Bathtubs in the Cinque Terre

actually Hotel Porto Roca Via Corone, 1 Monterosso al Mare SP
http://www.portoroca.it/en/rooms.php

Tubs are rare, at least in moderate hotels, throughout Italy--and Europe in general. It's a space issue. Showers take up far less room. The hotel rooms themselves are much smaller than we are used to (unless we travel to Manhattan)

Just have to ask and maybe stay at 4 starts and above. Only time I saw a bath tub was in a 4 Start Hilton in Milan years ago. Do you need a bathtub for medical needs?

Tom,

I don't believe bathtubs are prohibited in the Cinque Terre.

As a previous reply mentioned, bathtub are not common in hotels anywhere in Europe. Many hotels are in older buildings which simply don't have the room, so only the small 4' x 4' showers are possible. The only place I've seen bathtubs is in the larger luxury chains like Hilton or Sheraton, and there are no hotels like that in the Cinque Terre.

One other point to consider is that the accommodations in the four smaller towns are mostly just private rooms accessed by stairways. Only Monterosso, the largest of the five towns, has more conventional hotels with elevators, etc. Again as mentioned in a previous reply, Hotel Porto Roca may be your only choice. It's more of an "upscale" hotel so you'll have to adjust your budget accordingly.

The older hotels in Europe used to have lovely bathtubs (remembering my first trip in 1969) -- but all those picky American tourists objected to walking down the hall for a bath so en-suite showers were shoehorned into hotel bedrooms.

The new trend in Italy is to remove the bathtubs and replace them with enclosed showers, even in homes. Nevertheless many 3 star and above hotels still have bathtubs. Check Monterosso which has more hotel choices, then call and ask.

Hotel Porto Roca in Monterosso appears to have some rooms with bathtubs. Bit of an uphill walk to the place but tariff includes arrival and departure transfer to/from the train station.

http://www.portoroca.it/en/index.php

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187820-d196730-Reviews-Hotel_Porto_Roca-Monterosso_al_Mare_Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera_Liguria.html

If a tub is a do-or-die necessity, then you'll need to communicate that when you book.

so only the small 4' x 4' showers are possible

Most of the hotels I have been in Italy had smaller. I would have been ecstatic to have a 4'x4'. Many were so 'compact' that they should have had a turn table in the floor and brushes on the wall and just have one stand and rotate to wash.

The one place ( Sorrento) that had a tub was so "V" shaped you had to stand like walking a tightrope there was so little flat surface at the bottom. Interesting to experience a different cultural take on bathrooms

Have you considered any of the agencies that rent private rooms or small apartments? That type of housing might give you a better chance of landing a bathtub.

I'm not into tubs and much prefer a walk-in shower, but I do remember that the few tub-shower combos I've had in Italy were of the V type already mentioned.

They were so narrow at the bottom that I couldn't comfortably stand with my feet together facing either end of the tub. I had to stand facing the wall or the outside edge and even then my size 10 feet were almost too long to fit that way.

Our daughter who lived in Italy for about 3 years said all the tubs she'd seen there were like that -- fine for her 5 year old daughter, but not wide enough for her or her husband. However, she never stayed in any fancy hotels.

My tub experiences were likewise not in expensive places, but rather in villas, apartments or old hotels whose baths had not been renovated. Most shower stalls have been the tiny type where you couldn't bend over to retrieve anything dropped on the floor if you were over 5' tall. But in those with renovated baths, the shower stalls have all been in the same spot as the tub and were quite large.

Booking.com has a "Bathtub" filter option. But using Rome City Center as a test, of 606 hotels listed, only 139 had bathtubs. When I did Cinque Terre with no type of lodging filter, there was no bathtub filter option at all. You can scan the pictures to see what the baths are like, but the tub odds do not seem to be in your favor.

joe,

" I would have been ecstatic to have a 4'x4'. Many were so 'compact' that they should have had a turn table in the floor and brushes on the wall and just have one stand and rotate to wash."

I was just estimating the size of the shower, as I've never measured them. I've often thought they were 3' x 3'. In any case, they're darn small. If one drops the soap there's no way to retrieve it without opening the door.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. We did reserve a room with a bath tub at the Porto Roca Hotel in Monterosso. I have learned 2 things from my posting experience at the Rick Steves site. First, since I did find a hotel in Cinque Teirre with a bath tub, there must not be any prohibitions of bath tubs at hotels in Cinque Terre. Second, there are a lot of savvy travelers who participate on the Travel Forum at this site. Grazie mille a tutti.

anybody have an idea why V-shaped tubs? There must be a reason.

anybody have an idea why V-shaped tubs?

the 2 thoughts I have is 1) less material to make the tub and 2) less water needed to fill it

A couple of possible reasons for a "V"-shaped bathtub.....

• provides more width for the hips at one end, and less width needed for the legs / feet.
• uses less water than a conventional tub.
• smaller size allows a tub to be "shoehorned" into the bathrooms of smaller and older buildings.

Those are the only explanations I can come up with.

That description is not what I responded to. I must have it wrong. The kind of tub I was talking about is not V-shaped in plan but in section. I've never seen a triangular tub.

A "normal" tub would be more U-shaped and flat on the bottom in section. The tubs I've experienced were indeed more V-shaped in section, with the bottom curved and quite narrow compared to the top. They were like standing in a piece of pipe.

V shaped? Do you mean triangular? For corner locations?
https://goo.gl/images/wuwGzP

We stayed at Porta Roca and their restaurant is wonderful, overlooking the sea. I still remember ravioli filled with seafood with a fish sauce, spectacular!
They sent a taxi to pick us up at the large parking lot in town.