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lodging without/with weak air conditioning in mountain regions-Austria, Germany, Italy, France, etc.

Posted by on

Hi,
We're not wusses, but we recall being on a 2nd floor in London, on the 5th floor of a mountain resort on Colorado and on the third floor of a hotel on the Isle of Skye, Scotland where it was really so hot at night in June/July that we had a hard time getting to sleep. It made the following vacation day less fun, (because we were over-tired and less fun). We've stayed in other places where maybe it was a little warmer than usual, but not really a big deal in terms of comfort/sleep.

Do Rick Steves tours usually stay on upper floors? How warm are rooms with "no or weak air conditioning"? Any feedback on having difficulty getting to sleep with only a sheet or not sheet covering you?

Posted by
893 posts

Open a window and get some fresh mountain air - better than air conditioning any day! I have to admit I am one of those who switch off air con and open a window if that is possible. Yes sometimes if it is very hot I have problems sleeping with just a sheet but I have lived without air con for 70+ years and usually have no problems.

If you are really concerned, contact the RS office for their feedback about the hotels you will be staying in.

Posted by
3519 posts

A lot of places the RS tours stay, they occupy the entire hotel. This means you can be on any floor of the hotel from the basement to the roof.

Rooms with no air-conditioning will be warm if the current temperatures are warm, no way to avoid that. I have not encountered a room yet in a hotel or B&B on a RS tour where it was too warm to sleep but some have come close. The good news is that on every one of the 10 tours I have taken over 10 years, there seem to be more hotels with a/c each year than in the previous years. I will run the A/C on enough so the room gets comfortable and then turn it off. Since I usually sleep at home with nothing more than a sheet over me, and sometimes not even that, I have no trouble sleeping that way -- except most European hotels have no concept of a top sheet. They have a sheet over the mattress and then a very warm feather filled cover. That's it, nothing else.

You could always choose the cooler months to travel. :-)

Posted by
24 posts

Thanks Mark and Lesley. We'll be travelling with our daughter, (teens), so it'll probably be in the summer. We have opened the window in several places. I think that we will though, when it gets closer to the time when we book a tour, call and ask about the places where we'll stay ahead of time.

Posted by
8457 posts

Is it still true that in Italy, for example, the local government controls the dates at which heating and AC can be turned on?

Posted by
1532 posts

AC is not regulated. Start and end of heating is regulated.

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