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Best International Hotel WiFi: Emirates Palace

Where: Corniche Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Best International Hotel WiFi: Emirates Palace

2008 was a year of great improvements for Hotel WiFi both here in the U.S. and abroad.

More and more hotels began offering wireless internet to its guests (although, not all of 'em were doing it for free.) And when we traveled to Europe in the fall, we had two positive WiFi experiences in Barcelona and in Paris. Of course, we had some issues with the internet in Munich. Fellow HotelChatterer JennM had some hell she experienced at the El Coloso Hotel in Madrid. But even the notorious WiFi gougers in the UK started to jump on the cheap and reliable WiFi bandwagon. A very good bandwagon to ride.

Yet probably the best example of international hotel WiFi has to go to the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. If you can manage to get to Abu Dhabi, you can rest assured that your internet connection will be fast, free and most of all, safe. From USA Today:

The computer and broadcast network — and its 3.5 terabyte storage network — can be cut off completely from the outside world, like the U.S. government's secure intranet

The hotel actually upgraded its system in June increasing the signal so guests can even access the internet from the beach. Then again, when you're playing around $1,000 a night, you should have access to whatever you like--on the internet or off.

[Photo: Rooroy]