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International House: A Lesson In Why You Should Never Revisit a Holiday Romance

Where: 221 Camp Street [map], New Orleans, LA, United States, 70130

Yesterday we told you about our free WiFi (and bad service) hell at the International House in New Orleans. But while our computer hated its stay, how did we find it? Here goes...

Check-In: We already knew we loved the beautiful lobby area of International House because we stayed there two years ago and adored our stay. The guy on the desk was lovely, and gave us the key to room 1005. (When we booked over the phone, we asked whether we could get a discount for staying alone, and instead, they slipped us an upgrade from a queen to a king room, since we had stayed there before).

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International Hotel WiFi / Barcelona Hotels / Free WiFi Hotels / → All Tags

A Budget Barcelona Hotel Has Secret Free WiFi

Where: Via Augusta 5, Barcelona, Spain, 08006

We picked up a rumor on German photographer Mareen Fischinger's blog that the not-overly-spectacular Balmoral Hotel in Barcelona had free WiFi. Since this hotel has rooms going for about half the price of the last Barcelona hotel we found WiFi at, we thought we'd better check it out.

Search the Balmoral Hotel website as you will, the best we can find is a mention of modem connections in every room. Nothing about access, certainly no mention of WiFi, and no magic phrase "it's free" either. So we emailed them to check and guess what:

We have wifi Internet in the whole hotel. It is free access for our guests.

Woo-hoo! Barcelona rooms at €60 ($75) a night, WiFi included. We are definitely not complaining about that.

International Hotel WiFi / Free WiFi Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags

Barcelona's Cristal Palace Only Has Good WiFi on the First Night

Where: Diputacio 257, Barcelona, Spain, 08007

We're always heartened to hear of hotel WiFi that not only doesn't cost anything extra, but also actually works. As in, whenever you want, you can actually check your email--it's not a big ask these days.

So we started off quite pleased to read a NewsWireless mention of the Eurostars Cristal Palace Hotel in Barcelona. The reporter checked into the hotel, switched on his laptop and the WiFi "just worked right away". And it's free. All good so far.

But the next morning, despite changing nothing, the WiFi didn't work on that computer anymore--even though other people could log on. Not being able to discuss the problem well enough in Spanish, and with staff who couldn't deal with the drama in English, the tech troubleshooting came to a standstill and the reporter ended up "freezing his arse off" in an internet cafe.

With a double room putting you back a minimum of €127 ($160) at the Cristal Palace, landing in an internet cafe to read your mail is not really on. Still need some work on their technology over in Barcelona.

[Photo: jaju]

Brussels Hotel Reviews / Free Wifi Hotels / International Hotel WiFi / → All Tags

Hotel Le Chatelain :: Free WiFi in Ixelles

Where: Rue du Chatelain 17, Brussels, Belgium, 1000

[Ed. Note: As we mentioned earlier this week, our publisher took a fancy European trip last week while we toughed it out in the wilds of Colorado with our laptop tied around our neck. Here is one of his reports from a Beligum hotel. Enjoy.]

Our first night in Belgium we stayed in the "all suite" Hotel Le Chatelain in the Ixelles area of Brussels. If you are dead set on being steps from the Grand Place touristgasm then you probably want to keep hotel hunting. However, Le Chatelain offers oversized rooms, flat screen televisions, and important European hotel features like enclosed showers (we hate when the water gets all over the floor thanks to a curtainless shower/tub), and free WiFi in the lobby/courtyard. Free WiFi is kind of a big deal in Europe, as you can end up paying upwards of €30 a day for hotel WiFi access!

The supposedly efficient German airline Lufthansa managed to lose our luggage, but the desk staffers at Le Chatelain made our life a lot easier by calling the baggage folks and coordinating the luggage drop off for us.

The view from our room, #703, looked up Rue Washington, a quiet street in Ixelles. Avenue Louise, and all its high end shops, are only a block away, plenty of Art Nouveau buildings are within walking distance, and the Place du Chatelain bar and cafe scene are just blocks away.

One caveat: If you think you can walk to the Grand Place from Ixelles, prepare for a good 40 minute walk. Our advice? Take a tram or a cab, the nice folks at the front desk will help you find our way.

More Le Chatelain Brussels Hotel Photos

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