Deborah

Just back from Italy and was told by our tour director that hotels cannot turn the A/C on until the end of May due to recent laws. Didn't have this problem in Rome. <BR>Anyone have info on this? What about heat in the winter?

A.M.

We were able to use the a/c at the Giorgione in Venice, the beginning of May.

Rex

We were not only able to use A/C in Hotel Bonvecchiati, May 7 and 8, we were cheerfully and promptly moved to a different room because the electronic thermostat/AC controls were flashing an error code when we walked in to the room. We didn't really need the AC but there was no hangup about assuring us that we would have it in working order. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Cecilie

We were able to use AC at Hotel Campiello in Venice in April. Also, did not have any problems at Hotel Balestri in Florence or Albergo del Senato in Rome.

christina

ciao deborah <BR> <BR>well! the americans and air conditioning..... no wonder that you folks do have the energy problem. aircond. is not popular here in italy, we are used to live with real hot weather and the whole lifestyle is built up around this weather. energy cost just too much to have ac in houses. that's why a lot of hotels turn it off during night time (think in rome it's like this). why don't learn from italians and live your holidays the italian way of life? this is just a hint don't want to be rude. but now the weather here is not hot, it's still very cool during the night and there is no reason to have ac. <BR> <BR>about your question for winter: very easy, our law says that we can turn the heating on at 1. november and have to turn it of at the end of march. but this is a law who is for appartment houses. normally they use it even for hotels. <BR> <BR>hope this answers your questions, <BR> <BR>christina

xxx

Well, the Italians and their silly laws! Here in America we are free to turn our heat and airconditioning on whenever we want! After all we are the ones who pay the bills. There is NOTHING wrong with comfort! We are also free to eat in a restaurant and not be poisoned by another persons dirty unhealthy smoking habit.

xxx

&lt;&lt;Well, the Italians and their silly laws!&gt;&gt; <BR> <BR>And this kind of thinking is more rampant in the US than you realize. Point of reference: talk of price caps on gas and other forms of energy. Fortunately, the current leadership in America is smart enough to know that government is not the answer to problems that economic forces can solve just fine. <BR>

mac

Christina, it's always good to hear other perspectives. I was amused to hear others accusing the Italians of all people of having overly restrictive governments, when your people have taken care to have a different government just about every year since the end of WWII! Italians understand that they are free to elect, or unelect, the governments that make their laws. That this law exists seems to indicate that Italians do support laws on things that really matter to them. <BR>xxx, I'm not so sure that economics are as failsafe as you think. The market tends to overreact - and it tends to have a short memory. Meanwhile, nature still needs thousands of years to make so much as 1 gallon of oil. I don't plan to be around that long, do you?

xyz

Good head in the sand thinking, mac. <BR> <BR>I would have no problem if you were to decide not to use any oil or petroleum products, nor any products transported by cars, trucks or airplanes. You could take it one step further and boycott all interactions with anyone else who does. <BR>

christina

ciao xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx <BR> <BR>i don't want to argue with you about our laws. i answerd deborah's question about heating in winter. once the italian governement decided to have some rules about heating just about pollution. i don't think it's too bad. but we are still fare fare away of clean air. but what we hear every day in the news about the energy catastroph in california, gives me really to think. how is it possible that a country like the usa with all this water, wind and sun do have such a silly problem like no energy for hours??? <BR> <BR>we live defenitively different lives with different point of views. that's why people from abroad like to travel in europe and europeans like to travel abroad. i just think that travelling around the world means even: don't think you are at home. <BR> <BR>tanti saluti! <BR> <BR>christina

sharon

I appreacite reading the perspective of an Italian. Americans tend to overvalue freedom - at the expense of many other more valuable things (i.e. precious natural resources that we waste faster than any other industrialized country). "Freedom to use airconditioning whenever we want" is not exactly one of the fundamental freedoms that the founding fathers had in mind. However, respect for other points of view is. When in Italy, it seems wise to function within the local point of view... expect the A/C to be off and experience Italy! <BR> <BR>And to the point about the market taking care of these things instead of the government... as a Californian living through the "energy crisis" I can tell you first hand that this is a perfect study in false markets. There is no free market for energy - neither supply nor transportation function as a free market. This is a prime example of when a government should step in to regulate so that the market players do not take unfair advantage of the false market at the expense of the consumer. <BR> <BR>OK... I know... way off the subject... I won't do it again.