Davenport Hotel earns high national rankings

Spokane’s Davenport Hotel ranked among the top 10 hotels nationwide in customer satisfaction in a recent Expedia.com survey.

The Davenport was the only Pacific Northwest hotel on the list. Others included the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in Miami; the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston; and the Conrad Chicago.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia, an online travel-services provider, said the list was compiled from customer reviews of hotels. Only reviews by people who were verified to have stayed in a particular hotel were counted.

The Davenport also ranked third on Expedia.com’s traveler’s picks for the top 10 four-star hotels nationwide.

Spokane developers Walt and Karen Worthy bought the Davenport in May 2000 and completely remodeled the historic building. It reopened in July 2002.

New York

‘Paid autosurf’ may be scam, SEC warns

The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning the public about scams involving investment Web sites that promise to pay people for looking at online ads.

The SEC issued an investor alert Monday regarding the so-called “paid autosurf” programs as it announced it had filed securities fraud charges against the operator of one such Web site, www.12dailypro.com. In a tentative settlement with the SEC, the operator agreed to stop soliciting investors; assets were frozen and a receiver was appointed to take over company operations.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia offers details on Wi-Fi network

Philadelphia on Wednesday announced details of its deal with EarthLink Inc. for the construction of a high-speed wireless network that will span the city, including provisions for EarthLink to pay for computers, training, and subsidize Internet access for low-income households.

Mayor John Street announced Wednesday that the city and Wireless Philadelphia — a nonprofit charged with overseeing the Wi-Fi initiative — have signed agreements with EarthLink, the Atlanta, Ga., Internet service provider. Street also urged the city council to approve the contracts.