Travelnut

For bathrooms with tubs, no curtain, and a hand-held 'wand' - you are meant to be seated in the tub to wash and rinse, holding and manuevering the wand around you (but at tub level). Ben your head down to rinse shampoo. You aren't meant to be standing up when you use the wand, but if you're careful you can manage it.

sheila

Calville, to seek to answer your questions:-

Europe is not a single culture place. things are done differently there from place to place so the right answer in one place is not the right answer in another.

I actually find when I read your post that I don't know what sort of bed you want, as opposed to "would settle for".

Do you want a king size? Or do you want twins? If you want twins, why do you want them pushed together? And the answer to your quandary is:-

ask for what you want. If you don't know how to say it in the language of the country you're booking in, someone here will help you.

Lots of Europeans don't use washcloths, and thus don't think to provide them. Carry your own if it's vital. They're hardly big.

I don't think Europeans have a towel fixation. I often travel with one becuase I like bath sheets, and I use it as a dressing gown as well, but that's just me.

Downies are pretty good whatever the weather. You just stick a foot out, if you're too warm.

And finally, in the south of Europe, they don't have shower curtains because it's so hot the water evaporates almost before it hits the ground. We do have shower curtains- or screens- in the north

moxie

You don't need a washcloth if your shower has the hose, that will rince any body parts you need. Same with shower curtains you just need to be aware of the hose, you don't need them if you are careful and franklly they look trashy

You wash your face with your hands=)

starrsville

A wash cloth is used to wash with - not rinse.

Wonder why the difference? I can't imagine taking a bath of shower without a wash cloth. Until I traveled I had no idea there were folks who never used them.

calville

Sheila- I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself well enough. We are big, tall Americans and I'm traveling with my husband.
What I really want is an American King (one mattress 1.9m) but since that is impossible to find I'm willing to settle for something between an American King and an American Queen but an American Queen (1.52m) is too small for many nights of traveling.
I could accept an American twin (.99m)apart or separate but would prefer together. I can't comfortably sleep in a skinny European twin like they have in France (.76m?) A larger European twin (.90m) pushed together with another twin under one headboard is OK. What is that type of bed called in German Swiss and High German? (two pushed together)

The large Italian beds (single mattress) that are a little smaller than 1.93 but bigger than 1.52m is also OK. What are they called in Italian?

How are sheets sized in Europe?
Perhaps that's the solution to my dilemma.
No one in America knows the dimensions in inches- I had to look online to find- we go by the names K, Q, F/D or T.
If I say twin or queen to a European it may have an entirely different meaning to them. I would be scared to ask for their biggest bed because at some hotels, their biggest might be equivalent to our full/double (1.37m).
Are there any online mattress stores like we have in the US? What about on-line bed linens? I'd like to see a graph of the different options.
I thought writing a hotel and asking for a bed in cms or m would be bizarre but perhaps this is the most easily understood way.

As far as the advice to stick a foot out from under a down duvet- whoever recommends that must not be a menopausal woman.
Sign language has also not worked in the past. In Munich at a big business hotel downtown they brought me another down duvet!!
Then they came back with another bedsheet. I was never able to make myself understood.

How do I ask for a lightweight wool or cotton blanket in Swiss German and High German or do they not exist?
Thank you Fodorites!
Thanks also for info about the tubs- I didn't realize we were supposed to sit down in the tub and not use as a shower stall.

elina

I don´t know if beds are called anything, usually just single or double, and the measurements (length and witdth) are in centimetres. Same goes for sheets, just length and width, single or double.

A friend of mine who is very tall always phones to a hotel and asks if they have beds that are 210 cm long. In northern Europe they usually do, in southern they don´t.

I don´t really get this shower curtain thing. I have come across a missing curtain only in Greece. At least where I live there are usually sliding glass walls around showers. And you can either leave the shower on the wall or take the head in your hand and target it where you need it. It is much easier to rinse your hair when you have the shower in your hand.

Wash cloth = personal. Usually there are wash clothes in those hotels that get a lot of American guests, otherwise not.

Toilet paper brown and coarse? When was that, just after WWII? There must be hundreds of toilet paper brands in Europe, all different thickness, softness, double, triple or quadruple, pink and white and yellow and blue, with or without pictures. The trend seemes to be that in southern Europe people prefer thin, double or triple, coloured paper. And in northern Europe people prefer thick and soft one layer in white.

People use down comforters in fall/winter/spring. And usually thin cotton blankets in summer. But it is not a combination blanket/sheet. The blanket goes inside of what people here seem to call a duvet.

calville

Elina- we call fluffy feather/down baffled "things"
down comforters or down duvets. We call the covers that contain them duvet covers or comforter covers.
So are you saying even a lightweight cotton blanket doesn't go by itself on top of a bed? It's supposed to go inside a cover? That would be OK with me- in the US, luxury hotels generally triple sheet the beds- they create covers using two top flat sheets.
If anyone knows how I ask for a lightweight blanket in Swiss German and High German, please fill me in.

Without powerful a/c to combat the warmth of a down duvet, I'm uncomfortable.
I've noticed down duvets are a new trend in luxury US hotels as well which would be OK if the hotels would offer a lighter alternative in each room but they rarely do- you have to call the front desk after you're undressed and about to climb into bed.

The brown toilet paper was just a few yrs ago in Germany not WW2

StCirq

Here's IKEA France's selection of mattress sizes:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/fr_FR/rooms_i...006/index.html

To get mattress sizes for other countries go to www.ikea.com and pick a country. If you need terminology in different languages for various types of bedding you should be able to find it there.

UNCalum

On the subject of washcloths.... I take a few meant for babies. They are small and thin enough to dry very quickly.

starrsville

I take a washcloth in a ziploc bag. Just like having one.

I've never seen brown toilet paper, but I do find hotel toilet paper more scratchy that what I buy at home. So, for longer trips (domestic and international) I do tuck a roll in my suitcase.

sheila

Bloomin' 'eck!

Believe me, calville, that WAS indeed a menopausal woman who said stick a foot out. I'm never uncomfortable with a downie.

I'd add a word of caution about Ikea. I can't get pillow cases in France in Ikea to match the pillows we bought in the UK.

Just ask them for beds that are long enough.

elina

calville, thanks for explaining the "duvet terminology". Yes, the blanket slides inside the "duvet cover". It is faster to make the bed than do those elaborate sheet arrangements. Plus the blanket also stayes there.

I don´t think you have problems asking a thin blanket in English. Hotel people everywhere are used to speaking many languages. That is usually a requirement before you even get the job.

Linda431

"As far as the advice to stick a foot out from under a down duvet- whoever recommends that must not be a menopausal woman."

Calville, I feel your pain! I had the same thought. The foot thing wouldn't get it with me either.;-)

Linda431

....and on the washcloth thing.
In over 20 trips abroad, I am still baffled at that. How do those gorgeous French women with perfect complexions wash their faces and not get their hair wet without wash cloths?

I've seen them supplied more in the last few years, but that could be because we stay in nicer places than when we first started travelling. I love the ones that look like 2 cloths sewed together, like a glove.

I do think it's the cost thing though.We have a beach rental and the wash cloths are definately the most likley item to "disappear".

calville

LOL Linda and Sheila- we were staying at a US hotel with inadequate a/c over July 4. They had a no cancellation policy because of the holiday weekend. I told the guy at the front desk that I had a dire medical condition (menopause). He looked stunned and immediately released us from our reservation!

St. Cirq- thanks so much for the IKEA site. Apparently these are the actual measurements of the "textiles" themselves? (Not a bed size like in the US). Switzerland IKEA seemed to have sheets in 90, 140, 160 and 180cm and duvets in 150 and 240? I might have been misinterpreting though...
I also saw something that came in 90 and 200. Kind of confusing...

kamilayne

Been debating these questions for years as DH is German and he brought his bedding w/ him; came up w/ one solid truth:

Thank God for these little differences!

Great discussion pieces and laughable but I agree wholeheartedly w/ FainaAgain's original reply:

why is it some americans expect everything in Europe be like it is in USA?

One more point of contention but this one aimed at The States and probably more suited toward the ladies on the boards:

Why is it that America seems to be a voyeuristic state? Proof positive... the space in bathroom stalls that is only about 3/4 in. on each side of the door but enough for a passerby to see what is going on if determined enough while in Europe you get a private stall w/ no sneak peek spaces? Seems to be a discrepancy in America's otherwise prude nature in nakedness and private space.

cocofromdijon

<Toilet paper brown and coarse? When was that, just after WWII?> Actually in old cafés or on the motorway restrooms (very rarely now and not in gas stations..)
I think Europeans are smaller than the Americans, (at least the French) that is why we have smaller beds! I personally have an electric queen bed (with two 80cm separate mattresses with one sheet) If one is moving or wants to read and lift ones mastress no problem. but I would get lost in the big one you said (1.93!) is there anybody here with meeeeeeee????? ;-)
the standard sizes in France are 90cm for a single bed (80cm not 76cm is for electric beds or very very small rooms, hard to find now)
The normal double bed is 140cm and we tend now to have 160cm (in a large one or 2 singles). We don't see many 180cm which seem huge for us!
Duvets for a 90cm bed is 140x200 or 200x200 and can be 240x240, 240x260 for bigger beds.

As for the shower I agree with Travelnut, you sit if there is not curtain. (hate curtains when they stick on your back, brr!).

In the flat I rent out, you can find a queen size bed (160cm), wash gloves,
sliding glass walls and flowered toilet paper

When I read you I feel it is very uncommon and I'm glad I put all this! (and now I think I might take two single mattresses (80cm) to replace the 160 one.)

nytraveler

Sorry - I don;t take baths - except for fun.

And I do need to shower and wash my hair - standing up - every day. The places we stayed all said room with shower - which to me means standing up. They really do need to put in some curtains - or say the room is bath only - no shower.

hopingtotravel

Somewhere on here this is a whole other thread explaining duvets vs blankets.
Yes, it is a pain to stand up and wash your hair with the tiny glass 1/3 shower curtain. My husband especially is capable of soaking the whole bathroom. I look at it like getting lost--just another part of the experience. And, I do take along my own washcloth.

cocofromdijon

here is the thread
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34695233