In 2026 a complete double contract room, bathroom excluded, runs from €3,200 to €8,500 in Italy, but individual pieces are sold at prices that can vary by double for the same description: a three-door 120 cm wardrobe ranges from €700 to €1,900, a double bed with headboard from €450 to €1,600. When two quotes arrive with the same list and a €22,000 difference across twenty rooms, the difference isn’t in the furniture listed, it’s in the panel thicknesses, the hardware and what isn’t written down.
Below are the price ranges per item and the variables that move them. These are indicative supply prices, excluding VAT, for batches of ten or more rooms.
| Item | Budget tier | Mid tier | Premium tier | What pushes the price up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wardrobe, 3 doors, 120x60x230 cm | €620-900 | €900-1,400 | €1,400-2,200 | 25 mm panel instead of 18, 2 mm ABS edge, 200,000-cycle hinges, veneered doors, interior light, built-in safe |
| Double bed 160×200 with base | €280-450 | €450-800 | €800-1,500 | metal frame, beech slats with adjustment, perimeter bump-guard strip, storage unit |
| Upholstered headboard 170-180 cm | €180-350 | €350-700 | €700-1,600 | height over 120 cm, class 1 IM fabric, tufting, wood frame, removable cover |
| Bedside table, per piece | €110-180 | €180-350 | €350-750 | drawers on full-extension soft-close runners, integrated socket and USB, stone top |
| Desk or console with minibar recess | €320-520 | €520-900 | €900-1,700 | ventilated fridge compartment, cable routing, drawer, thick HPL top, metal legs |
| Luggage rack | €55-90 | €90-160 | €160-320 | welded metal frame instead of wooden X-frame, replaceable straps, wall-mounted version |
| Armchair | €130-260 | €260-500 | €500-1,100 | solid wood frame, certified fabric, sprung seat instead of foam only |
| Mirror | €70-130 | €130-280 | €280-600 | frame, backlighting, anti-shatter film glass |
| TV panel or wall panelling | €200-400 | €400-900 | €900-2,000 | linear length, wood species, integration of sockets and lighting |
Adding up the mid tier gets you to €2,900-3,400 for furniture alone in a standard double. The final quote will say €4,500. The difference isn’t a hidden markup, and knowing where it comes from helps you read the document.
Contents
Why the total isn’t the sum of the pieces
Transport and assembly account for between 8 and 14% of the value of the supply, and it’s the line item that’s always underestimated. A hotel in a historic centre with no unloading area, a 60×100 lift and three flights of stairs, costs far more in labour than a property on the main road with the lorry parked under the window. Asking whether assembly includes removing the packaging isn’t pedantry: disposing of cardboard and polystyrene for twenty rooms is a container’s worth and a few hundred euros.
Then there’s what comes before the furniture: the site survey, the working drawings, the finish samples, any changes after the first pilot room is assembled. On a twenty-room contract that’s several days’ work, and anyone who zeroes it out in the quote has either hidden it in another line or won’t actually do it. The pilot room, incidentally, isn’t a whim: you assemble a complete room, sleep in it, find the three things that don’t work, and only then does production start on the other nineteen. It costs a week on the calendar and saves you making the same changes across the whole batch.
On the other side, volume brings prices down considerably. Above thirty rooms, a reasonable discount off the single-piece list price is 10-18%, above sixty it reaches 20-25%, because the way things are produced changes: same nesting, same setup, same delivery run. It’s why stock hotel bedroom packages cost less for the same list, and also why refitting five rooms a year for four years costs more than refitting twenty in one go.
Bespoke doesn’t automatically mean more expensive. A piece designed specifically for the room costs 15-25% more than a catalogue model only when the design itself changes; if only the dimensions change within the same construction family, the extra cost is often under 10%, and it avoids infill side panels, false alignments and the twenty centimetres of dead wall that are the norm in a period room.
The details that shift the price within the same piece
Two wardrobes identical in description can cost €700 or €1,900. The gap comes down to five points, all verifiable on a well-written quote.
Panel thickness, first of all: serious contract furniture uses 25 mm on long shelves and worktops, because at 90 cm of span an 18 mm shelf loaded with linen visibly sags within two years. Then the edge, which is where hotel furniture dies: 0.4 mm ABS glued with EVA adhesive peels off where the trolley passes, a 2 mm edge applied by laser lasts ten years. The surface finish matters just as much, and the comparison between HPL, laminate and veneered wood explains why two pieces that look the same react differently to detergent and to a suitcase.
Hardware needs to be read by brand and by declared cycles. A hinge tested for 20,000 openings lasts about three years in a hotel; one rated for 80,000 or 200,000 cycles with an integrated damper is a different object at a different price. The same goes for drawer runners: ball-bearing with partial extension versus full extension with soft-close is twenty euros a drawer in difference and five years of extra life.
Finally, fire reaction. A piece certified class 1 IM for upholstery and coverings costs more because the certified fabric costs more and because the certification has to be issued and kept on file. Anyone offering upholstered pieces at a price that doesn’t cover the certification doesn’t have that document, and at inspection time the document is what’s asked for.
The last variable is the load-bearing structure. The comparison between solid wood and MDF/chipboard panels doesn’t have a single answer for the whole room: solid wood makes sense on headboards, legs and edges that take the knocks, while on sides and backs good-quality panel is more stable and doesn’t move with humidity swings.
How to read a quote line by line
A useful quote gives, for every item, the dimensions in centimetres, the panel thickness, the type and thickness of the edging, the hardware brand with declared cycles, the finish with its code, the fire reaction class where relevant, and the unit price. If the unit price is missing and there’s only a total per room, nothing can be compared and any changes made during the works turn into blind negotiation.
There are three phrases to flag in red. “Assembled to a high standard” without saying how many people, how many days and what it covers. “Finish of the client’s choice from the sample range” without the sample range attached, because sample ranges have different price bands. “Indicative delivery” without a date and without a penalty clause, which for a hotel reopening on the first of April is the difference between a season and a lawsuit. A properly written furniture specification closes all three of those doors before you sign, and it’s also what lets you compare two suppliers on the same terms.
You should also ask about the availability of spare parts and how long they’ll be available. Hinges, feet, luggage rack straps and handles break, and furniture that can’t be repaired gets thrown out. A supplier who guarantees spare parts for ten years has a warehouse and a stable supply chain behind them; it’s one of the criteria that matters most in choosing a contract furniture partner, more than the figure at the bottom of the first page.
Is it worth buying everything at once?
Yes, and not for the sake of a discount. A room furnished in three stages ends up with finishes that don’t match, because panel batches shift in tone, because the armchair fabric goes out of production, and because the bedside table bought two years later has a different plinth. The result shows up in photos, and it’s the kind of detail a guest can’t name but reads as neglect.
The reasonable exception is a floor-by-floor refit plan: one floor a year, all at once, with the same finish code locked in by contract. Businesses with tight cash flow do this, and it works, as long as the supplier guarantees the continuity of the finish in writing for at least three years. Buying half a room now and half in eight months, on the other hand, is the most expensive way to save money.
When the overall budget needs building from scratch, the figures per room and the percentages across the different items are in the calculation of the budget per room and total cost of furnishing a hotel, while for common areas and pieces added along the way the reference is hotel furnishing accessories. If instead you need a figure for your own property rather than a range, a bespoke quote for furnishing a hospitality business is still the only way to move from price bands to the real centimetres of your rooms.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a hotel wardrobe cost? A three-door contract wardrobe measuring 120x60x230 cm costs between €620 and €900 in the budget tier, between €900 and €1,400 in the mid tier and up to €2,200 with veneered doors, interior light and a built-in safe. The difference lies in the panel thickness, the 2 mm ABS edge and hinges tested for 200,000 cycles instead of 20,000. On batches above thirty rooms the unit price drops by 10-18%.
How much does a contract bed cost? A double bed measuring 160×200 with a slatted base costs between €280 and €450 in the base tier, between €450 and €800 in the mid tier, and over €800 with a metal frame, bump-guard strip and storage. The headboard is priced separately: from €180 for a simple upholstered panel up to €1,600 for a tall headboard in class 1 IM certified fabric. The mattress is never included in these prices.
Is it worth buying everything at once? Yes, and the main reason isn’t the discount but consistency of finish: panel batches shift in tone, fabrics go out of production, and a room furnished piecemeal shows it. The only sensible exception is a floor-by-floor refit, one floor a year, with the finish code locked in by contract for at least three years. Buying half a room now and half in eight months costs more and looks worse.
How do you read a quote line by line? Every item should list dimensions in centimetres, panel thickness, edge type and thickness, hardware brand with declared cycles, finish code, fire reaction class where required, and unit price. Without the unit price, comparing two offers is impossible and any changes during the works get negotiated blind. Delivery date, what assembly covers, and spare parts availability in subsequent years should also be confirmed in writing.
