Why don't agriturismos include pool towels???
 

We are looking into Tuscan agriturismo for next summer and I have noticed that most of the ones with pools specifically state that they do not provide beach towels for use at the pool. Do they provide extra bath towels or are we supposed to bring our own pool towels? (That's not gonna happen! It's the first time we're going to try to go with just carry-on luggage so we're not going to fill it up with towels!) What do people do?

Oh, please....do ytou have to have a "beach" towel at the pool? Couldn't you get along with a regular-sized one? FRANKLY, IMO what people "do" is not sweat this kind of thing.

This is the case even at some Italian hotels with pools. We stayed at a hotel on Ischia that posted signs warming guests not to take the room towels to the pool. You need to just buy a few towels once you arrive.

First of all an agriturismo is not a hotel but a form of self-catering (although many do have a restaurant attached or some other facility). Self-catering apartments do not normally supply beach towels.
Second it is a question of cost. An agriturismo is generally cheaper than a hotel and this is because certain costs are eliminated.
Whilst there you will be able to buy some very cheap beach towels. Do NOT use the room towels. Not only is is frowned upon in Italy (at the very least) but you will not have it changed as would normally be the case in a hotel.

If I'm swimming, I'm not sweating! Just a bit of humor to lighten up your bad mood.

Apparently you didn't really read my question Dukey. Let me rephrase. Do agriturismos provide extra bath towels for use at the pool since they don't provide beach towels?

Maybe I should have said, are we supposed to bring our own towels for use at the pool. Sorry it wasn't clear.

Some are pretty specific that they don't even provide kitchen cloths - when you are renting a kitchen - maybe they are stingy with bath towels too.

I hope that helps Dukey. (and you've been rude to me before too but I still won't hold it against you)

We picked up beach towels at a little market in town. We have found that towels overall in Europe are pretty skimpy. Very often they don't want you using their towels for the pool which makes sense I suppose-laundry, etc. We always bring a few wash clothes as well since they are never available either. You can just leave the towels behind or pack them up and not carry-on when heading home. And Dukey, gosh, you should probably take a chill-pill, it was a simple question, why the need to be so snarky?

As an owner of a facility that DOES provide `beach towels`, I will tell you why they are more headache than just about any other linen we supply...folks want a new one every time which, while understandable, provides owners with a huge laundry problem.

Unlike other towels, which last for multiple uses, for some reason, this item just gets dropped by the pool and abandoned even by otherwise gracious and thoughtful guests.

So, an owner could charge the guests for the cost of a full-time hired help who does nothing but chase barely used towels and do energy-wasting and costly loads of laundry...(electricity is MUCH more expensive in Italy and North American guests demand machine-dried towels).

Or you can do what the small margin agritourismo operators do and ask guests to supply their own; usually easily acquired in a local store.

Frankly, I wish we had the option here in North America!

Thank you nochblad - I didn't think it would be good to use the room towels since it's pretty clear that they won't be changed, which is why I asked the question in the first place. Don't want to use a towel at the pool then use it after a shower - ick! Maybe we could pay the agri for extra towels to use at the pool. And obviously our posts crossed noch - I was referring to Dukey's bad mood

Food for thought LJ. It would be hard to stop providing beach towels in the USA - I bet you'd lose customers. I'm from the US, I've never been at an agriturismo or at a European hotel with a pool for that matter so I've never heard of not providing pool towels. Is this towel situation the same throughout Europe? Is the US the only country which provides pool towels?

I'm glad I asked my question - we would have arrived ready for a swim and had no pool towels. Now I can be prepared. :)

kwren, you still might consider bringing a towel along -- the space it takes up on the way over can be used for purchases on the way home.

When my family went to France -- and stayed in a series of houses with pools but no towels -- we traveled pretty light, but we brought along $5 towels from Target that stayed behind.

1. There are European hotels that provide towels at their pools.
2. Agriturismos are not necessarily hotels, rather B&B type accommodations. There is a lot of cost and washing capacity involved with providing pool towels.
3. If they do not provide special pool towels, use the ones from your room.
4. I have no idea why it apparently is revolting to use room towels at a pool for you.
5. If you feel the urgent need to have a dry towel every time you go to the pool and are not willing to pack one of your own towels, just pay the equivalent of USD 15.00 and get yourself a towel to bring to the pool locally after your arrival.
6. If the extra towel expense proves too expensive, you may want to re-evaluate your decision for the trip.

The agriturismi that I have stayed at in southern Tuscany- Fonte Bertusi, Umbria- Le Case Gialle, and northern Tuscany- Antico Casale, all provided towels specifically for pool use. The B&B in Piedmont I stayed- Baur B&B, also provided pool towels. They all also provided a change of apartment towels (bath, kitchen) when requested. I guess it depends on where you stay.

Are you asking them for beach towels or pool towels? Perhaps if you are asking for beach towels, there is a misunderstanding in what you are requesting.

<<the space it takes up on the way over can be used for purchases on the way home>>

I like your way of thinking pavot!!! :) I guess I was thinking of nice large plush towels taking up a lot of room, but Target towels are obviously the answer. Good call, except it's less room for my purchases! :D

hsv - revolting no, icky yes! Judging from the number of people who have just recommended buying towels, I guess I'm not alone in that sentiment. By saying I could be prepared in my above answer, I meant that I would buy some before getting to the pool, whether at home or at a market so #6 does not apply, but if my towels tip the balance, I will remember your advice and cancel the trip immediately LOL

zoe - I haven't written to places about towels - just saw the statement on some websites (probably not all - I wasn't specifically looking for this, but on enough that I asked the question), but to be honest, since we use the words pool towels and beach towels interchangeably around here, maybe they do provide for the pool and don't want anyone taking their towels if they make the trek to the beach. Interesting thought which could clear up the whole thing!

Whereas you may not find pool towels provided free or at an extra charge, many will have a coin operated washing machine so that if you are there for few days you can always freshen up your towels.

I buy cheap beach towels at the end of the season and just leave them there. Glad I read this post as I was forgetting to do this before my trip to Spain.

We did want one with a washer so great idea!

There are many Italian hotels, B&Bs, and other accommodation that do not provide dedicated pool towels. In general, the towels you will find at hotels under the level of 4-5-star and 5-star luxury will not have towels as plush as you might want. As you go up in price, the towels get more plentiful and plusher, in general. But even at a 4-star property, you are not going to be smothered with plush, huge towels.

If you are very fussy about towels, bring your own, or buy them once you arrive. In any case what will be supplied will probably not be of a plushness or size that you might be used to back home. Do not plan on being supplied with washcloths.

There maybe other items that you might want to bring, too. I gather that you are not familiar with traveling in Italy; you may need to adjust your expectations in ways other than toweling.

Micheline - that's an even better idea - I'll snatch them up at next to nothing in another month! Woo hoo - I'm really glad I asked now - I love to plan ahead! :) When are you going to Spain?

kwren,
You have a good sense of humor. That is handy on this board and for travel.

eks - if you have a list of things Americans might not know about in Italy, but should, I'm all ears. I'm glad you brought this up - I've only been it Italy once before and it didn't seem so different to me than traveling in other European countries. I know about the washcloths. Luckily we're not fussy about towels (unless you count just wanting one at all to be fussy ;) ) I did already hear about ZTL - that was a new one on me - so I know to be careful with driving in cities, or better yet, avoid it just to be safe. What else should I bring or know about?

sass - thanks! I didn't know towels was such a serious topic, but I'm getting lots of good info too!

I haven't been to that many resorts or hotels with pools, but of course there are countries that provide them presuming you are staying in top-end hotels. They all do, I bet. I've stayed in Mexico about a half dozen times and most of my hotels provided pool towels, but they were not super cheap hotels. I would never expect a self-catering place to do that, even in the US. In fact, I've been to budget hotels in the US with pools that did not provide them, either.

Hi Kwren

I sent this link to my family members the first time we all went to Italy together:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm

Its a good reference all round...but you may want to check out the section on vacation rentals, it helped us plan!

enjoy your trip!

jam - I've slowly been reading these SlowTrav pages, but hadn't seen the vacation rental page. Thanks! Great reference - I'll have my husband read it too!

No problem, we found it very helpful!

talking about towels, we wrongly interpreted the "linen provided" info about our french gite as meaning towels too, especially as that had always applied before when we had rented linen.

not this time - we arrived to find no towels at all. not even a tea-towel for drying up. fortunately we'd taken beach towels, [we were driving our own car so had plenty of room] but no others. so if you are self-catering, always check whether towels as well as bedding are provided.

Good thing you had those beach towels! Now that I've been reading this post, I noticed only sheets listed on one website. Of course it's up to them what to provide, but needing to take pool, bath and kitchen towels to me is one way to eliminate one of many possibilities. I don't need the hassle when I'm on vacation. I haven't run into one which doesn't provide sheets yet, but now it wouldn't surprise me if I did.

Some places also state a price for "everything". I would definitely ask them to define that after reading this post!

In our travels through Italy the number and quality of towels at our apartment rentals and agriturismos has been far from the quality one would assume in a medium priced US hotel or US vacation rental.

Generally, a set of towels has been provided for each guest and we make certain to arrange them about our lodgings for drying between uses. With a family of five it has sometimes resembled a laundry. We have purchased beach towels on many of our trips that include swimming at pool and/or beach and have brought them home (they are "place" towels and thus souvenirs).

They are now in service as beach towels at our vacation home on Martha's Vineyard.

It was on our first trip to Europe, a Greek Islands honeymoon over 25 years ago, that we first purchased towels.

I wouldn't let towels determine my lodgings - while it's nice to have a large, fluffy bath towel and a beach/pool towel for lounging and after swim - we've never considered it a problem.

In general, to further our vacation travels, we choose rentals on the basic end of the range available. We don't have expectations for anything beyond a comfortable bed, clean bath, and a location convenient to our purposes.

We always rent lodgings with a washing machine to launder our clothing, but I haven't washed towels - I wouldn't think it's a good use of time and dryers are rare. We've been satisfied with towels air dried between use for a week's stay. Perhaps we have lesser standards than other travelers.

And do ask about what's included to avoid any surprises.

Doesn't everyone have masses of no longer appealing towels in their cupboards? This is the ideal opportunity to shed them and ensures plenty of space in your return luggage for newly acquired items. (This procedure holds true for underwear, clothes, books, etc.)

I always travel with beach towels. On this last trip in Europe they were very helpful as several places didn't have more than 2 towels for us. My towels always ended up padding whatever breakable I bring back, usually booze of some sort, this time Limoncello and some dishes.

We've done the shedding clothing routine on our travels (tarquin) and find the purchased towels do pad the bags nicely on our return with breakables (pookymini).

It seems the towel problem has a variety of creative solutions, as do many other questions that arise when leaving the comforts of home.

Is it easy to find beach towels with pictures of let's say Tuscany, in Europe? I like the idea of them being a souvenir and used as padding for purchases.

We found towels with a map of Italy, world cup team flag, and various monuments/landmarks at a supermarket we stopped at for groceries in either Umbria or Tuscany. Umbria, I believe.

Similar to super stores in the US, it carried an assortment of convenience items, including towels. It was part of a "mall" that we visited when we arrived after the closing time for local shops and were directed to the supermercado.

The towels are more kitschy than luxe.

Sounds like a European Target - we love those! Kitchy is good! I'm not expecting any luxe towels this trip :))

For trips where we thought we might be stopping for a swim, we have packed lightweight, super absorbent microfiber towels. The sort of towels that backpackers use and that you find in an outdoor supplies store. They don't take up much space, dry fairly quickly and weigh next to nothing.

Is it easy to find beach towels with pictures of let's say Tuscany, in Europe? I like the idea of them being a souvenir and used as padding for purchases.>>

a very "popular" image on towels, AND on men's underwear, is a life-size [lol] reproduction of a certain part of Michelangelo's David's anatomy! that would definitely raise eyebrows on Martha's Vineyard.

Gotta get me one of those towels! LOL
If we have to buy towels, might as well have fun with it!

I wish I had one of that particular "monument". Next trip . . .

:))