Now that my Euorpe trip is getting on it's way, I was wondering if I really needed to get a hotel with air conditioning if I'll be travelling in July? I will be visiting London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. I noticed alot of European hotels don't have ac.

Personally, I prefer to have A/C in any area which can be exceptionally HUMID and all of these places can be just that in July. You can survive without it as many of the residents of these cities have, and do.

Ask yourself this question: if you were traveling to these places in the Winter would you want a hotel that provided the other kind of "air conditioning"...mainly heat? If the answer is "yes" then why would you put up with not having it in July?

Typical summer weather in the cities you list isn't hot enough to make a/c a necessity, but in a heat wave it is nice to have. If you sleep at home with the a/c on, then you will probably want it in the hotels you will be staying in.

Yes, in general it is needed. The last summers at least were very hot.

Go for it if you can. Although I live (part time) in Brussels and don't have airco, my day as a resident is very different from someone's day as a visitor--on a hot day, you are still out doing things all day, I'm hiding inside or lurking in a cafe. In the summer of 2003, during the brutal heat wave, I stayed in a couple of hotels without AC and it was pretty unpleasant.
If your budget absolutely won't let you choose a hotel with AC, request a room that gets afternoon shade rather than afternoon sun. It will make a world of difference on a warm day. One of the reasons that I prefer the 7th and 16th arrond of Paris in the summer is that they have more wide, tree-shaded streets. The Marais streets are small and narrow and tend to trap heat and pollution on those warm, muggy days.

In a busy city, can you sleep with the windows open and the night noises coming in? If so, then you probably won't NEED it. You will still probably want it.

If, however, you are a light sleeper, you need it. Otherwise you will be shut up in a stuffy place with no circulation.

My first trip to London was in August, and they had a heat wave -- 90+ degrees every day, not much relief at night. Didn't bother me much, as I'd just come from Miami, which is hotter than that and more humid, but it made the headlines. Glad I had AC!!!

You may not need it but it is good to have the a/c.

I would recommend going for A/C. I suppose it depends on your tolerance for heat though. If, for example, you don't sleep well in heat, you should go for A/C. It can definitely get hot enough such that you will want it (or at least be much more comfortable if you have it). Have fun, that sounds like a great trip!

How much do you mind heat and humidity? Can you sleep if you're sweaty, tossing and turning?

When do you run your AC at home?

Be aware that many public places don;t have AC - so you might have no AC at all - day or might.

In July temps in Paris can eaisly be in the mid/high 90's, the other 3 cities might be a little cooler - but all can be humid.

I would no more stay without AC in the summer than I would in NYC or Washington.

We found that it wasn't just heat and humidity, but also noise! When you have your windows open in the city, expect noise! We were pretty miserable in Paris last summer...between the heat and noise all night and early in the morning; so much so that we moved from a free apartment to a hotel that had a/c which we paid for. That says a lot, I think! This was mid-July.

I was in Delft the last part of May 2005 and the temperature rose to the 90s in the day. NO AIR CONDITIONING! The low was between 76-81 at night. I thought I would die! I put wet washclothes(brought from home) on my body. I will be there at the same time this year, but if it is hot, I am buying a big fan. It will be worth it to leave it behind. It was also in the 90s in Zurich. No air conditioning.

In some countries in Europe it is nowhere as humid as here in the USA.

Ask me, and I would say no AC required. In fact, last July in England I was buying sweaters. I think there was a low of 50 F one day. I was freezing. However, ask my DH and he would say he COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT AC for 1 day in July without DYING.

I agree with others though, the noise factor is a good reason to go for AC if you can. Esp. in those big cities.

We definitely needed a/c in July 2004 in Paris and London. London was really warm and really humid. We spent one (sleepless) night in a hotel w/o a/c in London, and it was unpleasant. We found we did not need a/c when we were in Amsterdam that same summer. I really think it just depends . . .

Thanks everyone I'll be coming from Hawaii so I do know what hot & humid. I will definetly get the air conditioning.