How Do You Really Feel about B&Bs?
 

I am looking for a B&B/Inn for the Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake. So Far, I have only found B&Bs with large communal bkfst tables. I don't know about you, but I prefer to have my own little space early in the morning. The B&Bs we have stayed at before, had their own separate tables for brfst. Do any of you feel that way too??

I don't like them.
They are usually in old homes so the walls are thin, the floors creak and the plumbing is not always wonderful.
I hate having to face other people in the am, before coffee...I don't especially like facing them while I have coffee either lol
I reeeally dislike communal tables, anywhere but home.

lol... am I being negative? :D

B&Bs are definitely an acquired taste. Some people like them, some don't.

We stay at one near my kid's college - the other guests are nearly always college parents too and it's fun to visit with them. Some of them we've stayed with several times! We are also close to the owners, so it almost feels like staying with friends.

That said, any other place we go we prefer a hotel. We like to have a fitness area and the general privacy a hotel offers.

If it's the only or most cost-efficient choice, sure, but mostly I prefer the anonimity of a hotel.

B&Bs are too much like staying with family for me and usually a little too 'chintz-and-ruffle' for my tastes.

That said, I've stayed in some very pretty ones in the Maritime Provinces. It's really a personal taste thing.

It so depends upon the Inn/B&B!! There are so many different types, one wonders how they can all come under the same general heading.
We've stayed in some lovely ones, but choose carefully.
Even in France, we enjoy staying in the chambre d'hotes in the countryside and villages.
Not all are chintz and ruffles, or really a family home.Our stays in Oregon,Vt. Maine, the North Shore in Ma. Mendocino in Ca.and many other places have all been enhanced by the Inns, as well as meeting some very interesting people. You can be as friendly or aloof as you like.

I hear you Scarlett! No you are not being negative IMO. I agree with the privacy thing wlwil. Gtg, actually the B&Bs there are just a bit cheaper. We have a reservation at a Best Western there, but it is a little out of the way,,,,but the privacy thing just might trump distance!!!

We've stayed at a few like that and haven't had any problems. In fact, we like talking to other guests about what they've seen and done. Perhaps you will find something they have done or seen of great interest and want to do it, too.

I know it was particularly helpful in Alaska, where there is much to see and do.

It could be an acquired taste, but for us, it seems to be right up our alley.

Sit down and break bread with people you don't know. It could be beneficial.

I've never been interested in trying a B&B. Bottomline is it's someone else's home. I prefer a hotel.

For the most part, I don't care for B&B's due to the privacy issue (and chintz/floral issue, lol).

One time we had no choice but to stay at one. Attempting to be social before the coffee took effect was just painful. Of course this was after a night of celtic music with a big group of friends, and way too many black and tans.

That said, DH did find one many years ago that was great. We were in Newport, RI and the couple had a sort of attached guest house. We had our own entrance, and they brought breakfast in a basket to our door. Other than than the only time we saw the owners was when the storm hit and power went out and they brought us candles.

IMHO it depends on the purpose of your trip and also on the individual place. I do find it ironic that B&Bs are promoted as romantic destinations, when as others have pointed out they usually involve some sacrifice of privacy.

My best experiences have been in Europe when traveling with family and we were genuinely interested in the owners and in other tourists' input, especially those who had already spent a couple of days in an area where we had just arrived. They were a great source of tidbits ranging from restaurant recommendations to alerts regarding quirky local customs.

On the other hand, in the US, I usually am not interested in the tradeoffs that are involved with B&Bs, especially the increasing trend to (ironically) offer only a "continental" breakfast rather than a cooked one.

My preference is inns followed by B&Bs. Puts a dose of humanity into one's life, which is so sorely lacking in this day and age. I can always go my room if I want privacy. Conversations I have with others, whose lives are so different from one's own, whose reasons for visiting a location are incredibly diverse, can really make my trip that much more meaningful.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. :) DAN

I'm with you, Scarlett ... I don't like strangers with my breakfast. :) I don't like having to be charming in the morning ...

We do occasionally stay in such a place, with the communal brekkie, but I prefer hotels and inns, really.

I like them if they have a more modern vibe and aren't all full of doilies! We stayed at a great one recently; the house had been completely renovated and was gorgeous with a wonderful view. The owners were very warm, and we had a lot in common with the other travelers.

Every time I get into one of these B&B discussions, there seems to be a major disagreement of terms. To me, a true B&B is someone who rents a couple rooms in their own home and serves them breakfast. I HATE that. But today larger inns with separate managers and staffs and no owners in residence seem to be called B&Bs. Many of those are fine with me.

But Judyrem. We've always stayed at the Moffat (Moffet?) Inn for the Shaw Festival (four times now). It's very pleasant, and you can have your own space at breakfast, even go into the lounge and sit at a coffee table if you want. It's very convenient about midway between the theatres on the main street. Plenty of parking in back too.

We have tried, really, since so many people like them. We stayed in one in Va. that looked very welcoming and relaxed, and the lady was lovely on the phone.
And it was all true, the landlady was wonderful, the place was relaxed and not stuffy, the rooms were beautiful, and I kept finding myself glancing with longing at the Hampton Inn down the street. DH felt exactly the same way.
They did have a communal table for breakfast, and we didn't mind that, but we (and our babysitter) were the only guests (the place only had four rooms).

It was just too much like staying in somebody's house. We had wanted to see if the "right" B&B (and this one was pretty darn close) was a good fit, and our final verdict is that it just isn't us. Now I don't even really like staying in the homes of people I know, so that may have been predictable. Interestingly, our baby-sitter loved it, and would stay in a B&B again in a hearbeat if she were to travel again. She was not really working on this trip. She doesn't get a lot of opportunity to go places, and we offered to bring her with us. She mostly paid for herself, except for a couple of meals where it was easiest to just throw her on the tab.

Not that I travel much anymore but I like B & Bs. My wife and I honeymooned in Ireland staying at B & Bs exclusively. Touring Italy, we always stayed in pensiones.

Do not like B&B's. Have stayed in many over the years, but I really don't like them, overall.

Just give me a nice hotel room with a coffe maker and a good restaurant.

We have stayed in a number of B&Bs that had little individual brkfst tables. One can check out w/the establishment the issue of communal vs private brkfst, if that is the deal-breaker. I do not wish to wake up to company either! :)

Patrick's point is a good one. There is something of a blurring between the line of inn/B&B. I tend to use B&B for any kind of smallish, charming, older place that includes brkfst, which may not be an entirely accurate use of the term. I am among the group that do not wish to stay in one of the 3 rooms offered by people who have opened their homes to guests....upon reflection, there used to be a term called "guest house" and that is the kind of B&B that turns me off.

I prefer the ones where the owners don't live on the property. We stayed at a 3-bedroom one recently, and the owners lived off site, but came in to make breakfast. Also recently stayed in one that had an adjoining house the owners lived in - if you needed them, you just buzzed the bell, but they weren't overly intrusive at all.

We've had one very good experience in Hawaii but otherwise we avoid B&B's for all the reasons mentioned.

I think there were several reasons why it worked for us this one time in Hawaii; it was the home of an artist (so no floral chintz) and there were separate entrances to the B&B part of the property so at no point did guests actually enter the 'home' part of the house. There were also 2 separate breakfast areas so we didn't actually have to sit with the other couple that were having breakfast and we noticed they'd actually been given a different time for breakfast... presumably to make it easy for the owners to just serve one set of guests at a time.

I think if you choose very carefully then sometimes you get lucky with B&B's but overall we prefer apartments above hotels with B&B's trailing way behind in last place!

I was a fan of B&B's until our 25th wedding anniversary: let me share the moment when the tide turned.

We had been taken out by old pals for the evening (dinner and a visit to the theatre to see Bob Newhart) DH and I returned to our very elegant, romantic, jacuzzi-en-suite, 4-poster bed B&B about 11pm.

Drats, the hosts had waited up for us. Good news, they had (kindly, we thought, knowing it was an occasion for us) put champagne on ice. It appeared they had started before us as there was evidence of empty wine glasses and they seemed to be, well, 'overly-refreshed'. They also looked to be in their night-clothes already, but dressing gowns are fine: its their house, right?

However, after opening the bottle and pouring generously, they just hung around and hung around...it got more and more creepy. Until finally, they made their move/suggestion: lets take this party somewhere more comfortable...

Yes, our hosts were leftovers from the 70's: good old-fashioned, slightly over-the-hill swingers.

Luckily, they didn't push it and were quite polite about our rejection (and firm locking of the door of our room when we did finally escape).

But the weirdest thing was their presence the next day at breakfast...all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, chatty and relaxed. And their 20'ish son was present too.

No, we do't care for B&B's...

This whole thread pleases me -- because I thought it was only me that didn't like B&Bs (whether a bedroom in someone's house or a house where all the rooms are rented out). Give me the anonymity of a hotel,a super-comfortable bed, and preferably with a coffee bar in the lobby where I can sit and read the morning paper in peace!

LJ, care to give the address and phone number of this place?
:D

Your emoticon can leer all you want, NeoPatrick-I'll never tell...

Patrick, thanks for the info on the Moffat, I will try it. I do agree that B&Bs are differant than Inns. I refuse to stay in place with less than 6 rooms, otherwisw it feels like a staying in a strangers home. Some of the pics, I have looked at, look like homes in the suburbs around here...not my cup of tea. Anonymous, I have also liked the B&Bs in Europe esp Ireland and Wales and Scotland. Never had a communal table there. I just CAN NOT do a communal table for brkfst...I have bad hair, bad breath and usually a bad attitude(after a night of too much fun). LJ, that is a very creepy story, yikes!!!! LOL persimmondeb, that is so funny about looking longingly at the Hampton Inn :-).

LJ, loved that story, we once stayed at a B&B where the owner walked around w/an oxygen tank, breakfast was frozen Pepperidge Farm croissants.

That being said, we also have a love/hate thing going. Have stayed at some really charming great ones and some creepy ones.

If there's a hotel in the area, I do prefer that, but sometimes when you stay in small towns, that's the only choice (Washington, Virginia comes to mind)

Hey, I've stayed at the Moffatt Inn in Niagara on the Lake! It's very nice and certainly much different than a B&B.

When says the want to open a B & B I tell them:

Invite over the most annoying relatives you have for a week and cook and clean for them and tend to their every need. You must be perky and cheery in the morning and dicuss whateve they want to dicuss, and suffer all their indignities.

If at the end of that week you enjoyed yourself, then by all means open a B & B.

My sister-in-law always talks about opening a B&B. I think she pictures herself being a charming hostess in a cute little apron and baking nice muffins for breakfast. And that's about it, in her mind. #-O

Oh, yea. I guess I didn't realize that some might misconstrue my recommendation for the Moffat Inn as being a B&B. It's clearly what I'd call an inn, yet some here in the past have talked about even larger operations being B&B's.

LJ, Holy cow! That is truly bizarre.

I may be bashed, but I LOVE B&Bs and have stayed at numerous ones all around the country. When I'm traveling w/ my boys, they much prefer fancy resorts or at least hotels; although they have stayed at B&Bs w/ me. Their comments are usually, "Are we staying in our kind of place or your kind of place?" Over the years, unless I can find a cabin somewhere, we are usually in a hotel at least w/ them.

However, when I'm traveling solo, I always prefer a B&B, but I agree it may be an acquired taste. Breakfast is my social time plus I feel someone may notice if I'm not around more than a hotel. I love the hx and quirks of old houses, and owners of B&Bs are usually charming and interesting, a great resource of information, but agree they must be a particular kind of person. I'm a morning person so I'm one of the bright eyed people who want a communal table and want to talk to all the guests. I may spend 2 hrs drinking coffee and meeting new people - must be most of your worst nightmares (or morningmares!). I have learned what I prefer in B&Bs - 3+ rms but over 12 too many, communal tables, full breakfasts, front porch, and anything else is a special treat. All experiences haven't been great such as the host who talked ALL through breakfast about herself, rms w/ broken or poor AC and the hosts don't seem to care, the wrong reservation dates in GA, missed most of breakfast in AK due to early ferry, charging for my boys even when the rm slept 4-6 in UT, and wasps in VA - but they were friendly! I'm scheduled for B&Bs in SD, WY, and MT this summer so you may be safe from me!

It takes all kinds and I'll stay in the B&Bs and leave the hotels to most of you!

Talked to DH, showed him the Colonel Butler Inn (BW) and he thinks it looks perfectly fine for what we need. It has 26 rooms, and to all intents and purposes, is a TRUE Inn IMO. It is about a 15 minute walk to Queen street. A little walk is good for us, yes? One of the B&Bs I looked at, was Simcoe manor, gorgeous.

Capecodshanty and highflyer are correct. I have been at many different types of B&B', and only 2 out of the 7 I've stayed at are like the type you think of. Some are more like small inns, or have apartment type rooms with separate entrances or cottages. Out of the two traditional ones I mentioned, at one we had a separate entrance 2 bedroom apartment while the other four rooms were in the main house with the communal table. Oh and I forgot, on Maui we had a large unit with a kitchenette and dining table. While the rest of the rooms shared the communal areas. Though for all of us, there were breakfast fixings in the kitchen with no formal breakfast.

I am in the group who has never stayed in one and am at this point not really interested. Most of our travel is with our kids (from birth to now almost adult) or for business - and they don't work well for either.

Call me strange, but I like the anonimity of large, even chain hotels. I do not want to make friends with the housekeeping staff, desk clerk or wait staff. I want everything to work - but I want it to be accomplished by invisible people.

On the other hand, I do like to meet people on vacation and have engaged in some wonderful conversations with locals in their businesses when business is very slow - and I suspect I would like meeting other travelers at a B&B. Perhaps as DH and I enter a new phase in our travels - without kids - we will try one, but only with a recommendation from a friend or here.

gail said <i>Call me strange, but I like the anonimity of large, even chain hotels. I do not want to make friends with the housekeeping staff, desk clerk or wait staff. I want everything to work - but I want it to be accomplished by invisible people. </i>

LOL call me strange too!

<i>On the other hand, I do like to meet people on vacation and have engaged in some wonderful conversations with locals in their businesses when business is very slow - and I suspect I would like meeting other travelers at a B&amp;B. </i>

You don't have to stay at a B&amp;B for that! We've met very interesting people lots of places - sharing a table at Katz' Deli in NY, sitting on a park bench, on a hike in Sedona --- and I still get to go &quot;home&quot; to my private anonymous accommodations :)

I'm reminded of the only time we stayed in a really small B&amp;B and the young couple (honeymooners?) pounded the mattress and the headboard against the wall half the night. At breakfast they looked amazingly frazzled but quite happy. It was hard to look them in the face, yet alone strike up a conversation. What should we say, &quot;sleep well?&quot; Sorry, the whole small B&amp;B idea is much too up close and personal for me!

You are all making me remember yet another fuzzy line between inn and B&amp;B.....we were in St Ives England and a husband/wife team were the on-site owners as well as the main staff of the inn. Well, it was somewhat smaller but otherwise *exactly* like Fawlty Towers, right down to an old WWII veteran (very much like the colonel character on the show) who rambled on in the evening about how awful the French and Germans were!

Meanwhile the owner/wife was gracious and clearly into the whole thing and the husband--like Basil Fawlty--clearly considered the whole gig to be a real drag. He had to function as bartneder of the small bar that was set up in the brkfst room/lounge and he was certainly hospitality challenged. Except for his obvious distress at his lot in life, his thinly veiled hostility was downright laughable! We (DH, college-aged son, who was also familiar with the show and I) had a hard time keeping straight faces upon finding ourselves in such a life-imitating-art setting.

They did, however, just as in Fawlty Towers, have separate tables for brkfst, which for me is still the main thing that makes or breaks the B&amp;B experience.

I like B&amp;Bs and inns for the most part. I don't generally chat up the hosts or other guests, but I am polite and slightly sociable. I am not as much in need as the anonymity as other people seem to be.

I love old homes and buildings and find that the chintz and floral stuff is only common in some areas. I also get darned tired of chain hotels - travelling for work, too often I wake up and have to remember where the heck I am because every Marriott Courtyard looks the same - LOL. So, when on vacation, I like something unique.