Phone Follies

Have you made a telephone call from a hotel or motel lobby lately? Travelers have always been advised not to use the hotel room to place calls due to the additional expense. Are you aware of the tremendous expense of using hotel or motel lobby telephones?

A call placed from Harvey’s Hotel lobby in Stateline, Nev., to Reseda, Calif.--one minute: $5.03.

A call placed from a motel lobby in Stateline, Nev., to Kirkwood, Calif., a distance of perhaps 45 miles--one minute: $4.38.

A call from the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Nev., to Reseda, Calif.--one minute: $4.77.

Using a residence telephone in Reseda, calling Nevada, one can chat for 22 minutes for $5.06. One can call Canada, or Washington D.C., for less than a call from Stateline, Nev., to Kirkwood, Calif.

This legal robbery is hosted by private telephone companies operating in hotel-motel lobbies, and with no regulation they can charge you whatever they want. So watch out next time you lift that receiver when you’re away on vacation.

BEVERLY F. BUCKLEY

Reseda