Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Bed and Breakfast accommodations are always better choice.

Search

Bed and Breakfast accommodations are always better choice.

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old May 29th, 2013, 08:45 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Bed and Breakfast accommodations are always better choice.

Traveling is my hobby and I often go to new places for vacations. So I have an experience of all types of accommodations, I used to stay Hotels, Lodge, B&B accommodations etc.

But I felt that B&B accommodations are always better than any other accommodation services. There are some specific reasons which I want to mention here.

Whenever we are away from home, we face many problems such as we don't get a good quality of food, we can’t get comfortable beds etc.

So Bed and Breakfast accommodations provide the highest quality of food with delicious taste. They provide plenty of fresh and delicious food in breakfast.

Now another positive thing about Bed and Breakfast is their service and facility. Services provided by B&B are always very good and reliable. Their beds and other facilities are very comfortable and luxurious.

So I think Bed and Breakfast accommodations are very higher than small hotel chains or lodge.

So please share your opinion also.
adamdic is offline  
Old May 29th, 2013, 09:03 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,617
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think that there are so many variables that it is hard to make sweeping generalizations.
november_moon is offline  
Old May 29th, 2013, 11:19 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 747
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I don't like B&B accomodations. Sorry. I've tried and I really don't.

It's not that the service is bad. It's the feel of being in someone's house. It's too close, too intimate. I feel like I'm forced to be friendly and talk with the owners. And I don't usually like eating breakfast, either.

I prefer a hotel, where I only have to say "good morning" and wave when I walk past the receptionist on the way out.
anyegr is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 01:22 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm with anyegr. A place has to have at least 10 rooms before I'd consider staying there.
ThulaMama is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 02:21 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 11,212
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
<< Their beds and other facilities are very comfortable and luxurious. >>

I've stayed in plenty of B&Bs with bad beds and nothing was luxurious!

In many countries B&Bs are limited so do you avoid those countries where you can't find B&Bs?
adrienne is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 04:31 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 684
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm with anyegr and ThulaMama. It's my holiday, I don't want to have to stand on ceremony. I've also stayed in some great B&Bs, and some terrible ones. I do find that generally apartments offer better value than hotels or even 2 rooms in a B&B, so that's the way we tend to go these days as we travel as a family and need 2 rooms.
littlejane is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 05:43 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,958
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We stayed in a B&B in Budapest. We had an experience there that would not have been possible in a hotel.

We came back from seeing the ballet one evening and began talking to the B&B proprietors in their kitchen at 10PM.

They revealed some background information about themselves and without going into it too much, we connected on some "hidden Jew" information. Once it was established that we were Jewish (which they somehow instinctively knew), the woman opened up about herself and was quite surprised when I told her that in the U.S. it was fine if people knew you were Jewish. In Hungary, it was obvious that you hid it. We spoke for quite awhile and it was fascinating. If disturbing.
kenav is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 05:48 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 42,630
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Obviously, it all depends on exactly what kind of experience YOU feel is "best." This includes intimate conversations with workers; it also includes air conditioning, proper fire alarm systems, and other things.

As to the food tasting best in a B+B that is a subjective comment and too general to be taken very seriously IMO but to each their own.
Dukey1 is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 06:38 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 34,858
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
YOur statements don't make any sense, you can't claim "all" of any type of accommodation is one way. The idea that every B&B has comfortable beds and terrific service is absurd, as well as the idea that B&Bs are by definition, all "luxurious." Most B&Bs are not luxurious, that's the concept.

And guess what, some people don't eat as much as you and don't care about food at breakfast. I don't eat it and don't want it.
Christina is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 08:30 PM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,007
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Seems to me I heard some comedian on tv recently ripping on B&B's, saying he/she did not want to be told that breakfast would be served between 8-9, having to share a bathroom with the couple down the hall in the Rose Room, having a 10:00 pm curfew, etc. It was very funny--and my sentiments exactly!
grandmere is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 11:12 PM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,795
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
"<i>he/she did not want to be told that breakfast would be served between 8-9, having to share a bathroom with the couple down the hall in the Rose Room, having a 10:00 pm curfew, etc. It was very funny--and my sentiments exactly!</i>"

Most B&Bs except very low end ones have ensuite or private bathrooms. And I've never stayed in one (more than 100) that had a curfew. That's ludicrous. Actually I do remember one that did have an 11PM curfew - but that was 30+ years ago - the industry has changed LOT since then.

Having said that - the OP is one person's opinion and he does ask others to share their thoughts. Of course one can't make blanket statements like those - B&Bs/inns/chain hotels have in ALL sorts of quality/amenities/value/food.

I stay in B&Bs, hotels, rental cottages/flats, you name it. No single type of accommodations corners the market on value/quality.
janisj is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 11:26 PM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,056
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I run a small B&B in a beautiful Georgian house which looks over the green of a small village in Lincolnshire.

Each room has a bathroom. The beds are extremely comfortable with down duvets and good bedlinen. Breakfast is when requested by each guest and is freshly cooked. There is an open fire in the winter and guests are offered tea and cake or a glass of wine on arrival. We supply travel advice and maps and make dinner reservations. If you want to engage, I am happy to chat but if not, that's fine with me.

I charge £70 for a double room. What part of the above sounds unappealing?
tarquin is offline  
Old May 30th, 2013, 11:56 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ah yes, decision by proxy. The root cause of many problems.
Rather than deciding in terms of bed and food quality,etc. the characteristics sometimes difficult to find out, some takes a short cut by using an easier to identify proxy such as the type of accommodations. Other examples abound.
Those using car vs. train as a proxy for cost and convenience get into trouble applying the proxy for a trip involving Rome and Florence, the typical 1st timer destinations.
greg is offline  
Old May 31st, 2013, 09:17 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 283
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Each to his own. I wouldn't stay somewhere with a communal breakfast table - I don't want to be sociable with strangers before I've properly woken up. For other people, that opportunity to chat over breakfast is exactly why they like B&Bs. But I agree breakfast is likely to be better at a good B&B which cooks to order, rather than a hotel buffet with dried up bacon and eggs.
anicecupoftea is offline  
Old May 31st, 2013, 09:26 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I couldn't disagree more.

There is no way we want to spend our vacation in a spare room in someone's house.

I want a full-service professionally run hotel with all amenities, including a bar and a concierge. And while we have enjoyed staying at gasthauses and castles in the countryside a couple of times - they were NOT that type of B&B. As for food - there are wonderful restaurants all over the place.

To each his own - but B&Bs are definitely not for us.
nytraveler is offline  
Old Jun 5th, 2013, 03:02 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
It will definitely depend on the place itself not the kind. When we are having a holiday in cornwall, we are planning to bring my dog. I researched about accommodations and with the help of http://dogpeople.co.uk/, I found bluechip holidays http://www.bluechipholidays.co.uk/do...-cottages.html and I am very satisfied. The next time we went there last year, I found another self-catering cottages which I don't want to mention and I was very disappointed. It's the same story with B&Bs.
annamariearu is offline  
Old Jun 5th, 2013, 04:04 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,403
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
sounds like the OP is writing a travel brochure!

I'm in the "not for me" crowd.

janisj, it was about 30 years ago - but I remember being locked out of a B&B in Betws-y-coed (aka Betsy the coed) after spending too long at the local pub. The landlady was NOT happy when we banged on the door. Of course, the fact that we probably had a lot to drink didn't contribute. To add fuel to the fire, one of our group passed out, naked, in the shared bathroom (not me). Not one of my prouder moments and I still get embarrassed thinking about how rude we were. Needless to say, the one girl in our group that wasn't out with us was assigned to pay in the am, and we skulked out of there without breakfast as quietly and stealthly as possible.
surfmom is offline  
Old Jun 5th, 2013, 06:33 PM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,795
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
love it surfmom

I remember telling one friend that her 'private bath' didn't mean what she though and she'd better take a bathrobe. Needless to say she ignored my advice and only had skimpy/sexy night clothes. She was mighty put out that she had to get dress every time she needed to use her private bathroom - down the hall about 30 feet. At least it was private so if she <i>had</i> passed out nekid sit would have been OK

But honestly - unless one really goes for the very bottom of the room rate structure, the VAST majority of B&Bs are now much much better/more comfortable. Don't base your opinion on what was the norm 30+ years ago.
janisj is offline  
Old Jun 5th, 2013, 07:12 PM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 43,546
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 1 Post
I've stayed in so many with my late husband. Most were charming, but I would not say luxurious. Some Bastide's were Luxurious, Most were not in the house of the owners, there were separate buildings, maybe attached or across from the owner's home. Staying at a B&b were my favorite experiences like steering me to the best flea market, taking me on a boar hunt, mushroom foraging, and so many things you don't expect when they like you.
cigalechanta is offline  
Old Jun 5th, 2013, 08:13 PM
  #20  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 327
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I can think of few things more boring than a full service professionally run hotel with all the amenities. But yes, to each his own.

Must be something about Budapest B and Bs. We had a similar experience to you, kenav... Sitting around the kitchen table with some guests and the owner late at night. One was a sociology professor on her way to do some work with the Roma community in eastern Slovakia.

Fascinating people, interesting conversation, unforgettable night.

We do not always pick b and bs.... But we have had some great memories from them.
centraleurope is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -