|
Post by Jockscrap on Jun 28, 2015 8:48:58 GMT
My pals and I were talking about this the other day. In the UK, a hotel room would normally have either a double bed (usually king size) or two single beds in a room. A family room will maybe be a double bed with a bed settee. Sometimes the double bed is two single beds that share a single head board and are pushed together. But I've never seen in this country two double beds in one room, which all of us have experienced in the U.S. What is the reasoning behind this set up and why is it so common in the U.S.? How do you normally use this arrangement? When we went to New York, I shared a double with my DD and my DS shared with his dad so it was used as a family room. Do hotel rooms in the U.S. ever have just one double.
|
|
|
Post by imkat on Jun 28, 2015 9:58:32 GMT
When we travel as a family, we always get two doubles/queens. When I travel by myself, I get a king/queen or whatever is available.
I'm not understanding your description of a family room in the UK -- could four people sleep comfortably?
|
|
|
Post by AnastasiaBeaverhausn on Jun 28, 2015 10:02:00 GMT
I work in hotels a lot for my job and have seen thousands of rooms and no, I have never encountered just one double bed in a room. If there is just one bed, it is a king. I had a woman the other day ask for a room with 2 king beds but she was crazy.
|
|
|
Post by anonrefugee on Jun 28, 2015 10:08:01 GMT
Yes, some hotels have just one double. In my experience it's been nice, older buildings in major cities like NYC. Or smaller historical type Inn. It's not common in less landlocked or new builds. ETA In other words it's not the majority, or common, but does exist. Here's one- www.libraryhotel.com
|
|
|
Post by gar on Jun 28, 2015 10:34:37 GMT
For us I would think it simply comes down to room size and the practicalities of the bed sizes. I gather the norm in American homes is for a bigger bed than our standard double so there's probably the expectation of larger beds too.
|
|
|
Post by brina on Jun 28, 2015 10:46:15 GMT
Americans have been trending towards bigger beds in the home and that is reflected in hotels. Many people (not all, but many) have their kids in double beds from the time they are out of their crib. A lot of kids bedding is now sold in double (also called full-sized). My dh and I share a queen size bed and this became a topic of conversation after we threw a party and coats were being laid on the bed. Most of my friends were surprised and all said they shared a king- or calnifornia-king sized bed with their husbands.
|
|
|
Post by anonrefugee on Jun 28, 2015 11:02:58 GMT
On family road trips we often stay in places like Hyatt Suites with 1-2 queen beds and tiny sofa/TV area. DH and I explain to our kids it's often larger than the urban studio apartments we each had when we met.
It's a strange concept for mid American kids raised in the bloated houses... And we have a smaller 80s house built before sizes started to explode, most of their friends are in larger houses.
|
|
|
Post by disneypal on Jun 28, 2015 12:00:23 GMT
Usually in the US, most rooms have either one King size bed OR 2 Queens/Double. (higher priced have Queens and lower priced may have doubles)
I have never seen a hotel room with single beds.
|
|
|
Post by myboysnme on Jun 28, 2015 12:11:49 GMT
My husband and I stayed in a small dive of a motel, literally something out of the 50's and kind of scary, and it had only 1 double bed, I think it was in Ohio. There was a perfectly nice Holiday Inn right down the road but we literally just wanted to grab a few hours of sleep on a road trip and didn't want to spend the extra money. I think most motels have updated to at least one queen size bed when they had to replace worn out mattresses.
|
|
|
Post by myshelly on Jun 28, 2015 12:35:04 GMT
Americans would think a double bed is too small for two people.
We are used to sleeping in king size (or at least a queen).
A double bed is what you would find in a kid's room.
A queen/king is what you would find in an adult's room.
If I walked into a hotel and found only a double bed I would complain bc to me they are not big enough to be comfortable.
|
|
marimoose
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,282
Jul 22, 2014 2:10:14 GMT
|
Post by marimoose on Jun 28, 2015 12:41:05 GMT
I have stayed in non chain, mom/pop establishments that have a single bed. I do believe that the last one was a queen bed. The trend is definitely towards a king bed or two doubles, size varies from chain to chain. I am of the mindset that as long as I have a place to rest my head at night for a reasonable sum, I am happy. I am a temporary resident so I just don.t sweat it. I am more concerned that the room is clean.
|
|
Dani-Mani
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,706
Jun 28, 2014 17:36:35 GMT
|
Post by Dani-Mani on Jun 28, 2015 12:44:55 GMT
I don't sleep in a single or double at home, I'm definitely not paying to sleep in one.
We always get two queens if we need two beds.
|
|
AmeliaBloomer
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,842
Location: USA
Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
|
Post by AmeliaBloomer on Jun 28, 2015 12:58:14 GMT
My pals and I were talking about this the other day. In the UK, a hotel room would normally have either a double bed (usually king size) or two single beds in a room. A family room will maybe be a double bed with a bed settee. Sometimes the double bed is two single beds that share a single head board and are pushed together. But I've never seen in this country two double beds in one room, which all of us have experienced in the U.S. What is the reasoning behind this set up and why is it so common in the U.S.? How do you normally use this arrangement? When we went to New York, I shared a double with my DD and my DS shared with his dad so it was used as a family room. Do hotel rooms in the U.S. ever have just one double. I agree that it is odd to have so many two-bed rooms here (or even one king) in the U.S., especially for the solo business traveler. We use those rooms as family rooms. We also have stayed in many rooms with single beds, or double beds we share - in B&Bs or in New York City hotels. I read recently about a hotel owner in Germany who was frustrated/puzzled because only American guests balked at the idea of their young children sharing a double bed. btw: my kids report that some of their friends were very unhappy because of the single beds in their dorms. They had never slept in one!
|
|
|
Post by ktdoesntscrap on Jun 28, 2015 13:24:57 GMT
I found bed sizes are smaller in the UK than the US. When I lived in London full size sheets fit on my UK "Queen" Bed.
Hotel rooms are bigger in the US than the UK. What is standard here is just larger. Bed are larger too. I think you are much less likely to find twin beds anywhere in the US.
Even my 12 year old who has a small room wanted out of her twin bed.
|
|
|
Post by Jockscrap on Jun 28, 2015 13:27:14 GMT
When we travel as a family, we always get two doubles/queens. When I travel by myself, I get a king/queen or whatever is available. I'm not understanding your description of a family room in the UK -- could four people sleep comfortably? A true family room is not that easy to find in UK hotels, even in the big budget chains. They tend to be suitable for a couple and one child/teen or a child and a toddler in a cot provided if required. Most family rooms are unsuitable for four adult size people. For us I would think it simply comes down to room size and the practicalities of the bed sizes. I gather the norm in American homes is for a bigger bed than our standard double so there's probably the expectation of larger beds too. I understand that people in the U.S. are used to bigger beds so a couple would want a large one when they travel, but I just don't get the concept of it being common to have two large doubles in a room, as if it is common for 2 couples to share a room. I'm guessing that isn't done much? Is it just more normal for hotel rooms in the U.S. to be able to accommodate families if needed with kids or adult/kid bed sharing? When we've travelled in the UK and other European destinations, we've almost always had one double (often a large double) for ourselves, and a separate room for our kids next door which would have two singles in it. These singles are sometimes pushed together, and are made up with separate bedding so can be separated easily, or are like one giant 6' bed if you wanted it so. Lots of hotels in Spain, Italy etc are like that.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 17:17:30 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 13:38:00 GMT
My pals and I were talking about this the other day. In the UK, a hotel room would normally have either a double bed (usually king size) or two single beds in a room. A family room will maybe be a double bed with a bed settee. Sometimes the double bed is two single beds that share a single head board and are pushed together. But I've never seen in this country two double beds in one room, which all of us have experienced in the U.S. What is the reasoning behind this set up and why is it so common in the U.S.? How do you normally use this arrangement? When we went to New York, I shared a double with my DD and my DS shared with his dad so it was used as a family room. Do hotel rooms in the U.S. ever have just one double. In the US a "double bed" is a specific size of bed. It doesn't refer to all beds large enough for two people. Bed sizes are twin/single, double/full, queen, king. When we traveled as a family we prefered a room with two full or two queen sized beds. The h and I slept in one, two kids slept in the other and the third kid slept on a roll-away bed (have to request it when you make the room reservation)
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 17:17:30 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 15:25:23 GMT
Yes, hotels do sometimes have just one queen or king sized bed. But I think the majority of rooms are set up for four. Maybe it has to do with stereotypical (or experiential) expectations of family size as well as the kinds of guests the hotel wants to attract?
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2015 15:28:20 GMT
Our preferred hotel room setup is a mini suite with one king bed and a pullout couch, but we often end up in a room with two queen size beds. Our girls are teenagers and both fully adult-sized, so they don't enjoy sleeping on a rollaway cot. They can share a queen size bed so the two-queen room works for us. We prefer to avoid the cost of two hotel rooms if we can.
I agree that we have different definitions for a "double" bed than the UK does. A double bed in the US is quite small and pretty cramped for two adults. A queen or king size is more common. A king is the same width as two twin beds pushed together.
|
|
|
Post by myshelly on Jun 28, 2015 15:29:32 GMT
When we travel as a family, we always get two doubles/queens. When I travel by myself, I get a king/queen or whatever is available. I'm not understanding your description of a family room in the UK -- could four people sleep comfortably? A true family room is not that easy to find in UK hotels, even in the big budget chains. They tend to be suitable for a couple and one child/teen or a child and a toddler in a cot provided if required. Most family rooms are unsuitable for four adult size people. For us I would think it simply comes down to room size and the practicalities of the bed sizes. I gather the norm in American homes is for a bigger bed than our standard double so there's probably the expectation of larger beds too. I understand that people in the U.S. are used to bigger beds so a couple would want a large one when they travel, but I just don't get the concept of it being common to have two large doubles in a room, as if it is common for 2 couples to share a room. I'm guessing that isn't done much? Is it just more normal for hotel rooms in the U.S. to be able to accommodate families if needed with kids or adult/kid bed sharing? When we've travelled in the UK and other European destinations, we've almost always had one double (often a large double) for ourselves, and a separate room for our kids next door which would have two singles in it. These singles are sometimes pushed together, and are made up with separate bedding so can be separated easily, or are like one giant 6' bed if you wanted it so. Lots of hotels in Spain, Italy etc are like that. The two large beds in a room is for when a family is traveling together. When we stay in a hotel room my husband sleeps in one bed with oldest DS and I sleep in a bed with younger DSs. It's not for couples to share, it's for families to share.
|
|
AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
|
Post by AnotherPea on Jun 28, 2015 15:48:17 GMT
I work in hotels a lot for my job and have seen thousands of rooms and no, I have never encountered just one double bed in a room. If there is just one bed, it is a king. I had a woman the other day ask for a room with 2 king beds but she was crazy. Why was she crazy? We just came back from vacation and our room had two king beds in it. We always have a room with either two queens or two kings. Most of the time we have queens, but there have been several times that we were assigned two kings.
|
|
Nicole in TX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,951
Jun 26, 2014 2:00:21 GMT
|
Post by Nicole in TX on Jun 28, 2015 15:49:50 GMT
In the US a "double bed" is a specific size of bed. It doesn't refer to all beds large enough for two people. Bed sizes are twin/single, double/full, queen, king. That is funny terminology if you think about it. My inlaws have a guest room with a double bed and it just about kills my DH and I to sleep in it.
|
|
|
Post by Jockscrap on Jun 28, 2015 15:50:10 GMT
I agree that we have different definitions for a "double" bed than the UK does. A double bed in the US is quite small and pretty cramped for two adults. A queen or king size is more common. A king is the same width as two twin beds pushed together. A standard double bed in the UK is 4’6 and king size is 5', so a lot smaller than a U.S. king size. It is completely normal for a couple to have a standard double in their homes. Many modern homes would struggle to fit a 5’ bed in it comfortably. Bedding in most home stores is sold in single (3’), standard double and UK king size. You would have to search a little harder to find other sizes as they just aren't common here, so styles and ranges would be limited.
|
|
AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
|
Post by AnotherPea on Jun 28, 2015 15:54:17 GMT
IME, it is not typical for children to have double beds in their rooms. Most of the children (teens) have twins. Some might have two twin beds, as does dd's BFF, so sleepovers are a bit easier.
I had a double bed when I was a child, simply because I inherited my aunt's canopy bed frame. My brothers had twin beds and when were were overseas on Army bases, I also had a twin. My children have always had twin beds.
|
|
|
Post by cadoodlebug on Jun 28, 2015 16:02:05 GMT
My pals and I were talking about this the other day. In the UK, a hotel room would normally have either a double bed (usually king size) or two single beds in a room. A family room will maybe be a double bed with a bed settee. Sometimes the double bed is two single beds that share a single head board and are pushed together. But I've never seen in this country two double beds in one room, which all of us have experienced in the U.S. What is the reasoning behind this set up and why is it so common in the U.S.? How do you normally use this arrangement? When we went to New York, I shared a double with my DD and my DS shared with his dad so it was used as a family room. Do hotel rooms in the U.S. ever have just one double. I've never seen one in a hotel but you will see them in B&Bs all the time. When we were in London in 2003 the bed in our room was about a 3/4 bed. Bigger than a twin, smaller than a double. It was awful. And it was right before that killer heat wave. It was our first night after arriving from San Francisco so we had been up over 24 hours. DH is 6' 2" so I finally put the comforter on the floor and got a few hours sleep that way. Thank goodness it was only for a few nights. The rest of the trip we had twin beds that looked like a king.
|
|
|
Post by scraphollie27 on Jun 28, 2015 16:10:27 GMT
We found tavelling in the UK as a family of four very challenging from the accommodation perspective. Rooms that sleep four are more expensive and harder to come by than rooms for two. Rooms for four almost always had a double bed and a futon type bed but it works for us as our two girls small enough to sleep together on these futons. We rented a cottage in Shropshire that thankfully had bunk beds and a double bed so they got the space they were see to.
I don't think we could travel in Europe as a family at this point because our children are adult sized teenagers and (as lovely as they are!) sometimes sharing a bed ends in a kicking match and me shrieking. it would cost too much to constantly book two rooms.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 17:17:30 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 16:22:52 GMT
It pains me to say but Americans tend to want larger beds often because we are larger sized.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 17:17:30 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 16:28:31 GMT
It pains me to say but Americans tend to want larger beds often because we are larger sized. [br I disagree. My dh and I are not larger sized at all, in fact we are both quite thin. But he is 6'5". A full is NOT big enough for both of us. Even a queen is pushing it.
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Jun 28, 2015 16:39:39 GMT
It pains me to say but Americans tend to want larger beds often because we are larger sized. [br I disagree. My dh and I are not larger sized at all, in fact we are both quite thin. But he is 6'5". A full is NOT big enough for both of us. Even a queen is pushing it. I am larger sized but DH is thin. He is also 6'5", though. We had a queen for years and it was very uncomfortable for him. We have a king sized bed now and I would want it that way even if I wasn't larger sized ... DH is thin because he has a fast metabolism, and I swear being in bed with him is like being in bed with a space heater. He puts off a lot of heat. I'm perimenopausal and don't need any extra heat at night. I think part of the preference for a larger bed also comes from the fact that a huge master suite is common in newer construction, and a smaller bed looks lost in all that space. Older homes in the US often struggle to fit a king sized bed - our current house was built in 1955 and the king sized bed is frankly a little too big for our room.
|
|
|
Post by auntkelly on Jun 28, 2015 16:41:36 GMT
If I understand your question correctly, it is very common in the U.S. for a family to share a room w/ two beds-usually queen sized beds.
Our family of four shared one room until our kids were in their early teens, and then we started getting two rooms, which increased travel costs significantly.
When we travel with other couples, each couple gets their own room. I've never heard of couples sharing a room.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 17:17:30 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 16:50:54 GMT
IME, it is not typical for children to have double beds in their rooms. Most of the children (teens) have twins. Some might have two twin beds, as does dd's BFF, so sleepovers are a bit easier. I had a double bed when I was a child, simply because I inherited my aunt's canopy bed frame. My brothers had twin beds and when were were overseas on Army bases, I also had a twin. My children have always had twin beds. I didn't realize that double beds for kids were common. I have them for my kids because we have a lot of family visit us, and the kids' rooms double as guest rooms. Now that the kids are growing up, I might replace the doubles with queens. I couldn't ask my 6'5" BIL and my sister to share a single.
|
|