Hi all -

I am posting this thread as I am wondering if this is something commonly encountered by fellow travellers. In April, we stayed for a week in a studio apartment in Provence, connected to a B&B, and had hot water only in the morning. By evening and night - gone, til the next morning. I have never encountered this in my previous European travels (Italy, Ireland, Switzerland), and I have stayed in both B&Bs and hotels. This was my first time in France, and first time in a rental (actually 2nd - the week before we spent in Paris in a rental but with no hot water issues).

Has anyone else ever encountered this? I actually gave a negative rental review based mainly on the hot water issue; I'm thinking that maybe I was just ignorant of "the way it is".

Thanks,

Terry

This is a really good question, Terry. I'm glad you raised it.

I've never encountered this problem, in about 10 vacation rentals where we've stayed (Italy, France and Amsterdam)

Good question Terry,
actually I have never experienced such a problem anywhere but I have often read reviews of self-catering and B&B accommodation in Italy where the reviewer stated "plenty of hot water for the shower"! as if it was not "the way it is"...
So I'm very interested in reading the answers that you'll get!

I've never had a problem with insufficient hot water in hotels or agriturismi. But because I have encountered it in one convent, I always mention "plentiful hot water" when describing other convents.

I think several of the places I've stayed in the past few years have had the kind of instant hot water heaters that would seem to be a good solution for both renter and owner, since water is only heated when it's really needed--but it's always available.

Hi Teaberry
Maybe you already mentioned this, but if not I was wondering if you talked with the nice owners about the issue while you were there and what their response was?
Judie

Hi Judie -

We did not talk to the owners about this. This was something we tossed around, and after weighing the pros and cons, decided not to bring it up to the owners. Maybe we should have, but we didn't want to get confrontative with them, and if there were any financial considerations on their part for the lack of hot water at night, we didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable or squirmish. I know that alot of people might have said something, and to tell you the truth, if I was not on vacation, I probably would have said something (but then again, I wouldn't be there if I wasn't on vacation!). But I guess my point is that we were having such a nice time, and just wanted to leave it at that.

Terry

Hi Terry,
I've never had a problem quite like that, where the hot water is only in the morning. But in one apartment that we rented the hot water was not turned on and we were just about to call the owner and then my husband found where to turn it on, outside next to the front door. Also, I've experienced a couple places where the hot water in the shower fluctuated between scalding hot and freezing cold.

-Krista