Bed & Breakfast

Bed & breakfast is a term, originating in the UK, but now also used in North America, for a place that offers bed accommodation, and breakfast in return for payment, but usually does not offer other meals. Typically, especially in the UK, bed and breakfasts are private homes with only one or two bedrooms available for commercial use.

A boarding house is different from and has a longer history than a bed & breakfast. The boarding house was for longer term stays, bed and breakfast was for people travelling through the area on short stays.

Generally, guests are accommodated in private bedrooms with private bathrooms, or in a suite of rooms including an en suite bathroom. Some homes have private bedrooms with a bathroom which is shared with another guest or sometimes more than one other guest. Breakfast is served in the morning - either in the bedroom or, more commonly, in a dining room, on a terrace or sun porch or the host's kitchen.

B&Bs and guesthouses may be operated either as a secondary source of income or a primary occupation. Staff can consist of the home's owners and members of the family or you may find some bed and breakfasts where the home's owners have hired cleaning, cooking and other help to make a smooth operation if they are otherwise employed or not able to do those chores. A property which hires professional management is no longer a bed and breakfast, but enters the category of Inn, Guest House or Small Hotel. B&B's are a form of a tertiary business.

Staying at a B&B can sometimes offer better access to locations "off the beaten path" which may not be convenient to the city center or other heavily travelled locations. B&B properties can be located where larger lodging competitors may not place a guest accommodation because of market conditions.

Because bed and breakfast has become such a popular concept and the industry has grown so rapidly, hotels, inns and other lodging possibilities adopt the generic "bed & breakfast" to trade on the concept and to attract travellers, who want to experience bed & breakfast, but are not ready to try other than the hotel way of travel. That can result in a disappointment to the traveller because it is misleading advertising. Often, in such cases, breakfast is juice, coffee and a Danish pastry, while in a private home breakfast is usually a substantial meal.

One major difference between bed and breakfasts and hotels has to do with privacy and anonymity. Both offer and insure your privacy. Hotels offer anonymity, while bed and breakfasts are for people who want to interact with others or who, while maintaining their privacy, are willing to give up anonymity for the additional comforts offered in a home setting.

HISTORY

The B&B arrangement is a very old one. Before the 20th century, it was quite normal for country and city travellers to spend the night at a private house rather than an inn, and this custom persists in many parts of the world.
The abbreviation of "B&B" on roadside signs was popular in the British Isles - typically with a detachable "Vacancies" sign swinging below.

NATIONAL DIFFERENCES

Australia

Despite the cultural similarities, there are far fewerB&B's in the whole continent of Australia than there are in just the South Island of New Zealand despite the resident population being more than twenty times greater.

Since 1879 the average per capita disposable income of Australians has been greater than that of New Zealanders and this has mitigated the powerful incentive to let out rooms in their homes to travellers.
Another factor may be that Australia has, apart from City States such as Singapore, the greatest concentration of city dwellers anywhere on the globe and these cities are amply supplied with budget hotels and motels.

Belgium

In Belgium bed and breakfasts generally offer better value than hotels, and provide the opportunity to sample the local food and meet new people. Bed and breakfast accommodations often have a very relaxing, homey feel to them.

Britain and Ireland

Britain and Ireland have some of the most expensive hotel beds in the European Union and throughout the British Isles, B&Bs, and frequently, guesthouses, are a budget option where owners often take pride in the high service levels, local knowledge and personal touch that they are able to offer.

There tend to be concentrations of B&Bs in the seaside towns where, historically, the working classes holidayed such as Newcastle in Ireland and Blackpool in England, in isolated rural areas such as the Highlands of Scotland and Connemara where there is not a year-round concentration of travellers sufficient to sustain an hotel, and are present in most towns and cities in numbers dependent upon factors such as the level of tourism, York in England and Edinburgh in Scotland, for example, both have several hundred establishments known as either B&B's or guesthouses.

Breakfast is usually cooked on demand for the guest and usually features bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, etc but, increasingly, because of either a desire of owners to economise or guests to minimise their calorie intake, a continental breakfast is becoming more common. In Scotland and Ireland, most B&Bs serve a traditional Full breakfast as a point of pride.

In recent years some bed and breakfast businesses in the UK have struggled against budget hotel chains such as Premier Travel Inn and Travelodge. Traditionally, business travellers used B&Bs but many of these clients now tend to stay in budget hotel chains. However, in holiday areas the B&B and guesthouse still prevails.

Unlike the 'chain' accommodation providers these provide a more comprehensive service and breakfast is included in the price. Bed and breakfasts, especially in the past before the spread of cheap hotels, were widely used for sex by those unable to use their homes for whatever reason.

Cuba

In Cuba, which opened up to tourism in the 1990s after the financial support of the Soviet Union ended, a form of B&B called casa particular ("private home") became the main form of accommodation outside the tourist resorts.

Israel

The Israeli B&B is known as a zimmer. All over the country, but especially in the north of the country and the Galilee, zimmers have become a popular alternative to hotels for romantic weekends or family vacations.

New Zealand

As in the USA, Bed and Breakfasts in New Zealand tend to be more expensive than Motels and often feature historic homes and lovingly furnished bedrooms at a commensurate price.

The historic city of Nelson has an unusually high concentration of both of these accommodation alternatives because it was historically the place where kiwis holidayed.

North America

Many B&Bs in North America (and New Zealand) try to create a historical ambiance, with old properties turned into guesthouses decorated with antique furniture.

Recently B&B and Inn owners have been launching upscale amenities to improve business and move "up-market." It is not uncommon now to find free wireless Internet access, free parking, spa services, or nightly wine and cheese hours.

Due to the need to stay competitive with the rest of the lodging industry, larger bed and breakfast inns have expanded to offer wedding services, business conference facilities, and meeting spaces as well as many other services a large hotel might offer.


	NewMarketingOnLine		Links	Site Map	Customer Care	View Reservations	Travel Partners	Contact