The Italian island of Elba, located off the coast of Tuscany, is running an odd promotion through the end of the month. Any day that it rains, participating hotels on Elba will give their guests a full refund. The island is defining “too much rain” as any day with two hours of sustained participation between 10AM and 8PM.
The initiative, called “Elba No Rain,” creates an interesting question for travelers: What price do you put on sunshine? A cursory image search of Elba’s beaches shows typical Italian coastline fare — dotted villas, purple wildflowers, bluffs over cobalt water. Meanwhile, aside from a couple expensive 5-star beachfront hotels, the stays on Elba hover at $75/night.
In our opinion, if you’d rather hang out in the lobby (while a disgruntled hotel staff works for free) than pay a reasonable rate and soak up some Mediterranean rays, you’ve got travel all wrong, man. Still, if you’re on a budget and in the neighborhood (Florence isn’t far), it’s worth taking the ferry over knowing you’ll leave with some degree of happiness regardless.
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