There’s no single king size: in the United States it measures 193×203 cm, in the United Kingdom the bed called a king is 150×200 and the super king is 180×200, while in Italy what sells as a king is 180×200 and what sells as an extra king is 200×200. Ordering “a king” without writing down the centimetres is the fastest way to receive a bed thirty centimetres narrower than expected, or to end up with a mattress that nobody in Italy keeps in stock. Choose the size in centimetres first, then talk about the name.
Contents
The sizes, market by market
| Commercial name | Market | Width x length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin | United States | 96.5 x 190.5 cm | corresponds to an Italian single, 90×190 |
| Twin XL | United States | 96.5 x 203 cm | two side by side make up the American king |
| Full or Double | United States | 137 x 190.5 cm | narrower than the Italian “French” double |
| Queen | United States | 152 x 203 cm | the Italian 160×200 is wider and shorter |
| King or Eastern King | United States | 193 x 203 cm | no Italian equivalent |
| California King | United States | 183 x 213 cm | narrower and longer than the King |
| Single | United Kingdom | 90 x 190 cm | the same as an Italian single |
| Double | United Kingdom | 135 x 190 cm | between the Italian “French” double and the standard double |
| King | United Kingdom | 150 x 200 cm | ten centimetres narrower than the Italian standard double |
| Super King | United Kingdom | 180 x 200 cm | this is the “king” sold in Italy |
| Matrimoniale (standard double) | Italy | 160 x 190 or 160 x 200 cm | the most common size in double rooms |
| King | Italy | 180 x 200 cm | standard in superior rooms |
| Extra king | Italy | 200 x 200 cm | suites and rooms above 24 sqm |
The two rows that cause the most problems are the American Queen and the British King. A US group asking for queen rooms expects 152 cm of width and 203 of length: it’s the length that’s missing, because an Italian 190 cm mattress leaves the feet hanging off for anyone six foot three or taller. And a British tour operator writing “king” means 150×200, which is narrower than the Italian standard double: in that case the room is already compliant and nothing needs buying. The standard hotel bed sizes used in Italian contract furnishing cover the vast majority of requests, provided the contract states centimetres, not names.
How much floor area you actually need
The bed doesn’t just take up its own footprint. To make it up and to pass with the vacuum cleaner, you need 65-70 cm clear on each long side and at least 90 cm at the foot. With a 180 cm king in a room 3.20 metres net in width, that leaves 70 cm per side, which becomes a real 25 cm the moment two 45 cm bedside tables go in. The housekeeper makes the bed on her knees, the trolley can’t get through, and the wall-side tucking only happens once every three times.
The reasonable minimum net width for a 180 cm king is 3.60 metres, which over a 4.50 metre depth gives 16.2 sqm. Below that threshold, the king takes away more than it gives. With a 200×200, you need at least 3.80 metres net as an absolute minimum, and at that point you’re already in a 20 sqm room, or a suite where the spaces get designed around the bed rather than the other way round. The comparison against the minimum square metres set by classification needs doing on the working drawing with the furniture placed in, not on the cadastral floor plan.
One detail that turns up too late: the room door. A 180 cm upholstered bed frame with a wall-mounted headboard fits through an 80 cm door, but a rigid 200×200 frame in a single piece doesn’t. If the property has narrow stairwells and small lifts, the bed needs ordering as a knock-down piece in two half-frames, and that needs stating at quote stage, not at delivery.
The mattress and linen problem
The American 193×203 doesn’t exist in stock in Italy. It has to be made to order, with a 4-6 week lead time and a 25-40% premium over an equivalent-quality 180×200. Linen follows the same fate: oversized sheets, mattress protectors and duvets cost more, only get reordered against a specific job, and when one gets damaged, restocking means another six-week wait. For an Italian hotel wanting to offer a large bed, the sensible choice is the 180×200 or the 200×200, marketed as “king size” on booking platforms, where the term generically indicates an oversized bed rather than a regulated standard.
On working life, another rule applies. A hotel mattress with high turnover gets replaced between year five and year eight, and non-standard sizes force you to keep a spare in storage that takes up space and costs money. Anyone thinking through when to replace mattresses and how to choose them usually reaches the same conclusion: two sizes across the whole property, not five.
Zip-and-link twin beds solve the problem instead of a king
The solution I recommend for most Italian four-star hotels isn’t buying twenty kings. It’s fitting two 90×200 bases onto a single frame, with two separate mattresses, a central connector and a single 180×200 topper on top. The room becomes a twin in twenty seconds and a double in just as many, without the guest ever seeing the gap, because the 5-6 cm topper covers it.
The extra cost against a fixed double is 8-12%, between the topper, the connector and the doubled mattress stock. The return is that the same room sells to a couple on holiday and to two colleagues on a business trip, covering the two segments that usually force you to keep separate rooms and turn down requests. Anyone working with groups and business guests knows this: the room that can’t convert stays empty on a Tuesday. Single beds designed for hotels built for contract use already have the feet and frames set up for zip-and-linking.
The drawback exists and needs saying: making up two mattresses and a topper takes around a minute longer per room, and toppers need washing on their own schedule. Across fifty rooms that’s forty minutes a day. It still remains the best compromise between flexibility and comfort, far better than a fixed king in a 16 sqm room.
Headboards, bed frames, and the cost that grows faster than the width
Going from 160 to 180 doesn’t raise the price by 12%. A king headboard runs 200 to 220 cm wide and often exceeds the standard panel format, so it has to be built in two joined sections with a vertical seam, meaning more work and more transport. The upholstered frame needs more fabric and a reinforced central rail, because over a 180 cm span the slats alone flex. In practice, a complete contract king bed with headboard costs 25-35% more than the same model at 160, not 12%.
There’s also the question of a continuous wall-mounted headboard, the kind running from one bedside table to the other across 260-300 cm: it looks good and holds up to cleaning, but it needs mounting on mechanical anchors rather than plain plasterboard, because guests lean against it while sitting up every evening. Contract-grade double beds for hotels already come with this type of anchoring and with the perimeter strip that protects the mattress from vacuum-cleaner knocks.
When the king is worth the spend
It’s worth it in suites and junior suites, where the bed is part of what’s being sold. It’s worth it in hotels working with North American guests and the top end of the market, where a room without a large bed gets ruled out at the search stage. It’s worth it in rooms above 20 sqm that currently have a 160 and look empty.
It isn’t worth it in a three-star with an ADR under €110 and 14-15 sqm rooms: there, the king eats into manoeuvring space, complicates housekeeping, raises linen costs and doesn’t move the rate by a single euro. In that case, the money returns more spent on a better 160×200 mattress, a taller headboard and a decent reading light. And if the room needs to change character depending on the booking, the choice is a pair of zip-and-link singles, which under the room codes used by booking platforms let you sell the same unit as DUS, TWIN or DBL without touching the furniture.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between king and queen?
Under the American standard, a queen measures 152×203 cm and a king 193×203, so 41 centimetres more width for the same length. In the United Kingdom the king is 150×200 and the super king 180×200, sizes that don’t match the American ones. In Italy the standard double, 160×200, sits halfway between the American queen and the British king, which is why commercial names always need translating into centimetres on the contract.
Do you need a made-to-order mattress?
Only if you choose a foreign size. The American king at 193×203 and the California king at 183×213 aren’t stocked in Italy, need a 4-6 week production lead time, and cost 25-40% more, linen included. With a 180×200 or a 200×200 you stay within standard sizes, replace a mattress within days, and can still market the room as “king size” on booking platforms.
How many square metres does a king size need?
For a 180×200 bed, the reasonable minimum net width for the room is 3.60 metres, which over a 4.50 metre depth gives around 16 sqm. Below that, less than 50 cm remains per side once the bedside tables go in, and making the bed becomes awkward for housekeeping. A 200×200 needs at least 3.80 metres net width and makes sense from 20 sqm upward.
Do zip-and-link single beds replace a king?
Yes, and in most Italian hotels they’re the better choice. Two 90×200 bases on a single frame with a 180×200 topper give an identical sleeping surface to a king and let you sell the room as a twin or a double depending on the booking. The premium is 8-12% and making the bed takes around a minute longer per room.
