King, double or queen?
Beds in Italy have three main sizes, "Matrimoniale" or double, "Alla Francese" or queen and "King" King. Their sizes in cms are on this table:
| Bed Name | Italian Equivalent | Width in cms | Width in ft and in | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen | Alla Francese | 140cm | . 4ft 8 inches | 190cm |
| Double | Matrimoniale | 160cm | 5ft 3 inches | 190cm |
| King | King | 190cm | 6ft 3 inches | 190cm |
There are some variations, and there are super kings now available too, around 2 metres wide.
The bedroom in the header is in Villa Bartolomeo, close to Lucca, a carefully restored historic villa with formal gardens and a private pool.
UK Bed sizes
For comparison, here are the sizes of beds in the UK - the naming is slightly different.
| UK Name | Width in cms | Width in ft and in | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double | 135cm | 4ft 6 inches | 190cm |
| King | 150cm | 5ft | 200cm |
| Super King | 183cm | 6ft | 200cm |
US Bed Sizes
And also for comparison, here are the usual sizings for beds in the US
| US Name | Width in cms | Width in ft and in | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 135cm | 4ft 6 inches | 189cm |
| Queen | 150cm | 5ft | 203cm |
| King | 193cm | 6ft 3 inches | 203cm |
| California King | 183cm | 6ft | 212cm |
Casa Etrusca
Bed sizes compared: European vs UK vs US
There is quite a lot of variation of sizing between bed sizes around the world, and it can be confusing when you're trying to work out what size bed you'll find in your rental villa when you arrive. If you're particularly tall (and I'm looking at you, Denmark, with your entire families over 6'4"!) it can be worth asking - we have had owners who have gone out and replaced beds for longer ones to accommodate the rising numbers of Northern European visitors. Equally, if you're a West Coast American and used to large amount of bed real-estate afforded by Cali-Kings, just drop us a line and we can double-check the beds. Often we list all double beds as doubles, without marking whether they are Kings or not - we mainly make sure we note down any narrow doubles, as that can be more problematic.
That said, from the charts above you can see that an Italian "Alla Francese" is slightly larger than a UK standard double, and is close to what would be called a "Full double" in the US.
An Italian Double, or "Matrimoniale" is 160cm, so wider than a UK King, but smaller than a US King.
While a US King at 193cm wide, is slightly smaller than an Italian Super King that will normally be around 2m wide, but both are wider than a British Super King, at 183cm.
