lindy27

We stayed in Vernazza, Rome, and Bologna in B&B's and never had trouble sleeping. All rooms had AC and never once heard the people next to us. Yes the beds are hard and smaller but have you seen the stairs those beds have to make it up?! Also after a day of walking around a city I never have a problem sleeping... I think bed firmness is a cultural/location thing and you can't really force Europeans/Asians to like fluffy beds like we American's do. I have never slept on a fluffy bed outside America, however I am sure they do exist.

If AC is going to be an issue I only book a B&B with AC and good reviews that state it works. These were all budget B&Bs.

Sampaguita

Not at our B&B! It sounds like as if you were staying at low end budget places.

ekscrunchy

Will you be revealing the names of the B&Bs that you stayed at, so perhaps you could help others..???

After all, you did get quite a bit of help before your various trips and have not written any trip reports, which are the core of these forums..

tarquin

Perhaps firmer beds are the custom in hotter places where you want to be cool?

I run a B&B in England and visitors sometimes tell me they have never slept in such comfortable beds (or that's their excuse anyway for coming down late to breakfast!)

nona1

Soft beds give me back-ache, can't stand them. These things are just a matter of personal preference so you can't moan if you don't find your personal preference waiting for you; you can't please all of the people all of the time.

ekscrunchy

Despite the OP's moniker, I do not think he or she is much of a world traveler.

If he or she returns here, it would be interesting to see which B&Bs figured in the sample...

iris1745

WT1024 didn't like the beds in Asia, either. http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...rd-in-asia.cfm

charnees

We haven't had problems with hard beds in Italy, but we sleep better on a firm mattress. But in Zihuataneo in Mexico they were horribly hard. Never had it anywhere else, though.

sarge56

I've only stayed at one B&B in Italy. In Venice, we stayed at the Corte1321 and it was MAH-VE-LOUS!! Very large room; very large bathroom; excellent location, quiet at night, wonderful breakfast. And we happen to love "mingling" when on vacation. We certainly had our "privacy", but loved getting to know our "neighbors".

No problem with noise or beds. We were so worn out at the end of the day, we probably could have slept on the RR tracks at Grand Central Station and been comfortable. hahaha

socialworker

We stayed in 4 different hotels in Italy. All were smallish and one would probably be more categorized as a B&B. In all of them I got the best sleep of my life and concluded that there was something magical about Italian mattresses. They are hard but, wow did I ever sleep soundly! I remember asking DH if he thought it would be possible to *buy* an Italian mattress and have it shipped to the US.

You said it, Ackislander, different strokes....!!

wrenwood

We haven't slept on "Italian" mattresses yet (soon!) but we have found German/Austrian/Swiss mattresses harder than we are used to. And we always seem to be too hot with the duvet over us or too cold with the duvet off. So last trip we slept on top of the duvets, with a bathrobe over us. Perfect!

It is what you're used to. I always research to make sure if a place has AC if I think we'll need it. But of course it's a little difficult to ask someone about the quality/firmness of their beds. I have found Trip Advisor helpful if several people say the beds are hard, and many times I have looked at pictures of a room and taken a guess that the beds look hard.

We do think the better B&Bs and hotels have nicer beds.

Stilldontknow

Troll!

RedStater

Find the Bs&Bs too noisy? Uf dah! Don't try the hostels....although they do tend to be a lot more fun than a hotel or B&B, if you're in the least bit gregarious.

nochblad

Please please please - can we now stop commenting on the postings as he/she/it is hogging the forum.