Shape up, big hotels

I’ve just arrived in a small guesthouse in Islamabad and been pleased to find free broadband internet access. How come a small private business such as this manages to give their guests good value, yet branded hotels across Europe are still making their customers pay through the nose?
Ok, it’s not me that’s usually paying when I’m travelling, but Sun. Still, you’d think that the days of 20E for 24 hours access should be long gone by now and that if they aren’t large companies like ours should be lobbying for better pricing for this kind of thing. Well done to the Chancery guesthouse, I say.
This is actually my third trip over the last five weeks or so where I’ve stayed in a guesthouse rather than a big hotel. I don’t want to have this post read by Mr Schwartz and co and have my words come back to haunt me, but Sun could probably save a lot of cash by putting us up in more modest places. As long as the place is clean, my omelette doesn’t give me food poisoning, I can be picked up from the hotel and have decent internet access, I’m happy. I do like to use the gym if I’m staying for more than one night, but I suppose I really ought to go old school and just do some pressups instead if it means the room’s half the price.
The journey here was a bit of a pain. We left nearly two hours late which meant I missed my connection in Karachi, but PIA handled things very well at the other end. I was taken good care of with a free pass to the business lounge and used the internet there whilst someone sorted out my boarding pass. Things can go wrong, but it’s how a company handles the situation when hiccoughs do occur and the people from PIA were very courteous and helpful.