Friend is going to Italy, needs to have 2 beds per room in each of about 5 different hotels along the way. This seems to be more or less a rarity, whether it's twin beds or the even rarer double-double. What does one request (on emails, faxes, etc.) to make clear what is needed?

This is too easy -- just ask for a double room with twin beds. Most of the hotels that we've stayed in had exactly that configuration, but we have them push the beds together to make a king. Good luck.

I think the Italian phrase for two twin beds is "due letti singoli".

I've only been looking for single rooms, but I've seen many twin rooms offered. (Twin room is the English term used for a room that has an occupancy of two, and two single beds.)

Double-double is going to be quite rare, because those are quad-occupancy rooms.

What hotels have they tried that these requests have been impossible? If they are willing to consider convents, rooms with multiple beds can be relatively easy to get.

To request two beds in a room, one would say:

Per favore, io vorrei due letti nella mia camera.

In Italian, a room with two single beds is a "doppio" ("double&quot. A room with one double bed is described as a "matrimoniale". In my experience of Italian hotels, rooms with two single beds are much commoner than rooms with a double bed, whereas in France, double beds are more usual.

While I may be all for attempting to use the language when in Europe if you can, I also like to avoid problems. If any hotel you want to stay in can't interpret "room with two beds" to mean that you want two beds in your room, I wouldn't want to stay there.

"Due letti singoli" worked for me on my recent trip. Just be aware that those two beds, though separate, might be pushed very close together in a small room.

I traveled in Italy with a girlfriend and we had no problem finding a double room with "due letti" 2 beds. Plus, when I fill ou the on-line reservation requesting a room I always do it in english and there's never been a problem with them translating exactly what I need. This time I even asked for a triple room with one large bed (matrimonial) and one single bed for my son.

Yes, I know this seemed too simple, but the problem comes when you are trying to book on line and you have to check a box or enter number of people or whatever. "Double" doesn't do it -- you get a "matrimoniale" -- and "quad" sometimes gets you two rooms or 4 times the tariff. I appreciate the suggestions and terms provided here. Thanks! Just wondered if there were a standard, unambiguous way to query. Sure, "room with two beds, please," does it, but not all hotels respond to email that isn't a straightforward commitment to book. And my Italian on a transatlantic call is catastrophically useless, since it's mainly menu and numeric vocabulary and not much else.

Most hotel websites have a text box too where I enter the specific information I need. First I check "triple" for 3 people then in the text box I indicate that I need the rate for a triple with one large bed and one small bed.

I disagree, a "doppia" does not mean you will get two beds. In my experience, it usually refers to the persons. When I get a room for myself and young child, I request a doppia and we usually get a larger room with one (1) double/matrimoniale bed. It is easier to designate "due letti" so you will indeed get 2 beds in the room, otherwise it is usually 1 bed. (My Italian fiance owns a hotel in Cinque Terre and their "doppia" rooms (camere) all have 1 bed, albeit larger than the twin bed size. Only when people specifically request an additional bed(s) do they add them to the room).

soccr -- I didn't mean to imply that your question was "simple", just simple enough for me to answer -- no train schedules or minute details to supply.

Good luck with your plans.