Italian hotels are different, and we have to aver that that’s no bad thing. The British and American holidaymaker has a pretty clear idea of what is suggested by the word ‘hotel’. Let’s go further: you could stay in a Hilton, Holiday Inn or Marriott anywhere on the planet and you are guaranteed a reliably similar experience.
And that’s fine if you go on holiday to enjoy ‘similar experiences’. But perhaps you’re after something a little more distinct, a little more local and idiosyncratic. An Italy hotel is unlikely to be quite as homogenized as its UK or US counterpart, and though a blessing to our mind, it can lead to some confusion as to what exactly you’ll get from your hotel in Italy. So let’s explain some terminology.
There is the locanda, which traditionally meant a very basic Italian hotel (though it can also, oddly, be somewhere quite fancy). An ‘albergo in Italia’ is, in fact, a ‘hotel in Italia’, so no confusion there then. Then there is the pensione, which nowadays can be taken as synonymous with an Italy hotel. You may well see accommodation labelled as a 'residence' - again, these are often hotels in all but name. And you'd need to ask the taxman as to the reason why!
The regional differences are reflected in pricing. Italian hotels in the north of the country are going to be more expensive than in the south — this is reasonable enough, reflecting the disparity in cost and standard of living between Turin say, and Salento.
Your Italy hotel may claim to be a bed and breakfast, but know this: sometimes B & Bs will charge you for breakfast as an extra, and the breakfast is not always served in the building you'll be sleeping in. You may also find that there is a minimum stay, perhaps of three nights. Also beware that half- or full-board may be the default option. Check that you are not paying for a lunch or dinner that you neither want nor need.
Below you'll find links to our more popular regional and city-specific listings for hotels in Italy, and this link will take you to our full hotel-listing page.
Tuscany hotels (cities: Florence,
Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo & Cortona, Montecatini
area, full list)
Rome and Lazio hotels (cities: Rome)
Veneto and Venice hotels (cities: Venice,
Verona and the lakes, full
list)
Italy hotels - online reservation from ahotelinitaly.com - use the links below for hotels that may be reserved with instant confirmation:
BY REGION:
Abruzzo
hotels - Basilicata
hotels - Calabria
hotels - Campania
and Amalfi hotels - Emilia-Romagna
hotels - Friuli
hotels - Lazio
hotels - Le
Marche hotels - Liguria
hotels - Lombardy
hotels - Piedmont
hotels - Puglia
hotels - Sardinia
hotels - Sicily
hotels - Trentino
Alto Adige hotels - Tuscany
hotels - Umbria
hotels - Valle
d'Aosta hotels - Veneto
hotels
BY CITY:
Bologna hotels -
Florence hotels -
Genoa hotels -
Lucca hotels -
Milan hotels -
Naples hotels -
Pisa hotels -
Rome hotels -
Turin hotels -
Venice hotels -
Verona hotels
