some hotel Internet connections are not simple DHCP "plug'n'play" but require punching in all the IP bits needed (address, DNS, router/gateway, etc). So you may end up with a funky situation where you'd have to Wifi into the router with the iPad and use it to program the router with the needed parameters... probably still possible without a laptop but may get a little challenging for some... And at least it means that if you plan on doing this, you should practice getting into the router programming pages using the iPad...