Accommodation Standards

Rooms

In North America, where most of my readers come from, each hotel / motel room looks the same, a wall to wall rug, bathroom, TV and A/C. Even with A/C, each window has a screen. The rooms are all the same size and they were made to have a bath tub with shower, toilet and sink.
In Europe, many small hotels have rooms that were not designed for bathrooms and showers. When these showers and toilets are added to the hotel rooms the rooms become smaller.
The rooms don’t have carpets because the tile floor keeps the room cool. European houses usually do not have screens.

Breakfast

Breakfast in an Italian hotel or B&B will be some slices of bread and a croissant, butter, jam and coffee. Orange juice if you are lucky. This is a typical Italian breakfast.
If you have a choice, get a room without breakfast and head down to the nearest cafe where there is a larger choice. Still, scrambled eggs and waffles cannot be found anywhere, alas…

Marcus Beneke wrote:

Italians just don’t have these heavy North American / North European breakfasts. Typically they have a coffee or a cappuccino in the morning, and that’s it. I recommend the nice bars that you find everywhere to take a coffee, a snack or a sandwich in the morning.
It gets you into the Italian atmosphere right from the beginning when you start your day.

Overbooking

John Vittoe wrote:

[…] It is a common occurrence that people telephone or fax for a room and never show up. This is the biggest problem a small innkeeper or B&B owner has to face. Someone phones a few days ahead for a room and there is no time to request a deposit.

In North America you can make a reservation and not guarantee it and the hotel/motel will hold your room until about 4PM. If you don’t show, it’s okay, no charge. If you want to guarantee the room with a deposit or a credit card they will hold the room all night and charge you for the room whether you show up or not. And they still overbook if they can because they know a certain percentage will never show up.

Imagine you are a CT hotel keeper with 18 rooms and 18 reservations for the weekend. You know some people will not show up and the weekend looks like it will be gorgeous. People take the train down from Genoa/Milan on Friday and walk in and want a room for the weekend. Do you turn them away knowing some people with reservations won’t show and your rooms will be empty? They also lose on the meals because most hotels in the CT want you to take the evening meal with the room. That’s why Rick Steves, and others, recommend you phone the hotel the morning of your arrival.
I do and I have never had a problem except in Venice when I didn’t call.

I’m not making excuses, this is the way it is and it will not change. These people are trying to make a living for the whole year in just a few months.
Have you ever been in the CT after November 1st? Most places are closed.