What’s the appeal of a bed and breakfast?

[Anonymous]

I love B&Bs! Just look at reviews before you go, just like you would for a hotel. I always enjoy the breakfasts. I love old houses and how they are split into rooms and bathrooms for the guests. I enjoy the quirkiness.

The key is to choose a true charming B&B instead of "someone's house". You can tell from the pictures:

[Anonymous]

You get to see inside amazing homes sometimes , have drinks on the porch or in the garden, enjoy gourmet breakfasts.

I don’t like the really dated , dark, cluttered ones.

[Anonymous]

The few times I stayed at Bnb I had a great experience, but that was when I was in my 20s/ early 30s traveling alone or with a friend. Having a nice home made breakfast, a nice room / house, usually in a nice location, was really nice.

[Anonymous]

The alliteration, seriously just good marketing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found it really off putting. You can’t really have sex because you’re so close to your neighbor and see them in the morning and there’s basically no amenities I don’t feel like it offers anything. It’s like being an awkward houseguest in a stranger’s home.

Bed & Breakfasts are our jam, we seek them out over an impersonal hotel whenever we travel.

B&B’s are for social people, the interacting with others at the communal breakfast is part of the experience. Never once have we not enjoyed sex in one or have we not overheard others having sex. Granted you can’t or shouldn’t engage in headboard banging as you would in a hotel, but sex happens all the time in B&B’s just like hotels.

In fact, sex can be more fun in a B&B as the furniture leads itself to interesting positions and adds to the fun. The last B&B we stayed at had a huge clawfoot bathtub, DH and I enjoyed a playful bath together with champagne and fresh fruit, provided by the Innkeeper’s for our anniversary.

Another B&B had a communal hot tub on the grounds, that was good fun as we brought shots and sexy dice with us not knowing who we would encounter in the hot tub. We have four new friends we met in the hot tub and enjoyed breakfast with the following morning. Breakfast chatter was fun and flirtatious. Other couples joined us the next night in the hot tub.

Don’t disregard B&B’s as stuffy places, we’ve had great fun staying at them in the US, Caribbean and Europe.

[Anonymous]

You my friend OP must be staying at the wrong B&Bs.

They are charming and much quieter than a mere mortal hotel LOL I def stay at hotels and vrbo/airbnb as 2 kids makes it easier to not pay for 2 hotel rooms but B&Bs can work great for families since their rooms are different.

Romantic B&Bs are amazing as well. I just find B&Bs with delicious breakfasts or dinner offerings 10000x more interesting and enjoyable than your average Hilton or Klimpton branded monstrosities. Often, the B&B hosts can also offer additional insights into the best places to go where you are visiting as well.

Again, this is all dependent on the right place. You can't just expect to go to any hotel or B&B and find heaven. Not everything is the same in anything you are looking at - it does take some digging and researching but if you think about it - OF COURSE B&Bs would offer an edge to a mainstream hotel in terms of comfort being less mainstream, small crowds and the whole point is a custom breakfast v your hotel buffet or $$$ spreads. I'm not sure why anyone actually would find a mainstream hotel appealing?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found it really off putting. You can’t really have sex because you’re so close to your neighbor and see them in the morning and there’s basically no amenities I don’t feel like it offers anything. It’s like being an awkward houseguest in a stranger’s home.

Bed & Breakfasts are our jam, we seek them out over an impersonal hotel whenever we travel.

B&B’s are for social people, the interacting with others at the communal breakfast is part of the experience. Never once have we not enjoyed sex in one or have we not overheard others having sex. Granted you can’t or shouldn’t engage in headboard banging as you would in a hotel, but sex happens all the time in B&B’s just like hotels.

In fact, sex can be more fun in a B&B as the furniture leads itself to interesting positions and adds to the fun. The last B&B we stayed at had a huge clawfoot bathtub, DH and I enjoyed a playful bath together with champagne and fresh fruit, provided by the Innkeeper’s for our anniversary.

Another B&B had a communal hot tub on the grounds, that was good fun as we brought shots and sexy dice with us not knowing who we would encounter in the hot tub. We have four new friends we met in the hot tub and enjoyed breakfast with the following morning. Breakfast chatter was fun and flirtatious. Other couples joined us the next night in the hot tub.

Don’t disregard B&B’s as stuffy places, we’ve had great fun staying at them in the US, Caribbean and Europe.

And this makes me never want to stay at one.

[Anonymous]

I've stayed in a bunch and the only bad experiences were in Ireland. (One was a lady that kind of pressured us into eating her baked goods, which were not good, and chit-chatting with her--sort of like visiting a great aunt you don't really know-- and the other one sort of pressured us into ordering a complicated breakfast, and then guilt tripped us about it!). Excellent ones I've stayed at:

-- a historic mansion in New Orleans, which had a pool and did a gorgeous breakfast around the pool. Our room was in the carriage house, so no neighbors. Gorgeously decorated. This one is sadly since closed -- it's probably someone's actual house now.

-- Pomegranate Inn in Portland, Maine. Crazy fun hand painted walls (like wallpaper but all hand done) and beautiful antiques -- big poster beds, etc.. Delicious breakfast. Looking online, I see this one is now undergoing what they call a "face lift" -- I hope they keep the painted walls!

-- house in downtown Hilo, Hawaii. Run by the husband of a professor at Univ Hilo -- he was the trailing spouse and decided to just run this b & b. He was very low key. All the rooms decorated with Hawaiin quilts but a very open, airy look. Balcony and nook with a fabulous "take one, leave one" bookshelf. Really great breakfast in a sunroom with tons of fresh fruit, smoothies, baked banana or pineapple bread and yogurts, french press coffee, etc. This one has also closed -- I think the professor wife got a different job! We had also stayed a the fancy hotel in Hilo for a couple of nights, and we liked this B&B better--better location, better breakfast and we didn't have issues like needing to call guest services to get the a/c adjusted.

-- Brickhouse Inn in Gettysburg. This one is a little more crowded than some of hteo thers I've stayed at, but the location is perfect and it's so much more charming than the awful motels in that area. The breakfast was great (served on a lovely patio), and the hosts have cake and drinks out every afternoon.

In general, I think they work well in the small, historic towns where there are not a lot of hotel options, and where it's fun to stay someplace historic to get the "vibe" of the city. But you really need to check reviews to make sure that it is well kept up (not dusty/musty), the breakfast is good, and the beds are good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found it really off putting. You can’t really have sex because you’re so close to your neighbor and see them in the morning and there’s basically no amenities I don’t feel like it offers anything. It’s like being an awkward houseguest in a stranger’s home.

Bed & Breakfasts are our jam, we seek them out over an impersonal hotel whenever we travel.

B&B’s are for social people, the interacting with others at the communal breakfast is part of the experience. Never once have we not enjoyed sex in one or have we not overheard others having sex. Granted you can’t or shouldn’t engage in headboard banging as you would in a hotel, but sex happens all the time in B&B’s just like hotels.

In fact, sex can be more fun in a B&B as the furniture leads itself to interesting positions and adds to the fun. The last B&B we stayed at had a huge clawfoot bathtub, DH and I enjoyed a playful bath together with champagne and fresh fruit, provided by the Innkeeper’s for our anniversary.

Another B&B had a communal hot tub on the grounds, that was good fun as we brought shots and sexy dice with us not knowing who we would encounter in the hot tub. We have four new friends we met in the hot tub and enjoyed breakfast with the following morning. Breakfast chatter was fun and flirtatious. Other couples joined us the next night in the hot tub.

Don’t disregard B&B’s as stuffy places, we’ve had great fun staying at them in the US, Caribbean and Europe.

And this makes me never want to stay at one.

Yeah, shots and sexy dice in the hot tub is the Newhart Show episode from the hidden vault that none of us ever want to see...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found it really off putting. You can’t really have sex because you’re so close to your neighbor and see them in the morning and there’s basically no amenities I don’t feel like it offers anything. It’s like being an awkward houseguest in a stranger’s home.

Bed & Breakfasts are our jam, we seek them out over an impersonal hotel whenever we travel.

B&B’s are for social people, the interacting with others at the communal breakfast is part of the experience. Never once have we not enjoyed sex in one or have we not overheard others having sex. Granted you can’t or shouldn’t engage in headboard banging as you would in a hotel, but sex happens all the time in B&B’s just like hotels.

In fact, sex can be more fun in a B&B as the furniture leads itself to interesting positions and adds to the fun. The last B&B we stayed at had a huge clawfoot bathtub, DH and I enjoyed a playful bath together with champagne and fresh fruit, provided by the Innkeeper’s for our anniversary.

Another B&B had a communal hot tub on the grounds, that was good fun as we brought shots and sexy dice with us not knowing who we would encounter in the hot tub. We have four new friends we met in the hot tub and enjoyed breakfast with the following morning. Breakfast chatter was fun and flirtatious. Other couples joined us the next night in the hot tub.

Don’t disregard B&B’s as stuffy places, we’ve had great fun staying at them in the US, Caribbean and Europe.

And this makes me never want to stay at one.

Yeah, shots and sexy dice in the hot tub is the Newhart Show episode from the hidden vault that none of us ever want to see...

LOL I was reading this as an introvert getting more and more horrified..
My parents stay at one every summer that seems pretty nice. It is a Victorian house with a multi-level deck overlooking Lake Michigan with an upscale beach-house vibe. However they do indeed have to make friendly chit-chat with the other guests who all seem to be boomers like them. not my cup of tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've done it twice and it was two times too many.

First place the host said if we wanted to take a shower then there was an additional charge! "Water costs me money, you know."

Second, I happened to be the only guest there and I was solo. The family was not friendly and I sat alone in their dining room while they ate in the kitchen. When I was leaving and was outside waiting for my cab, I looked through the window at the room I stayed in and the host was making up my bed - and wasn't changing the sheets!

I don’t believe either of these stories for a minute.

[Anonymous]

We've stayed in them 6 or 8 times. The best ones where when we got a detached cottage off the back patio. We could enjoy the house antiques, wander the gardens, join in the (usually) delicious breakfasts and happy-hour snacks - and have a very private bedroom.

A few others we got a bedroom not on the main hall, so again, a lot more privacy.

Check the TripAdvisor reviews and you should get a feel for whether it's like being at Grandma's with your cousins in the next room, or if the rooms have a bit more privacy.

[Anonymous]

Hate Bed and Breakfasts. We stayed at one where they got upset I was late coming down for breakfast. I even said I don’t eat breakfast and insisted I participate with the group. Never again.

[Anonymous]

We stayed at one for a wedding in a rural area where there weren't other options. It was not historic but more of a 1980s house which added to the creepy weird factor. It felt like sleeping over at a house I used to babysit at, complete with the creepy dad/host. We skipped the provided breakfast every day and drove to a cute place in town. I can't remember if the owner was annoyed.

But on the bright side, it was on a small farm and there were cows, and I got to bottle feed a calf!