The Key to Italian Hotels

Recently, I was in Nashville, Tennessee, for a conference. When I checked into my hotel, I was handed a key - well, it really was more like a credit card more than a key with rivets down the side. But, of course, it's customary in the US for hotels to issue keycards rather than actual keys.

While I normally wouldn't have thought twice about the credit card-style key, I had only been in Italy a week before, and the keys there are, well, keys. And a hotel there is much more personal than a hotel in the US.

During my stay, I entered and left the hotel in Nashville as I please, rarely passing the front desk. And when I passed the desk, I hardly ever encountered the same employee twice.

While none of what I've written thus far should seem out of place for American travelers to US hotels in recent years, the idea of key cards and anonymous hotel personnel is foreign to many small Italian hotel owners and employees - the same hotel owners and employees you'll likely encounter on your next visit to the country, whose history includes the Roman Empire and Dante.

Speaking of Dante, some of the hotels are located inside buildings whose architecture seems to date back several hundred years. The buildings have been retrofitted with teeny elevators, comfortable for one person, without luggage. Sometimes the hotels are only based on a couple of upper floors of a building whose facade might indicate boutiques and other shops, but whose upstairs are amenable for the business or vacationing traveler.

It's amazing how riding an elevator just a couple levels to a floor barely above the city below can change one's perspective and transport you to a different culture and a different time. And when you check into that Italian hotel - especially the smaller ones - you'll be greeted by an employee - perhaps even an owner - who has most likely been working at his or her station for years - and will probably continue to work there for many more. For your hotel attendant, this line of work is not just a job, but a profession - and a good one at that.

The attendant will issue you a key - not a credit card, but an actual key that you turn in a lock. For those of you who are constantly trying to remember to bring a key before you leave a place, you'll appreciate the system in Italian hotels. As you depart for your activities (may I suggest a jaunt down the Spanish Steps if you're in Rome?), you'll be asked to turn in your key to the attendant, who will kindly keep your key until you return, at which time you'll go the desk and retrieve your key.

The advantage to returning the key to the desk before you go out really serves as an advantage to Americans trying to know more about the Italian culture. Through your many visits to the hotels, you'll get to know the attendants quite well - so much so, that they'll begin to take care of you and treat you not just a guest of their hotel, but their guest as well. Also, if the only Italian you know comes from reading menus at the Olive Garden, the attendants - who generally speak English - will help you call reputable taxi companies, map out touring routes and give you insight as to how to best enjoy.

Some of my best memories of our trip to Rome are not from the many wonderful ancient sites and museums, but of the nightly conversations with Alex and Mario, the attendants at the Hotel Miami. Through them, I learned much about Rome - and the Italian culture in general.

While there are so many places to visit in Italy, the place where you'll learn more about the people and culture is a place not very far from where you're staying...only a couple floors up or down, depending on your hotel, and the key to learning so much is, well, the key.