I read recently in one of my guidebooks, that it is a law in Italy, if requested, that a hotel exclude breakfast and deduct the breakfast charge from the room rate. <BR> <BR>I requested one hotel do this, and they refused. Anyone familiar with this?

I've never heard of such a law in dozens of trips. If the law doesn't specify the amount to be refunded (a sure bet that it doesn't) it's meaningless if the "price" is left to the hotelier. I'm certain you'd never get back enough to make it very worthwhile ... certainly less than even the least expensive neighborhood bar or caffe is likely to charge. <BR> <BR>Of course if you don't eat breakfast you might have some savings, though that's not a healthy habit, especially with a heavy sightseeing schedule. <BR> <BR>twenj

Actually, I found this in Fodors guide: <BR> <BR>"By law, breakfast is supposed to be optional. Most hotels quote room rates including breakfast. When you book a room, specifically ask whether the rate includes breakfast. You are under no obligation to take breakfast at your hotel. You can eat for less at the nearest coffee bar. <BR> <BR>In all hotels, there is a rate card inside the door of your room. Breakfast and any other optional must be listed separately. Any discrepancy between the basic room rate and that charged on your bill is cause for complaint to the manager and to the police."

I may be wrong, but doesn't a breakfast included in a hotel in Italy mean a hard roll and filter or Americano coffee?

You are wrong, Sara Lee. Breakfast includes a lot more than that in Italy, at least it's been the case in every Italian hotel I've ever been in.

I have found most breakfasts in Italy to consist of several bread rolls and croissants/pastries, along with urn coffee. Other coffees/hot chocolate were available, but we found we had to ask the waiter for them. If not, we just were given the (awful) urn coffee. <BR> <BR>Re the breakfast fee, you would probably have to negotiate with the reception people when you check in, otherwise I would think it's taken as given that you want breakfast.

Hi Debbie! <BR>If you browse through the Hello Italy! book by Margo (she sometimes pops up in this forum) you'll see that for every hotel, she lists whether the breakfast is included in the price, whether the breakfast can be deducted, and the discount (e.g., 5,000 lira, 10,0000 lira, etc), if you choose to deduct the breakfast. From my reading of her book, not all Italian hotels are willing to deduct breakfast, and that is why she lists this information. <BR> <BR>I was able to negotiate a breakfast deduction in Trento. We arrived without reservations and we were leaving very early the next day. When I came into the hotel, I asked about the rate and whether it included breakfast. The rate quoted included breakfast, and I was told that it is served from 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM. I asked for a deduction in the price of the room, because we were going to leave at 7:00 AM the next day. The deduction was minimal - 10,000 lira ($5) for 2 breakfasts, but since we were not going to be able to take advantage of it, I appreciated the discount. <BR> <BR>Regarding what is offered in the breakfast, my experience is that it varies greatly depending on the quality of the hotel. Some two-star hotels in Italy do not include breakfast in the price and the breakfast rate can be quite steep ($6-12 per person for a light continental breakfast, a couple of examples are the Hotel Cavour in Verona and the Hotel Venezia in Trento). The two and three-star hotels that we have stayed at usually include an assortment of breads, jams, and coffee or tea, and juice. The four-star hotels that we have stayed at include superb buffets with cheeses, hams, pastries, breads, eggs, fruit, cereals, you name it! Best bet is to ask the hotel what kind of breakfast it serves before you make the decision to deduct your breakfast. I certainly would not want to pay more than $6 pp for a continental breakfast that costs $3 at a local cafe, and would allow me to watch locals on their way to work, and I certainly would not want to get a $5 "discount" for a great buffet breakfast. <BR> <BR>Good luck!

I agree with Mariarosa's experience. Only once did we get the 'hard roll and single cup of coffee' routine; the rest of the time we had an 'expanded continental breakfast' with a choice of coffees, as much as one wanted, and fresh pastries, cheese, cold cuts, cereal...in short, anything that could be served cold (other than the coffee, of course.) This was the case at better 2 star and at 3 star hotels; the one time we stayed at a four star, which had a restauraunt, we had an incredible buffet including eggs, bacon, shrimp, smoked salmon.... so best to ask. <BR> <BR>

I think this may be an area in which definitions and bureaucratic disticntions come into play--I seem to recall that one sort of lodging (hotel?) is required to remove the charge, but others (pensione?) is not. I've never been able to tell the difference between one and the other, so I always ended up paying for my breakfast, the offerings for which varied, but as I can't face ham and cheese first thing, ended up being rolls and coffee. <BR>PS Is it only Aussies who talk about "bread rolls" and only Americans who talk about "ink pens"?

The issue is not what is offered for breakfast, it is that the law forbids hotels from forcing guests to take breakfast at their establishment. However, when trying to "force" the issue and have the breakfast removed from the room charge, the hotels refuse. We may not want breakfast at all, we may want to get a cup of coffee later at a cafe down the street, so why should we pay for something we don't want, and which is illegal to force us to pay for if we tell the hotel we don't want the "optional" service (breakfast)?