Bed and Breakfasts

To make your stay as comfortable as possible, it is important to consider some of the differences between expensive full service hotels and private family homes that offer bed and breakfast accommodation - a guest house for example.

By booking bed and breakfast accommodation you will enjoy the social and cultural benefits of meeting friendly family hosts. Many bed and breakfast hosts go on to become friends with their clients and many people return year after year making the bed and breakfast accommodation a home from home.

There are many differences with bed and breakfast accommodation around the world.
For example, in America bed and breakfast has become increasingly associated with the country inn type of accommodation, with housekeepers, staff and often with an in-house restaurant. Whereas most other bed and breakfast accommodation is in private family homes, often older properties, sometimes several hundred years old, and consequently may have smaller rooms than you are used to at home or in modern hotels. There may be a beautiful antique bed to sleep in though!

Other accommodation features you should not expect in a traditional bed and breakfast are air conditioning or lifts (elevators) unless they are specifically mentioned. You will find that some of the homes have attached "en-suite" bathrooms, however at a number of other homes the private bathrooms may be adjacent to the bedrooms or a few steps away down the hall.

As you will be given a key to the guest house proprietors home this is a courtesy that should be respected. If you intend to return late at night, please be considerate of other guests and the host family. The rooms are regularly serviced, varying from home to home, but there is no 'room service'. You are staying "en famille" - a guest house not a full service hotel.

An obvious but often overlooked difference between hotels and staying in a guest house, is that of service; there is no receptionist on duty to await your arrival, so it is vital that the family knows what time to expect you, as they have daily family business to attend and many hosts have other daytime jobs to work around as well.

Of course the real bonus to the personal contact of staying at a private bed and breakfast is that you will be staying with hosts who really know the area and can give you the best independent advice about places to eat, shop and visit, unlike hotel staff who often don't live locally and cannot always recommend good places to go.

Staying in bed and breakfast accommodation is like having a personal guide to your holiday!

If you are looking for a villa rental, you may also want to see our sister company, Villa Rental at TheWay2Stay

Tess Dawson