In Austria I learned that a the term double bed meant a bed about the size of our king sized beds. In fact I think it was a little wider. It was in fact double the size of a single bed.

But I am curious, what do the London hoteliers mean by "double bed"? All I have ever found and slept on in London and in Ireland were rooms with twin beds so I don't have anything to compare it with.

Is the so called double bed mattress about 54 inches wide like one of our double beds? (Which is cramped for two adults of tall statue.)Or is it some other size?

In my experience it usually means something akin to what Americans call a queen - maybe a tad smaller, although on my recent stay at a Thistle hotel it seemed more like a king. Quite adequate and roomy for two IMO.

At the Holiday Inn Kensington, double bed means double sized bed as in the US. At an apartment rental gone bad, a double bed ment a smelly old couch. You are safest just asking the establishment what they intend a double bed to be.

In the UK, a double bed can start at 54 inches wide just like you say is one of 'yours' (wherever you may be).

Most large hotels will have larger than the standard double bed (in my experience).

If it is a concern, your best bet is to call the hotel to check.

double bed is a very generic term for a bed that slepps two people, and will vary from hotel to hotel. As other have suggested, only the hotel will be able to answer your question specifically.

As others mentioned, I would check directly with hotel. But you'll have to give them the information in "cm". If you can't convert inches to cm, (which I can't) suggest you pop into a department store or a linen shop and check the packages of all sizes - double, queen and king. Most usually list the size of the sheets themselves in inches & (cm), BUT also list "fits bed/mattress size "inches (cm) x inches (cm)" so the "cm" numbers are the ones to list to the hotel, either by fax or email. Watch out for those sheets designed for deep mattress (those over 10" deep versus standard 7" deep)

I have found, however, that European sizes do vary a bit either by length or width, but not much. Use info from hotel as guideline to make you request which size bed/s you want.

Althouh I have found that American chain hotels - Sheratons, Hiltons, Hyatts, Intercontinental - often have beds in sizes we are familiar with here at home.

Bob I agree the safest thing is to check with the hotel directly. When buying sheets in England, a double bed can mean what we would consider a 3/4 size (48"-not very common any more here). Again for sheets, they call our queen size (60&quot beds a king!

Metric conversion available on the internet:

www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm

That was what I feared; no standardization. If I cannot find out, I can always get two twins.

As for cm to inches, divide by 2.54.
I am 184 centimeters tall.

And where I am from, as cattily noted, is not part of the issue. I gave the comparison width at 54 inches, so that is a standard figure regardless of geographic location.

mclaurie -

The 3/4 size bed is quickly becoming a standard in many hotels worldwide - have seen then advertised for hotels in Cuba, South America, Caribbean, Africa, and right in the USA.

Many hotels actually provide two in a room, rather than a "double". In some countries I've even seen two-3/4s put together as a "super-duper King" with custom sheets (in South Africa) for this oversize. Now that's a "playpen for adults"

Back to the original post - yes, no standardization. Just have to check with the hotels directly.