An appetite for HSIA

You'd expect a high-class hotel in a high-tech hotbed to offer high-speed Internet access. What might surprise you is the variety of access the Sofitel San Francisco Bay offers.

Originally, HSIA from Guest-Tek was scheduled for just 20 percent of the 421 guestrooms, but today, every room has it. And the meeting rooms offer a mix of wireless or wired access, with hot spots in the lobby, bar and restaurant. "Our clients are used to connecting in many different ways, so we wanted to give them whatever they wanted," says Tohnia Miller, sales and marketing director.

Not only does the hotel offer wireless T1, it has adjustable bandwidth up to 10 megabits, allowing it to book webcasting for business clients such as Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft. Leisure travelers, too, appreciate the service, particularly the complimentary wireless.