Here are five things to expect (or not expect) when staying at a hotels in Italy. Know these before you go.
If you’re going to be staying at a tourist destination with a high-end hotel, maybe a chain just like in the United States (I won’t mention them we all know who they are) the experience will be pretty similar to how it is in the United States. But if you are going to be going to a place that has more of the authentic feel smaller towns in Italy boutique hotels small hotels that are owned by families there will be some differences that will really change your experience, but it will change the experience for the better. Who wants to go somewhere and feel like you’re just in the same place as home but there are five things that you want to remember.
I am Carol Amendola D’Anca, the Italian nutritionist who has been traveling to Italy for years and I want to pass on to you some of the things that I have learned. These five things on what to expect or not expect when staying at hotels in Italy can be helpful. If you like what you are hearing and what you’re learning please subscribe so that I can send more content to you and to the rest of the world more content that you can benefit from.
So tip number one for ladies especially, hair dryers there are hair dryers in the hotel rooms even in the smaller boutique hotels and they will dry your hair they’re not the same as a Dyson or a high-end hair dryer but my recommendation is to leave the hairdryer that you have at home because even with an adapter to make the adapt adaptation for the electricity it’s not going it’s not going to work the same plus it’s heavy it’s big it takes up room in your suitcase so i would say just leave the hairdryer at home and use the hairdryer in the hotel might take you a little bit longer but it’ll it’ll work out just fine,
The other thing is irons – I have traveled extensively throughout Europe and I’ve never found an iron or an ironing board in a hotel room so make sure that you roll your clothes or you bring clothes that are not easily wrinkled or if you’re willing to have the hotel press your your clothes they will do that but you won’t likely find an iron and an ironing board in a hotel in authentic Italy. I don’t even know in the larger chain hotels I’ve been into a few, and I’ve never seen an iron or an ironing board.
The other thing is at the hotel they will take your laundry they will do your laundry they will press it beautifully it’s not necessarily cheap but they will do it for you and so you can have fresh laundry that way but again don’t plan on ironing your clothes when you get to the hotel because there won’t be an iron or ironing board.
The third thing I want to mention is about breakfast. I’ve had travelers come with me that complain about the breakfast like they just didn’t think it was like home and it won’t be. Italians really are not big on breakfast they’ll have a little pastry and a cappuccino or even an espresso and that’s pretty much it. They call their pastry a cornetto or a biscotti in the morning probably one of the reasons for that is because they have a late dinner and so they’re still digesting their dinner first thing in the morning so the breakfast was not going to be bacon and eggs and scrambled eggs and some of the in a lot of meats but it will have prosciutto it will have some salami (in case you are a meat eater) will have fruits there will be plenty of coffee there but don’t expect it unless again you’re staying in a chain high-end hotel that it’s going to be the same that it is in the united states.
The other thing while we’re talking about food is room service there’s little room service you can go down to the lobby if you need an extra cup of coffee or something but generally at hotels especially hotels that do half board and they’ll do breakfast and dinner and then everything gets put away and it’s not brought out and it’s not necessarily brought up to your room if there’s an emergency you could probably find someone at the hotel that could bring you something up but plan on if you need that extra something to eat later picking it up at a grocery store at a small market and having it in your room and there’s not a lot of also I’ve not seen a lot of the mini bars as they’re called and so sometimes they’ll have a mini bar and many times they will not.
While we’re talking about being comfortable at the hotel just also plan that the bedding is different that is tip number five the bedding is not going to be pillow top it’s not going to be big fluffy pillows most likely in the hotels that are typical in it in Italy or in smaller cities they will have they will be comfortable their sheets will be clean the pillows may not be as thick and the size of the bed is different Europeans and Italians are smaller than Americans so there’s no such thing as California king they’re not going to be converting the bedrooms and the beds to California king necessarily anytime soon so make sure that you are prepared for that the bedding’s a smaller bed itself.
So, to recap, here are the five things that will make your stay much more pleasant while in Italy:
No need to pack your hairdryer, hotels do not keep irons or ironing boards in hotel rooms, room service at smaller hotels will most likely be limited, bedding such as matresses, pillows and bed size will be a little different, but comfortable, breakfast selections will be different but very delicious!
