Hotel w/ A/C necessary in August?
 

Probably a stupid question but we REALLY want to stay in Vernazza while in Cinque Terre Aug. 17-20 but every hotel we have contacted does not have air conditioning - a few have a fan.

Are we crazy to even consider this? Or is there enough of a breeze that we'll be okay. We do want to be comfortable...

You're gonna roast!!!

Then I just don't understand how none of these accommodations have A/C!
We have contacted: Caro Elisabetta, Gianni Franzi, Guiliano, Vernazza Rooms, and Martina (among others that haven't responded but certainly don't advertise AC on their website)
Yet, AC seems to come standard in the accommodations in other Cinque Terre villages.
Has anyone stayed in Vernazza during August and can provide any advice?

Hi C,

Will one night of 85 F and 80% RH ruin your vacation?

((I))

I think Ira's question is a good one.

Some people actually believe that non-air conditioned hotel spaces are "charming."

Not exactly charming, but surely better for your health than rooms with A/C.

logos999 - unless you were an oldster in France in 2003 when maybe 15,000 seniors died from heat in non-air conditioned dwellings and nursing homes!

Hi C,

>Then I just don't understand how none of these accommodations have A/C!

A. Cost
B. Cost
C. Cost

We were on the Amalfi Coast first week of Oct. Hotel's AC was turned off.

We had one night when we stayed out on the balcony until about 02:00 until the room cooled enough to sleep.

This was due to the sirocco.

You will be on the CT in August.

There might be cooling sea breezes carrying the scent of spices from foreign lands that allow you to be lulled asleep by the soothing sound of waves lapping the shore, or there might not.

A sirocco in summer can lift tons of fine sand and carry it across to Italy and France. It is not pleasant.

See
http://www.berkeleyguides.com/forums...p;tid=34438026
for what MFK Fisher had to say about the Sirocco.

((I))

Well, not counting those that died and still die from pneumonia and the germs in many A/C systems. Those are much higher in numbers.

logos999 - Who dies from air conditioning? Clean out your filter. It's easy. Anyway, where's the plague that should be in Arizona and New Mexico and Florida because of this? (Pneumonia - a virus - hides in air conditioners?)


I'm not an AC addict - have only one in my apt. in NY, but not sleeping well for days or weeks, because of the humidity and heat (without AC) can't be all that healthy! Plus, people with allergies do much better with AC because it filters the air.

>Clean out your filter.
It's not yours, it's theirs. In fact few hotels ever care.

It really is just cost. I have some German friends (current German, live in Dresden) and they took a trip to that area last July when it was pretty hot, alsoo, of course. They didn't have AC because they were on a more minimal budget, and she said she didn't really feel that good some days, and they limited their activity because of the heat. She said it was not enjoyable.

So not all Germans love that no-AC in Italy in the summer concept.

You couldn;t pay me enough to stay without REAL AC in August.

I've never encountered REAL AC in Europe.

In Arizona, we design for an ambient temperature of 120°F, and most systems can cool a space to 80 or less, which is comfortable here (remember - our summer humidity is in the single digits except during the monsoon).

We were in England, France, and Germany in June-July 2003, and none of the air-conditioning systems at hotels we stayed in got the temperature much below 90.

So be forewarned. If the recent warming trend in Europe continues, you will be uncomfortable with or without AC.

This is a no brainer; CT without A/C in August ain't pretty enought for me!

Pick another town until you get a hotel with A/C; if you are choosing to go to Italy on vacation in August, fork out the monies for A/C.

We stayed in 2 different air conditioned hotels in France last summer in August and they were comfortably cool. I'd say it was REAL A/C, but I'm glad I didn't think about the cruddy filters!

A few yrears ago, I was in Florence in late September. The room I had was unbearably hot. The hotel advertised A/C, so I asked the manager why the A/C wasn't working. He told me that they turn it off in September, and I would have to grin and bear it. I then told him that I would not pay my bill. A few minutes later, the A/C was turned on. Ther is more than one way to skin a cat.

Well - I have found many hotels in europe with real AC. they are usually newer properties or very upscale. And - if I have to trvel in mid summer for some reason those are the only places I wil stay.

For shoulder seasons I'll take places with european style AC - and then they're usually enough.

But it really depends on the needs of the OP. I have a friend with an apartment in Manhattan that uses her AC only when it goes over 90 - while we use it to keep the apartment at 72 - since we can;t sleep if it's any hotter.

The biggest issue is that if you have no AC all day (either outdoors or in restaurants, shops, museums etc) then it's much more important that you have some relief at night and can sleep.

I definitely think it depends on how a person handles heat. I find that when it is hot, going in and out of air conditioned spaces is tough on me. If I can just acclimate to the heat, I do pretty well. If it is hot, it is hot. I just move slower, drink more, and try to seek out shade. At night, I sleep fine as long as there is a fan. Fresh air is key to that though - if for whatever reason, natural ventilation is not possible, then forget it.

Air conditioning is not a health hazard, any more than heating is a health hazard. Odd that people are willing to inhale carbon monoxide and particulates from wood in a fireplace but will then claim that filtered air from air conditioning is unhealthy. Also odd that people will complain about the energy requirements of air conditioning on a day with 100° temperatures, but will not hesitate to overheat their buildings by 20° for an entire winter.

As Robespierre has pointed out, European air conditioning often isn't real air conditioning, in the sense that it is woefully, ridiculously inadequate to the task. One serious problem with underpowered European A/Cs is that they aren't cold enough to remove moisture from the air, so the air has a sickly, clammy, humid feel to it that is extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Europe is getting hotter every year. Eventually Europeans will have to overcome their ignorance and superstition and install A/C just about everywhere. But they are certainly stubborn.

Paris, by the way, is enduring the hottest April weather ever recorded, with temperatures 30° F above the norm for this time of year. The cause is exactly the same one that produced a deadly heat wave in 2003, and the only reason nobody has died yet is that this is a cooler time of year than August. Even so, the daily maximums this week have been 10° hotter than the normal yearly and August maximums for the city.