London hotels are among the most expensive in Europe for guests who want access to the internet, a survey has found.
The survey, carried out by internet company Webaroo, found that top hotels in the capital charge an average of £19.70 for 24-hour access. The Hilton and Ritz for example charge £20, it said.
German and French hotels are often expensive too. The survey found an average charge of £16.99 per day in Berlin and Munich, and £14.23 in Paris.
The hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich was the most expensive of those surveyed, charging £25.87 per day.
"I am always amazed at the prices people are asked to pay for wi-fi on holiday or their travels," said Brad Husick, president of Webaroo, a free software programme to enable users to browse real web pages without a connection.
He went on to warn: "Even with the top hotels you have to be careful to check the fine print as their 24-hour period is from 12pm to 12pm the next day, so you could legitimately end up paying £40 for two days net use because you checked your connection in the morning and at night the same day.
"On top of that, many hotels place a limit on the amount of data you can receive in that period, preventing large downloads or the sending of large presentation files without extraordinary surcharges."
Webaroo checked between 10 and 15 hotels in each of the 11 places investigated, including Dublin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Rome, Madrid and Ibiza.
The figures support earlier research carried out by the Good Hotel Guide, 2007 which called for hotels to be more transparent in advertising what type of broadband is available, and at what price.
The British Hospitality Association, the national trade association for the hotel industry, defended London's prices.
Miles Quest, its spokesman, said: "Quite a few hotels do not charge, but some obviously do. If they do, it is a commercial decision.
"If you stay in a luxury hotel, you are paying luxury prices. London is an expensive city anyway.
London does have the most wi-fi hotspots though - nearly 2,000, and more than twice as many as its nearest rival Berlin with 800.
London is also cheaper when it came to surfing the internet at airports, according to Webaroo.
The average price at London airports is £13 for 24-hour use, compared with £20 at Paris airports, it said.