how important is ac in Paris, Venice, Munich
 

I'm trying to evaluate hotels for a July/August trip and need to know how important it is to have air conditioning in Paris, Venice and Munich.

I do not have ac in my home in Baltimore (which is known for being hot), but even Rick Steve's (the budget guru) suggests it might be needed in Paris and Venice.

I'd love to hear experiences with and without it. Thanks!

If you click on my name, you'll see several threads I started related to that topic for July in Paris. The consensus was that it was definitely needed most of the time. Some people wrote of their experiences without, which sounded terrible. Presumably at home you can open windows and doors - but in a small Paris hotel room there isn't the same opportunity for ventilation.

not to mention in cities (Venice being an exception), if you open the window you are faced with a good deal of city noise.
Your doing without a/c in a Baltimore summer is unusual though, you may be less sensitive to heat and humidity than many others. Or it may not be the record-breaking hot summer in Europe that it was last year. Or it may.

Last summer, very important...we could hardly sleep in Munich during the latter part of August...have a nice trip.

Hotels in Paris in July, August and September need air conditioning in my experience. The climate there is humid, but also air conditioning enables you to keep the windows shut and keep the noise out.

In Venice, I would say a/c was mandatory for the summer. Otherwise you swelter. Hotel buidings trap and retain heat and often there is no cross ventilation in your room.

In Munich, last year when the temperature was 100 degrees F, I think most anyone would say a/c was a nice feature. Of course, we cannot predict the heat. But in Munich as in other places the same reasons for needing a/c apply. I am more comfortable with it; and I see no reason to let a miserable hotel room ruin a trip that has already cost me a few thousand dollars.

When we visited Germany 2 years ago, we hit a period of 4-5 days when it was extremely hot and humid--it 100 F one day. Unless you happen to get a corner room with 2 windows, it's impossible to get any kind of cross ventilation going in a hotel room. We didn't sleep much for 3 or 4 nights--we spent a lot of the evening until after midnight sitting up drinking lots of cold white wine and chatting with other hotel guests and the owners. It was survivable, but A/C would have been very nice.

What you need to remember is that it is not the heat, but the humidity which drives the "need" for A/C. There are many hotels in Munich, in particular, which are highly thought of/rated that do not offer A/C. Opening a window is not going to do much to relieve the discomfort which comes from mugginess...I would never book a hotel most anywhere in Europe for that time of year that didn't offer A/C and for me it is part of the "charm." But if you can survive the Baltimore summers without A/C then you won't have any trouble in Europe...but the question in my mind is why would you do so? Cooling in the summer is just as important as heating in the winter.

How much does the heat bother you? I'm from New York and run my AC steadily fromMay through October (but my apartment is very sunny and warm). If I did not have AC I would move - literally - to Canada or Maine or someting. That said - trying to stay in Paris or Venice in the summer without AC would be unbearable for many people - not just me. Venice especailly is very humid and sticky. Munich might not be such an issue if it stays cool - if the weather turns hot though you will roast there to. One thing to remember is that in Baltimore your house may not have AC but your office, car, shops etc do. this is usually not true in europe - so you will be really hot almost all of the time - not just in the evening.

Hi mb,

If you can stand Baltimore Summers, you can probably stand the heat anywhere.

I take it that you have fans at home. Check with the hotels to see if there will be a fan in your room. They usually do not have them.

Thanks - this is helpful. I probably should have also asked about Bacharach/St. Goar and throughout Switzerland. My presumption was that it would be cooler in those places - am I dreaming?

WillTravel: can you give me some thread names (I clicked on your name, but found the threads too numerous to find the ones on topic.)

All this leads me to ask: who stays in all those hotels without ac?

Europeans.

mberry-

I was at the Rhine/Mosel area last July and stayed at non a/c hotels. Yes, it was very hot! Fortunately, most hotel rooms that I stayed at provide electric fans which made it bearable. And as elaine said, several hotels I stayed at were rather noisy with our windows open.

I've stayed in Paris quite a lot in July without AC. It is a small percentage of the time that you need it, in my opinion, but I do not run my AC from Sept to Oct in my own home, and I live in a very hot and humid area in the summer.

I live in Wash DC, and if you don't have AC in Baltimore, you sure don't need it in Paris. Paris is not as hot or humid as Baltimore. I have only wanted AC in Paris about 10 pct of the days I've been there in July. The question is, how important is the extra money to you or whatever you are evaluating, in case of a heat wave?

I do agree that it is more necessary in a big city when you are in hotels due to the outside noise factor, more than it would be at home.

Paris in August = a/c.

yk,

One July we stayed along the Moselle in France, and it was so hot that the butter at our restaurant table melted in about a minute flat. Since the hotel room had no a/c, we took turns basking in cold water in the tub;the person
"out" wrapped up in a damp towel.

Christina,

I think you must have a very high tolerance for heat and humidity--lucky you!

mberry, here was my first thread on the subject. Subsequent threads attempted to zero in on suitable hotels.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34467021

One thing that made me decide on A/C was thinking about how I get miserable in my own un-air-conditioned home in a coastal city when it gets above 80F. Another thing was thinking about a trip I took to California with my daughter when there was an unexpected heat wave and it went to 103F. She was sick in her hotel room with a virus, and it was just totally miserable outside even though it wasn't even humid. But because we had an A/C hotel room, it really wasn't too bad. I started contemplating how terrible that particular trip would have been without A/C and realized it was a risk I didn't want to take.

Some summers we go to Paris and it's downright cold. Other times it is hot. The hotel we always stay at has had a/c in the rooms for about 5 or 6 years now, but we haven't the need yet to use it and before then, well the room does have wonderful cross ventilation being at the corner of the building with 3 tiny balconies, so we didn't need it then either.

Since you don't have it in Baltimore, I don't know that you'd need it in Paris either.

If you do not have air conditioning in Baltimore, you absolutely do not need it in Europe, even if some times it would make life more pleasant. With the exception of Venice, Europe will not be as humid. Even Venice will prabably be no more humid than Baltimore. I survived last summer's heat in Europe without AC, leaving Paris when it was 104F. My wife was miserable because her comfort zone is between 68 and 72; yours is abviously higher.

Hello! I live in Munich and don't have a/c. Last summer was the hottest in 100 years or something but our apartment was never hot, so it really depends on the type of building, which floor you're on and whether or not it gets direct sunlight. If that's too much to ask a hotel :) don't worry, it's not usually so hot in the summer. Each year it seems to be hot for a week or two and the rest of the summer is usually very mild so the odds are you'd be ok without it. Try to get a hotel on a quiet street then you can at least sleep with the windows open if you want.

I actually had a typo in my post, I meant I don't run AC at home from May through Sept, which is true.

I don't like AC that well, actually, I prefer fresh air, so don't use it until it's over 90 degrees.

It really doesn't usually get that hot in Paris compared to many parts of the US, especially Wash DC which can be like Bangkok in summer.

Official Yahoo weather stats are that Wash Dc's avg. high daily temp in July is 89 degrees. That is the average over the month, and not avg daily temp but avg afternoon HIGH temp. For Paris, the avg afternoon high temp is only 75 degrees in July. It's not nearly as humid as Wash Dc/Baltimore, either.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it but actually I have never heard of anyone living in Wash DC/Baltimore area without AC so if that is by choice, you really do not need it in Northern Europe.

Wow! That's a lot of information - thanks (especially to WillTravel - your earlier thread was most informative).

When I said I didn't have ac, I should have mentioned that there is one window unit in my son's room. Both he and his sister seem to "need" it, whereas I much prefer an open window (with good cross ventilation, but plenty of traffic noise).

Anyway, this IS a vacation, and the point about being hot all day everywhere else is a good one: I'll opt for AC for Paris and Venice, but may take my chances elsewhere (Germany and Switzerland).

You'll have to choose. If you do not generally use air-conditioning, you might find the noise as annoying as others find the heat uncomfortable. It's the case with me.

I live on Northen VA, just outside of DC, and I do run A/C most of the summer, but am not fanatical about it. It takes a really hot day with bad humidity for me to turn it on. I also prefer "fresh" air, if there is any.

As a general rule, I would tell people that A/C is mandatory in Paris and Venice in July/August, but for soemone from Baltimore who doesn't have A/C, I think it's not necessary. Baltimore can be a humidor in mid- to late summer. If you can survive it there, you can survive it in Venice and Paris. But maybe since you're on vacation and don't have A/C at home, it would be a nice vacation treat?

your life depends on it in July/August, even as early as May!!!!!!!

In regards to Venice, click on my name and read the intro section of my trip report. That should answer the A/C question with a definite yes.

I have made the mistake and got a room without a/c and I sufferd for it. I would never get a room without it. Europe becomes a oven at times and it's worth the extra money to obtain lodging with a/c.

One thing to consider is that many stores, museums, etc. do not have a/c and probably do have room humidifiers. Thus, your a/c hotel room may be the only place to get away from the heat. That happend to us in Aachen one July, where the heat and humidity were so unbearable that we could only be outside for half an hour at a time before needing to go back to the hotel for another shower.