I am planning a trip to Italy in 2005 and have been researching hotels online. I am confused by the different room types.

What is the difference between single, double, double single use, twin, triple and quadruple room types? I will be traveling with my husband and another couple. To save money, we are considering sharing a room in one city. How would I ask for a room that can accomodate 4 people? Thanks!

All the names are just as they sound. They hold exactly as many people as stated.

For two couples, you would want a quad.

My personal opinion - I would try to economize elsewhere, and I would get two double rooms. European hotel rooms are small generally, and the usual reason for a quad room would be for two parents and two children - not four adults.

If you do inquire about quads, do also inquire about the types of beds in the room--you would have to say that you want a room for four people, and two large beds

there may not necessarily be two doubles, there could be, just for example, one double, one single, and a rollaway or, one double plus a sofabed, or one double and two twins

The only thing I would add is that "twin" often refers to the room having two twin beds.

Pretty self-explanatory

single - room for one person

double - room for two people in one bed

double single use - a double room but charging extra for one person using it (a single supplement)

twin - a room for 2 in two beds

triple - a room for 3 (could be 2 beds or three singles)

quadruple - a room for 4 (could be 2 beds, 3 beds, or 4 twin beds)

There are often also rooms listed as "double/twin". These are twin beds that can be zipped together into one large double. So they are usable by a couple or by two single people.

There is no single supplement for one person occupying a double room. There is often a reduction in price, they don't charge extra because of one person, as there is less work for the maid and less linen use.

Not so, christina: Many, many places charge per person double occupancy. When one person wants to stay in a double room he/she will usually have to pay more than what a single room costs in the same hotel.

Now this doesn't usually happen in large city centre or chain hotels - but whenever you see a listing that says something like "double single use" or "single occupancy of a double/twin" you are essentially paying a single supplement . . . . .

Christina and janis--you are both saying the same thing. One person in a double room pays more than for a single room, but less than two people for the same double room.

If you are looking at sharing a room in order to cut costs, have you considered renting an apartment? That would be the least costly option, with the most amount of space, IMO.

What city are you looking at?

Last year in Rome, Florence and Venice I shared a quad with 3 other women to save expenses.

Keeping in mind that it was to save expenses, it wasn't a bad experience. Most of our rooms were of a decent size - we weren't tripping over each other.

The main issue was the single bathroom - it takes some coordinating to figure out how to coordinate everyone's bathroom time without it taking 3 hours to get out for the day. Another issue was taking a shower - when you're used to jumping in the shower when you feel like it, waiting for 3 other people to finish is a bit of a drag.

Besides the showering issue, none of us really took very long to get ready in the morning, so it worked ok. If anyone in your party takes a LONG time to get ready, you might rather go with a separate room for each couple.

Simply ask for a room for 4 adults. If you say 4 persons they will assume you are a family with children.

<<Simply ask for a room for 4 adults.>>

An appropriate request, if that is what you have. And if you want four beds (or three), then you should add that to your request.

Best wishes,

Rex