Why Are B&B's So Overrated?
 

I just returned from a trip where I stayed at a B&B. Blah decoration, minimal breakfast, on the second floor of a commercial building in the middle of a small town. Zero charm. Worse, it was directly next to a train track and the constant trains made sleeping near impossible. They didn't have enough parking spots, so you had to forage for parking in the town and risk getting a ticket. It's tripadvsor rating was had 48 excellent, 4 very good and 2 average. and no lower ratings.

I have suckered by this phenomenon before. This is not say that there aren't good B&B's, but people drastically overrate B&B's as a rule. In contrast, people routinely whine and downgrade hotels over the slightest flaw, yet you can have garage sale furnishings, trains passing 20 feet away and no parking and get the kind of score that this place got. I can only assume that people who stay at B&B's must be rating something other than the accommodation or that they are fundamentally different people. The same phenomenon also applies to a lesser degree to tours, which are in general vastly overrated. People gush about mediocre tours.

I cannot explain this. My best guess is that people who go to B&B's are fundamentally different. They are rating the hosts and not the place. I'll also bet that scores would be very different if they were separated by gender. People need to identify themselves, at least by gender and age, when giving opinions.

There are good B&Bs and bad B&Bs, just as there are good hotels and bad hotels. I have not found either B&Bs or hotels in general to be overrated, but I have a bad experience with a B&B, a riad, and a hotel, all with top ratings on TA. The problem is not with the type of lodging, it is with the reviews on TA. I read them with care, discarding any place with too many one-post wonders on the first and second page, and ignoring reviews from people whose standards are obviously different from mine, and I still sometimes have a bad experience. But overall I have had many, many more good experiences than bad using TA.

Like thursdaysd, I haven't found B&Bs to be more or less subject to over-rating than other lodgings.

Perhaps you haven't learned to search TA or other reviews for the things that most matter to you?

Good luck!

I find BnBs are best outside of city centers in more rural locations.

Depends a lot on the country. UK B&Bs are quite different to US B&Bs.

<It's tripadvsor rating was had 48 excellent>

There's your answer in two words... Trip. Advisro.

It's Trip Advisor's "rating system"... which is nothing more than a popularity contest among people who happen to come and post their reviews on the website. Nobody is checking to see if what the reviewers say are true.

This is not about "B&Bs" per se it's about TA.

But didn't you know it was on the second floor of a commercial building before you booked it? You didn't see any exterior pictures? Sorry, that's on you.

And the train tracks were probably mentioned a couple of ttimes on TA, as well.

You have to be responsible for doing the research yourself. Find out the facts.

ambo, I think you'd be happier at a hotel. I never stay at "B&Bs" myself. Just not my thing.

With B&Bs, expectations may vary with experience and from country to country.

Years ago, our experience in Europe and what we came to expect was a simple bed room in a family home with perhaps even shared bath and breakfast alone or with the family. No pretensions. We enjoyed it.

Our first B&B experience back in the US was a ruffled bed set up in a big country style house with the hostess hovering over us at breakfast. Some people enjoy that. For me, it was horrible.

Now, the range is crazy. Some are like hotels. Some are pullouts. We do not do them much anymore. You have to do research, and yes, a lot depends on the host/hostess and how intrusive they are.

We love small boutique hotels, that include breakfast, but I don't consider those to be "B&Bs". I'd hate to have a host/hostess looking over my shoulder all the time. Or knowing when and where we are going.

One exception is a guest ranch, where it's nice to spend time with the owners, so you know where to go and what you can do.

We don't like B&Bs. I just feel like I am a guest in a person's home. Give me my own apartment or hotel room. We have tried in Germany and Ireland. I just like more of my own space. One time the bed was so squeaky I slept on the floor with the comforter. Hated coming in late at night after being out and most are a bit nosy.

Some responses.

1. It isn't just tripadvisor, although I agree that they are a particularly bad source. You see the same absurd B&B reviews on booking.com and similar sites.

2. Oh, I forgot. You aren't allowed to say anything negative on travel boards without the thought police going on the attack. Instead of whining about how I should have read about the train tracks, how about whining about people who would give a top score to place where you cannot sleep, cannot park and has the charm of an office cubicle. It's amazing how people are trying to blame me because other people can't be trusted to write honest reviews. The bottom line is you can't trust these reviews at all. That's the point.

3. It isn't just B&B's and tours. It's also apartments. Go to Booking.com and search a big city. You will be greeted with a bunch 9.5-10's for apartments and B&B before you get to your first hotel.

The high scores are probably from budget travelers who only care about finding a place that isn't a dive for cheap money. That's fine, but those are not my criteria. Reviews are worthless unless the reader knows the source - traveler gender, age and budget should be specified.

Suggesting that you read reviews with care is not whining. I recently rented a room on AirBnB that was up 78 steps. My fault for not paying sufficient attention to the information that it was on the 4th etage/5th floor.

Also, if you are that interested in the age and sex and outlook of individual reviewers you should read their TA profiles and look at their other reviews (I assume you are smart enough to ignore anyone with fewer than, say, ten reviews, but maybe not). It is probable that there are more reviewers on a budget than there are those willing to pay five star prices, so you need to be more discriminating than I do. I just ignore the people who complain that the room is too small or there is no room service. The information you want is available if you look.

But it sounds like you should stick to cookie-cutter international chain hotels, and leave the interesting if sometimes quirky local alternatives to those who appreciate them.

Who said anything about cookie-cutter international chain hotels? Sheez.

If the OP stays in cookie cutter international hotels she won't have to read any reviews. Also sheesh.

"the thought police going on the attack."?? What?

I think everyone assumes you already know to take reviews with a grain of salt, and to do more research than just read some subjective reviews on a website, to find out the facts about a place. Like it's on the second story of a commercial building.

Yes, knowing the facts about a place is on you. Yes, everybody knows reviews are subjective. No thought police involved.

What does gender have to do with the reviews?

"What does gender have to do with the reviews?"

A lot. As a rule, women are far less critical than men. They are also far more interested in social interactions with other people and weight experiences much more heavily on this criterion.

This may offend you politically correct sensibilities. Tough. Comments like yours are an attempt to shut people up from talking about what the obvious reality that is apparent to almost everyone. It doesn't work on me. I prefer reality to ideology.

"ambo, I think you'd be happier at a hotel. I never stay at "B&Bs" myself. Just not my thing."

Geez, do people here have problems with English. I said that b&b'S are fine. The issue is that finding a good one is hard because they are so overrated. OK, I'll try explaining it a different way. If you gave a test that was so easy that everyone score 100%, how could you tell which students were smart and which weren't.

"how could you tell which students were smart and which weren't."

Maybe by whether they then chose to stay in a B&B, and were surprised and disappointed with their experience? ;-)