Traditional Bed and Breakfasts have long been popular in England, Ireland and parts of Europe. Their appeal comes from the hospitality, privacy and security that they provide. They offer an appealing alternative to large, impersonal hotels.

With the rise in their popularity in North America, Bed and Breakfasts have opened in most towns and cities where travellers want to visit. B&B has become a symbol of certain style of tourism that allows travellers to get a closer experience of the locale they are visiting. They can enjoy the comforts of staying in a private home, savouring carefully prepared breakfasts with local ingredients and partaking of the hospitality of knowledgeable hosts and the company of the other guests as they wish.

However, with the increase in B&Bs has also come a greater variety of types of accommodation. And the traveller would be wise to determine whether the lodging that they are reserving offers what they want and expect. While most B&Bs are honest in the information they provide, not all of this may mean what you think it means.

Here are a few factors for the savvy traveller to consider:

Location:

Is it where you want to be? Is it where it says it is?

Some B&Bs are in the city they say they are in but are far from attractions and interests. Don’t trust the postal address because it is for mail delivery not tourist information.
When a B&B says its is “5 minutes from” someplace, do they mean by walking, driving or mass transit? If you are traveling without a car, it can mean quite a difference so ask. Ask how they make that calculation. And also ask what the neighbourhood is like.

Suggestion: Use a free, popular mapping program on the Internet, such as mapquest.com. Choose a tourist attraction (in Victoria it might be the Empress Hotel.) Find it on the map and then determine the location of the B&B. Now you can see where it really is and how close or far it is to someplace you want to see. (Map programs show the distance in miles or km.)

Type of B&B

B&Bs vary greatly, from modest rooms in a family home to elegant suites in larger homes and inns. Rates will also vary greatly as will the nature of the accommodation, its amenities and your experience.

For instance, some B&Bs are very modest, offering a clean bed and a nourishing but plain breakfast. (We stay at one of these very close to Gatwick airport in England. All we want is a convenient, inexpensive and quiet place where we can sleep between flights in and out of the country. It is exactly what we want on those occasions.)

Others can be found at the other end of the spectrum, offering luxurious rooms, gourmet breakfasts and numerous amenities but usually at additional cost.

Recently, the innkeeper at an “albergo” which we stay at in Venice complained to me that a guest had given him a very uncomplimentary review. The establishment is in an ideal location on a quiet canal only a few minutes walk from Piazza San Marco. The place is clean, quiet and secure and is quite economical. The unhappy guest, it seemed, had liked the one-star rates he paid at the inn but had wanted four-star American amenities to go along with it.

Simple rubric:

You don’t always get what you pay for, but you seldom get what you don’t pay for.

Suggestion: Decide what is important to you (e.g. location, type of breakfast, amenities such as Jacuzzi and fireplace, rate you can pay, and then search according to that. Always check that you are clear on what you are going to get.

Breakfast:

Breakfasts are an important aspect of the Bed and Breakfast experience – or should be. However, an innkeeper’s idea of breakfast may not be what you think of, so check before hand or, at least let them know when you arrive.

Some serve a modest breakfast of cereal and toast while others present an “English breakfast” (consisting of eggs, ham, fried tomatoes, beans and the usual cold toast), or offer five-course gourmet breakfast. Some offer breakfast in the room while a small number of inns provide what they call “self-catered” breakfasts, which means that they provide the ingredients and a kitchenette and you cook the eggs and make the coffee. This provides privacy but robs one of the opportunities of being served (after all you are on holiday) and of meeting other guests.

Often, B&Bs show pictures of their breakfast and/or present typical menus. Check them out!

Suggestion: If you are vegetarian or have a food allergy, let the innkeeper know ahead of time to ensure that they can accommodate you.

Children:

Many B&Bs either do not accommodate children or have an age cut-off, such as “children over 12 are welcome.” Others gladly accept families.

If one is traveling with younger children, it is important to be upfront about this and not try to sneak them later or say after making the reservation: “Oh, by the way, we have a two year old but he doesn’t need a bed.”

Age restrictions serve two purposes:

1) Many B&Bs are not really suitable to young children. There is no place to play, no pool or games room and the furniture is more suitable to adults. They don’t enjoy the place and neither can the parents who have to be watching them.
2) It assures other guests that the place will be quiet and adult-oriented. A crying baby can be annoying and make for unhappy guests.

Suggestion: If traveling with young children, look for family-oriented B&Bs. They exist and are suited to the needs of young ones. Save the adult-oriented B&Bs until you want to take a break from the kids. Then you’ll appreciate their restriction and have a good time.


Finding the right B&B for your vacation is an easy process and making sure it is the experience that you want is similarly easy if you follow some of these suggestions.