Lodging for taller folks

Yes, they do have a king in Belgium.

A double bed means that it's made for two people. It often means 160 cm, but that can vary.

Yeah double is a loose term in Europe. It could be about the same size as an American king, or it could be smaller than American Queen. Many places specify exact width in centimeters.

Often a double is two singles pushed together, occasionally bonded by one fitted sheet.

Try to really look at pictures and judge the size of the beds if you can get precise measurements.

The biggest beds you’ll find in Europe are usually two twins pushed together. This will be called a “double”. The problem is any bed that theoretically sleeps two can be called a “double”. This includes the US equivalent of a “full”. That’s a bit of an adjustment if you’re used to a king! Look very closely at the bed. Sometimes you can see the two mattresses (or bed frames) pushed together.

Sometimes a place will list the size of the bed. If not, feel free to ask. Pictures can be very deceiving. I assume that if I can’t see two mattresses, it’s going to be smaller than a king.

When trying to find lodging for my sister and her 6’4” husband, I was very careful not to pick places with footboards on the bed. He’s used to his feet hanging off the bed. This can be very challenging in some countries.

What we call a queen in the US is 160 cm wide. I think there are wider beds in Europe but not nearly as common as here. Ask your host or hotel how wide the bed is. Good luck.

Hold on … the discussion thus far has been about bed width, not length (except for some of what travel4fun is reporting). Twin, double, queen, king … those identify the size of a mattress from side to side, not head to foot. If the concern is whether a tall person can fit without having feet hang over the end (assuming the sleeper isn’t lying sideways), then the width will have minimal impact.

All our AirBnB’s the past 2 years in Italy, Ireland, Denmark, and Norway had adequately long beds for my husband, who’s not quite 6’4”. Having said that, the population in Scandinavia seemed to be extraordinarily tall - many men far taller than 6’4”, so either there are pretty long mattresses (ours didn’t seem longer than usual), or the towering Danes and Norwegians must all have to curl up to sleep. As for France and Belgium, we’ve stayed at many VRBO rentals - no AirBnB’s yet, and beds weren’t too short. Narrower doesn’t mean shorter. Unless it’s a tiny studio apartment, where every furnishing is shoehorned into place, that shouldn’t be any problem. If you get a place on the top floor, and ceilings slope like on an A-frame, then ceiling headroom will be a bigger concern. He’s conked his head a few times.

A side note: after Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theater, he was moved to a bed in a place nearby. Abe was 6’4”. The bed (this was back in 1865, when 6’4” was much taller than usual) was too short, and he was laid diagonally to fit. There is a way, then, to deal with a mattress that might not be quite as long as desired - but hopefully it won’t come to that, and they’ll do better than Abe did at that point.

Standard bed length in Europe is 200cm.
A bed for one person will be 90cm wide.
A bed for two persons will be 160 or 180 cm. I personally prefer 160, as 180 usually means two 90cm matresses side by side, with a big canyon in between.

You sometimes see 120cm. Popular with teenagers and students. Ie. people that mostly sleep alone, but occasionally don't.

I believe that in the US the length of the bed can also vary between between one person and two person beds. But in Europe all beds are the same length.

(The US is confusing; Why so you call a bed for one person a "twin"....?)

No idea about bed sizes in Belgium, hopefully “Langemensen.be” (Dutch for tall people) can help you with this. Email: [email protected]

You can also ask for Procrustean beds….