Trouble connecting to wifi in Portugal

While vacationing in Portugal my iPad would only find the wifi at the 4 B&B's we stayed at if I put it right up to the router . It was working great at the airport prior to the trip and when I came home it worked great on any floor in the house and outside the house. WHile there I reset the unit and nothing seemed to help. It acted as if the antenna was broken given I had to be next to the router but if that was the case why would it work fine when back home

Has anyone experienced this before and if so found a solution to fix it

Thanks