Pension (lodging)

A pension in the village ofGosau,Upper Austria

Apension(UK:/ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/,US:/pɒnˈsjoʊn/;French:[pɑ̃sjɔ̃])is a type ofguest houseorboarding house.This term is typically used inContinental Europeancountries, in areas ofNorth Africaand theMiddle Eastthat formerly had large European expatriate populations, and in some parts of South America, such asBrazilandParaguay.Pensions can also be found inSouth Korea,Japan,and thePhilippines.

In contrast tobed and breakfasts,more usual inAnglospherenations, pensions typically offer not only breakfast, but also lunch, dinner, and sometimes eventea.Rather than paying for the room and each meal separately, guests select a plan that either comprises overnight accommodation, breakfast, lunch, and dinner ( "full pension"/ "full board"), or the preceding minus lunch ( "half board / demi-pension"/ "half pension").

These small businesses may offer special rates for travellers staying longer than a week, may be located in historic buildings, can be family-run, and are generally cheaper than other lodgings, such as hotels, although they offer more limited services.

In popular culture

Literature

• Naguib Mahfouz's 1967 novel,Miramar,focuses on the lives of the long-term residents of the eponymous pension inAlexandriain the 1960s.
• E. M. Forster's 1908 novel,A Room with a View,opens with the protagonist Lucy Honeychurch and her spinster cousin and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett complaining about the Pensione Bertolini, where they are staying in Florence, Italy.
• The Pension Grillparzer is presented as a work of fiction within the 1978 novelThe World According to GarpbyJohn Irving.

Film

• InSummertime,an American/British romantic film,Katharine Hepburnstars as Jane Hudson, a single, middle-aged elementary school secretary, who goes on her summer vacation toVenice,Italy. Arriving bywater taxi,she stays at the Pensione Fiorini, owned by the Signora Fiorini (Isa Miranda), a widow who transformed her home into a pension after World War II.
• InOnly You,Marisa Tomeias Faith Corvatch andBonnie Huntas Kate Corvatch are directed to a pension byJoaquim de Almeidaas Giovanni, where they stay while in Rome.