What is the deal with hotels and their heating? I think I may have read somewhere that it is turned off at night in the winter, at least in some places. Is this the case? Can you ask about this before placing your reservation?

This may seem like a silly question but I absolutely hate being cold and would hate freezing to death my entire trip.

We were warm enough during our visit to Spain last March--but in March of 1996, we went to Italy for our honeymoon and had the ultimate hotel heating problem in Pompeii...the room was freezing, absolutely freezing. It was especially cold in the bathroom.

We had arrived rather late in the evening, so we asked for an extra blanket and burrowed into bed. The next morning, we got up and went into the icy bathroom for showers. I kept feeling a cold draft as I got into the shower...and looked up to see BLUE SKY above me!! There was an enormous hole above the shower, about 8 inches in diameter, right to the outside!!

Also in Italy, we stayed with distant cousins in their house on a mountaintop. They only heat their kitchen in winter (with a wood fireplace) as the costs of heating are so high. Our bedroom was below freezing, I am sure. Cousin Domenica would turn on an electric blanket for about 30 minutes before we went in to bed. She also was appalled that I washed my hair the next morning (American habits die hard) and insisted on blowing it dry (she did it for me!) in front of the fire, while we browned our toast on toasting forks.

I think many buildings in Europe are not well-suited to heating systems (most of which were installed long after the buildings were erected). The fancier hotels will probably have found ways around this, and the less-expensive places may have low-tech solutions like extra blankets.

You might consider bringing along a robe, warm PJs, a fleece blanket of your own, and an electric immersion heater for making a cup of hot tea or cocoa (you can find these, with European plugs, at some travel stores--you just put them into a mug of water, plug them in, and boil water in about 2 minutes!). Also slippers, for tile floors!

We were in Spain over Christmas and our medium class hotels in Madrid and Seville were well heated (we had our own controls). Even on the day Madrid had 3 inches of snow we were fine and it was no different than being in U.S. It may be that smaller places and more out-of-the places are different with respect to heat. I remember being in London and Paris in the 1970's in Dec. Luckily I took along long underwear--I would have frozen at night w/o it! But its likely better there now too.

Any hotel I've been to in Spain has had sufficient heat, but you may want to check if you'll be staying in smaller, family run hostels.

When I lived in Granada, we had NO CENTRAL HEAT in our building!! Many of the older buildings just don't have it--we'd eat dinner at a table with a thick, velvety, tablecloth over our legs and a heater under the table (called a cenicero) to keep us warm. Some of my friends who did have central heat in their newer buildings only had it turned on at certain hours of the day.

In the south it's cold for such a short part of the year that they deal with it by using the ceniceros and lots of blankets. (The blankets are thick, warm, and WONDERFUL--that's going to be my purchase the next time I head over to Spain. I'd go to bed in flannel pajamas, socks, slippers, my flannel bathrobe, a turtleneck, and then several blankets to cover me up--not a pretty sight!!)

This may be the same case in Madrid (I wasn't sure hotels in which city you were referring.) in older buildings or smaller, family run hostels.

Buena suerte and pack your long johns if you're not sure!!!

GranadaGirl

If you´re looking for cheap and heated, hostal barbieri in Chuecas (near Gran Vía and Calle Alcalá) is warm and quite social. Heat is turned on every night and i was quite warm, even sleeping by the window.