Ah, living the King life … Regular, California, Alaska – whichever version you prefer. A king-size bed means being able to stretch out with no fear of whacking your partner in the face or falling right off the bed!
When I was single, bed sizes were relatively unimportant when I planned travel. Full, queen, twin, no problem – a single traveler has options! Even with two people, a king-size bed usually seemed like overkill. Even though I have never found sleeping in places besides my own bed easy I could usually get by.
Then I married a man the size of a professional basketball player. Who also happens to be a light sleeper. And I gained weight and got older – I started taking up more space and not sleeping as well. A king-size bed was suddenly indispensable for a good night’s sleep. Every time we thought, “oh we’ll be fine with a queen”, we regretted it. At home we are living the King life and loving it, but on the road it’s not so easy.
When you are traveling minimalist and trying to get the most from your trip, being well rested for the next day’s adventure is high priority. Running for a train with a 22lb backpack or climbing 366 steps for a great view is just a lot more enjoyable when you’ve slept well. Especially if you are a larger traveler and/or no longer in your twenties, it’s important to book a hotel room with a bed that is both large enough and comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep.
The Challenge
Astagina Resort & Villas “King” Suite
Bali, Indonesia
I quickly discovered a few challenges with finding large beds when traveling in other countries. For starters, big beds are just not as common in other places. I don’t think I saw a single Airbnb in Paris offering a king-size bed. This makes sense as space is at a premium in many European cities. Also, the great majority of travelers, whether solo or couples, simply don’t need a king size bed.
An additional challenge is that there is no way to search by bed size on most of the sites we use for booking. While rooms are rated for how many people they can sleep, the size of those people does not seem to be a large factor. Even Airbnb with all their amenities filters has no filter for bed size.
Dimension Confusion
As inconvenient as that is, it’s sort of understandable. An American king-size mattress is not the same dimensions as a European king or an Asian king. Everything really is bigger in America.
To make things more difficult, a bed called a “Double”, a “Queen”, or a “King” in Europe could be many different dimensions. Even in the same hotel! For example, a hotel we booked in Florence, Italy had a 160cm (63 in) wide “Queen” in their “Comfort” room and a 180cm (71 in) wide “Queen” in their more expensive “Deluxe” room. For reference, an American queen size bed is 152cm (60in) wide and an American king is 193cm (76 in) wide.
Information regarding bed dimensions may or may not be provided, especially when booking through third party sites. For example, when using credit card points to book through a portal.
Hilton King Doubletree by Hilton – Brussels City
What’s a large traveler to do?
Working Around the Differences
Unfortunately, we still haven’t found a super easy hack for this. What we have discovered is that going to multiple websites to research a hotel can often help in gleaning more valuable information.
In the example above, the Chase travel portal merely described the beds as “Queen”, while the official hotel website give precise measurements. Sometimes other third party sites will also provide missing details. Even pictures can be a clue in, as a “Double” can be a full size bed or two twins pushed together (still of varying widths). Caveat – never assume that the pictures are exactly what you will get, as they are often only representative.
Iconic Aegean “Singles”
Greek Islands Cruise
When traveling with American hotel chains, you may have more success in finding true American mattress sizes. For example, when we were using up Hilton points traveling in Europe, we found Hilton properties were much more likely to have true king-size beds, though sometimes still at a premium. Fortunately, Hilton Diamond status often gets you an upgrade in Europe that can snag you a king-size bed for the price of a queen or two twins.
Being a Hilton Diamond member isn’t a guarantee of an upgrade, so if you really need a king room, go ahead and pay the premium. If you can afford the splurge, Waldorf Astoria king beds are both large and incredibly comfortable. Check out our post on Best and Worst Hilton Hotel Stays in Europe.
If all else fails in your bed search you can simply inquire directly of the hotel itself regarding the bed dimensions. Especially if you find a property you really love, a quick email to the concierge or manager will easily yield more information on bed dimensions in most cases.
Remember Comfort
Unfortunately, just being king-size doesn’t ensure a comfortable bed. So, we also always check hotel reviews and filter by keywords like “bed” or “sleep” to get feedback on bed comfort and size. While other travelers may have different preferences, a number of comments either praising or criticizing the beds can be a good indicator.
One thing we have discovered through experience is that beds in Asia tend to be much more firm than is comfortable for us. We have stayed in several very nice hotels with large king-size beds and beautiful, luxurious bedding that failed to provide decent sleep simply because of how hard the mattress was. For your Asian travels, if you need a softer mattress, we recommend sticking to American hotel brands if at all possible.
Have you found any hacks that made finding larger and/or more comfortable beds easier when traveling? Please share below!
0 Comments