Single people, single beds?

This was originally posted on October 4, 2010.



I'm seriously considering reading "The Undutchables" after last weekend.
Up till then I've always been fortunate to find a place to crash at friends' places - friends who live(d) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, or close to the Dutch capital. This time I had to book a hotel room; there's a first time to everything, eh. I had made reservations through the internet, and I knew it would cost me 120 Euros.

I'm used to North American hotel rooms, so I booked a single room (since I was traveling on my own) instead of a double one. Imagine my surprise when I checked in on Saturday: even though it had everything, the room was small, and the single bed was narrow. Even worse: the mattress was soft instead of firm (my back wasn't happy in the morning). That was so not what I had expected. Certainly not when I'm paying 120 Euros for one night! But, you know what? It wasn't shabby, just more cramped than I'm used to, and only for one night, so I decided not to make a big stink out of it.

Interestingly enough, one of the ladies who flew in from London, UK for the meet up, had a similar story. The room they tried putting her up in (she specifically booked a double, and paid for it upfront) was a single room - with a narrow single bed. (What is it with Dutch people and narrow single beds?) Long story short: she had to complain and make a big stink out of it before she was put up in a room she paid for. This is my first time in a hotel room with a bed smaller than the one I have at home!

We were talking about it, and one of the other ladies (Dutch) told a story about how a sibling got married... And their honeymoon suit had two singles pushed together - instead of a double bed. Seriously. Crazy Dutch folks. I could only conclude there's no use booking a double room in the Netherlands, because I probably end up in a room with two single beds pushed together. On the off chance I get to pick up a chick there won't be much hanky panky if one falls into the crack (between the beds).