Bed and breakfast accommodations

Bed and breakfasts (B&B) are not just in small towns. You can find them in nearly every major city. They may be old restored mansions or log cabins, estates by the sea or farmhouses in the country. A friendly retired couple, an artist, a writer, an ex-accountant who got tired of the rat race or even a movie star (Tori Spellman) may run them. One thing you can count on at a bed and breakfast is personal service where you are treated like a member of the family. Expect to sleep in a room that feels like a real bedroom and to wake up to an extraordinary breakfast.

There has been a resurgence of bed and breakfasts over the past 20 years or so. Even business travelers are taking time out of their busy schedules to enjoy a bed and breakfast’s intimate atmosphere. The charm most people find in a B&B, however, is the same reason others avoid them. While some enjoy sharing a table with other travelers, others prefer to eat alone. While some enjoy watching movies in their hotel room, your B&B room may not even have a TV.

Even though we’ve entered the third millennium, technology has yet to produce a machine allowing us to travel backwards in time, back to the days of horse-drawn carriages, sitting on the porch, sipping lemonade and watching passersby. Until technology catches up with our yearning for bygone days, there are always bed and breakfasts to quench our thirst for romance and escapism.

If you’re new to bed and breakfasts, you will be pleasantly surprised by the wonderful accommodations available. It is a lot like staying in a friends’ home—your innkeeper will take great pride in making you feel at home, safe and comfortable.

Indulge in home-baked muffins at breakfast, curl up in a brass bed, snuggle under handmade quilts, stroll in a country garden, take tea in a Victorian sitting room, find yourself amongst elegant antique furnishings, while meeting and making a whole new group of special friends.

Each bed and breakfast is a reflection of the innkeeper’s own unique warm and gracious hospitality. From the grand old mansion to the cozy private cottage, the common thread is comfort and personal service.

Bed and breakfast accommodations give you a unique and personalized travel experience with a touch of local flavor. These small, charming, privately owned bed and breakfasts are an affordable choice for pleasure or business travel.

Bed and breakfast accommodation is one of the fastest growing tourism lodging options all over the world. The bed and breakfast culture is well established in developed countries in Europe, North America and tourist destinations most everywhere.

In general, there are six basic types of bed and breakfast accommodation.

A traditional bed and breakfast home stay is where you stay in a spare room of your host’s residence and are personally served breakfast by them. These types of bed and breakfasts are planned accommodations or converted from a large family home. The B&B establishment does not contain restaurant facilities, but may provide food service for transient, overnight guests only. Home stays can be found in cities, small towns and close to tourist attractions.
Bed and breakfast farm stay is most likely to be a relaxation farm with some farm leisure attractions. It may be a substantial working farm with a wide range of farm activity experiences. Such activities might include horseback or pony rides, hunting and fishing, bird watching, farm education and nature trails. These farm stays may also conduct tours of nearby tourist attractions involving farm activities. At some farm stays, anyone wishing to try their hand at farm chores can (and a helping hand is usually welcome). There could be pigs, chickens and horses to feed, cows or goats to milk, cheese to make, organic gardens to tend, jelly to prepare, fruit trees, honey bees, olives and chestnuts to harvest. Bed and breakfast farm stays may be located in rural areas or outback environment.
Bed and Breakfast Inns are B&B where the owners may or may not live in separate housing from the guests. Inns can be expected to have more available rooms than the bed and breakfast home stay. The B&B Inn does not contain restaurant facilities, but may provide food service for transient, overnight guests. Most of these bed and breakfasts are more likely to have a formal guest dining room and are more apt to serve other meals in addition to breakfast. They may be located anywhere.
Bed and breakfast cottage stay is more likely to be a cabin that either may be on the property of the host or separately installed. Preparation of breakfast may be left to the guest or the host may provide breakfast through some arrangement.
Bed and breakfast apartment stay is normally an accessory to the property of the host rather than on separate grounds with entry to the accommodation private for both host and guests.
Unique theme bed and breakfasts are also available. Some specifically promote romance and even weddings.Another example is the Murder Mystery weekend at a B&B. If you’re a connoisseur of murder mysteries, then a murder mystery weekend at a charming bed and breakfast should satisfy your taste for intrigue. From Sherlock Holmes to Murder on the Orient Express, costumed sleuths will have the opportunity to solve even the most baffling of cases. Stay at a bed and breakfast, solve the mystery, discover the murderer and have a great time. These weekends book up quickly so advance reservations are a necessity.