Twin Beds vs. Double Beds

There have recently been a few threads on this exact topic. Here is one: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/74053/please-explain-sizes-of-beds-in-france.html And here is another: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/23381/single-vs-double-rooms.html Also, you can contact your hotel directly and ask them. They should give you the real skinny on what's up.

Most of the rooms in which I've stayed in Europe were too small to have an American queen sized bed. BUt the doubles that were provided were wide enough to allow two adults to sleep side by side, albeit without much elbow room.
My wife prefers we book rooms with two beds when we travel so that even if the beds (or more commonly the bed linens) aren't as large as we are used to, we both can sleep without elbowing each other in the ribs or pulling the covers off each other.

what you encounter will usually be two beds pushed up against each other - the question is what size beds you will see. i am just back from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland, and 9 times out of 10 we had two smaller beds pushed together in a "double" room. we had some hotel points from US chain hotels that we used, and generally when staying in a US hotel chain (Marriott, Hyatt, Westin) we would either have two US double beds separated or pushed together, or in one instance, two US QUEEN beds, PUSHED TOGETHER (that one was odd). In non-chain European hotels, it was usually two twins pushed together. i do prefer that to sharing a US double bed with another person though...at least you each have your own bed linens. I've very rarely seen one US Queen size bed in a European "double" hotel room (i think i saw one or two in Italy though).

In Germany, according to the Criteria Catalog of DEHOGA, for a hotel to have any stars, the minimum size of a single bed is 34½ in. wide (90 cm) by 75 in. The minimum width of a double is twice the single width, 180 cm, 71 in. So, the German double is 5 inches shorter than an American queen but 11 inches wider, almost as wide (-5 in) as a king.

Even in the U.S., a double bed is smaller than a queen.

Everytime I've gotten a double bed (aka "full") overseas it's been just 1 bed. It's definitely smaller than a queen size bed (in length and width), and often more narrow in width than the American double/full size bed. I know this because I live in a city apartment where it's impossible to fit a bed larger than a double/full so we can't buy a queen size bed. I am used to sleeping on a double/full every night with my boyfriend. However, we've noticed a lot less elbow room when sharing many double beds in Europe. I've never encountered the type of massive "almost as wide as a king" double bed Lee is referring to anywhere in France, Italy or Switzerland (where you are actually going to be, but Lee does love to regale the Helpline with fascinating German hotel factoids!). What's better for you depends on what size bed you sleep in at home. If you are used to a queen or king bed on a nightly basis at home, you will likely find a double bed too small for 2 people and you will probably be more comfortable in 2 twin beds (pushed together or not).

Thank you, all.

Just returned from France. We had a double bed room in two places. For this double bed, they put two twin mattresses together on a large piece of plywood that sits on a frame. No secondary bed springs. Bedding is for the two twins. Should you wish to visit the person next to you, you have to leave your bedding to enter the bedding of the other person. It's literally two twins pushed together. The two twins together are easily as large as a king-sized bed and quite comfortable.

A double bed is the width of two crib mattresses side by side-longer, of course but same # of inches. There is no way two adults are going to sleep comfortably IMO in a double bed. We always request twin beds if there is any question about bed size. Some European twins are more narrow than the ones here in the US. Travel is full of challenges and being well rested is very important and that is not going to happen cramped up in a small bed-39 inches of space pp.

This double bed discussion always amuses me. I am single and love my queen bed at home and so always find those twin beds petite. On the other hand, my sister and her husband have slept in a regular double bed for their whole marriage which is now on the plus side of twenty years. So, yep, a couple can get a good night's sleep in a double bed. There is such a thing as a three quarter bed. I remember seeing them in France. I visited a friend and we shared that bed one weekend and it was definitely a tight squeeze. ; ) Pam

In my hotel we have single rooms, double rooms and twin rooms. A double bed is meant for two people and the standard size here in France is about 4ft6in to 5ft wide. You Americans will just have to snuggle up! :-) If you book a twin room and decide to move the beds together, that is your choice. We often get single travellers who book a double room just to get a wider bed. Hope that helps!

Susan,, two adults can and do sleep comfortably on a double sized bed,, if they like each other anyways. My boyfriend ( over 200 lbs, me smaller) do and like it . My ex husband and I slept on a queen,, and wanted a king.

Just for reference, what Roger calls a "standard bed in France", 4'6" or 54" is about what we call a double/full bed in the US. A double/full bed in No. America, per Wikipedia, is 53". Ikea shows a double on their French website at 140 cm or 55". The other bed size he lists as French standard, 5 ft, is 60", the same size as a queen in the U.S. I've spent over a hundred nights in Germany. 25% of those nights have been with my wife, and we had a "double" bed, which was always two twin mattresses in a wide frame. Twin mattresses in Europe, based on both the French and German Ikea websites, are 90 cm, or about 35½" (slightly smaller than an American twin, but two together are 180 cm or 71", 11" wider than an American queen and only 5" narrower than an American king. Sometimes, although I request a single room, they give me a room with a double bed, again, two twins together, 180 cm. If you do stay in a hotel with stars, the German star-awarding association, DEHOGA, specifies that for any stars in Germany, the minimum double bed width is 180 cm, 71". They allow an exception for as narrow as 150cm (queen size) only if the hotel informs the guest "before conclusion of the accommodation contract" that the bed is "below the standard". Almost every hotel where I have ever stayed did not have a star rating, and they still had standard, 180 cm wide, (Germany) double beds.