Pensions

The distinction between a hotel and a pension is a blurry one. In my mind, a pension is run by an owner who lives on-site, and the building wasn’t necessarily built to accommodate paying guests. The facilities are usually a bit more extensive than in a bed and breakfast (see opposite), and include things like a common room where the guests can sit and eat together, things that make the place “homier” than a hotel. Like the perfect bed and breakfast (run by the apple-cheeked woman who treats you like family), the perfect pension - full of colorful locals, run by a jovial man named Luigi who makes great pasta - is the Holy Grail of budget travel: much sought-after, rarely found. By definition, these places are almost never in guidebooks; otherwise, they would long ago have been swamped with travelers.

When travelers do find places like this, they guard their names and locations as if they were state secrets. The atmosphere in a pension depends greatly on the attitude and personality of the owner. Some of these places fit the dream, others are clip joints full of creepy-crawlies with both two and six legs. In Italy, especially in rural areas, and in France, Spain, and Portugal - somewhere out there that perfect pension exists. But you won’t find it in a guidebook.