 people a day use the inn’s wireless network, not only for work but also to plan activities while visiting Charleston.

“Ours is an increasingly technological society. We do quite a bit of corporate business in the week, but we also have a lot of leisure travelers. These are people who travel with their laptops. They want that access,” Woodhull says, adding that for some time, guests at Charming Inns’ properties were sent to nearby coffee houses or Internet cafés for wireless access.

“People do so much communication via e-mail. It’s a big means of communication both professionally and personally.”

For Charming Inns, installing the most modern means of accessing the Internet in centuries-old buildings was no small undertaking.

The process began when the company conducted a technology overhaul at its corporate offices on King Street. To prepare for the wireless age, Charming Inns set aside part of their corporate network to handle wireless access among its guests. Precautions were taken to make sure guests could not access the company’s private network. Next came the process of installing the hardware. This, Woodhull estimates, cost $4,000 per property—bringing the total cost to approximately $24,000, when adding the company’s Claussen’s Inn in Columbia.

Once the antennas and routers were installed, a series of adjustments were needed.

“We did have some difficulty getting through the fine-tuning,” Woodhull says. “We’re dealing with buildings with very thick walls. There were dead spots where you couldn’t get a strong enough connection.”

Unlike many large hotel chains that charge by the minute, Charming Inns offers wireless for free, but the system is password-protected to make sure it is only used by guests.

With the system installed, Woodhull says Charming Inns’ employees are witnessing first-hand the proliferation of a relatively new technology. Many guests, although eager to use the wireless network, are still learning themselves.

“There have been some frustrating experiences,” Woodhull says. “A lot of people don’t know how to use their computers unless it’s for certain things. Maybe they do all their work on their laptop, and they’re connected to their network at work, but they don’t know all the functions.”

Woodhull says front-desk staff field technical questions and offer wireless cards to guests, who discover their laptops are not equipped for wireless, at no charge if returned.

While Charming Inns is learning the ins and outs of wireless and helping their customers along the way, the hotel industry keeps moving forward, Woodhull says. The next “amenity creep” to keep up with is never far away. The question is, how much of it will small hotel companies adopt?

“I know some hotels are doing business rooms where everything is somehow electronic. You walk in, and the lights turn on automatically. The air conditioner comes on by itself,” Woodhull says.

“We won’t follow that trend because that would take away from what we’re trying to promote,” she says. “I don’t know where we’ll go next. There’s tons of technology out there, but I’m not sure how it ties into us.”

Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.

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