I've Never Been a Breakfast Person

Can someone please explain the allure of the bed and breakfast to me?

I'm not talking about the small, like 4-10 rooms, inn that has a front parlor where they serve you breakfast.  The decor in places like that tends to be a little cute for my tastes, but I've stayed in places like that before and have no complaints.

No, I'm talking about when the rich retired couple buys a really big house and rents out their guest bedroom(s) to wandering travelers.

Hotels I get.  You go, you pay, you mess up the room and the staff who have an hourly wage or a salary do your bidding for you.

Staying at a friend/relatives house I get.  You go, you don't pay in money but you bring a bottle of wine or it's family and you just descend upon them, you hang out and visit and at the end of the day you retire to your separate corners.  You ask if you can help with the breakfast, you strip the bed before you leave, you try to clean up behind yourself and you don't stay too long or you'll start to stink like the fish.

B&Bs are like these weird hybrid where money changes hands and you can never really feel at ease.  The owners want to be all chatty with you and tell you their life story and offer you recommendations on where to go and what to do and form this CONNECTION.  While you're just sitting around being your slovenly self.  Because if I'm paying for it I'm not making my bed.  And maybe I don't need your recommendations.  And maybe I like it when things are quiet once in a while and don't need you to just keep on talking.

Luckily our room was in "the bunkhouse" this weekend. E.g. not part of the main house.  There were two rooms in the bunk house.  The couple staying in the other room had completely taken over the common area of the bunk house before we got there.

So we wandered Newport catching the sights we wanted to see, sharing some yummy dinner, then hid in our room and read our books for the night.

Really, do people enjoy this sort of traveling?  I just don't get it.

Comments

[Abigail]

We stayed in B&Bs a lot when I was a kid, generally they were a fair bit cheaper than hotels at least where we were, and in Ireland it was one of the only options. We always had great fun as kids (staying in kid-friendly B&Bs, there are plenty that aren't), and had lots of fun playing with the pets and in the yards, etc.

I like the 4-10 room places that serve a fantastic breakfast in the front parlor where you still get privacy and hotel amenities without the institutional feel, but I think I've outgrown the small, intimate, room-in-someone's-home B&B personally.

[tommyspoon]

I love B&Bs because they are personal whereas hotels are impersonal. And I do enjoy chatting with the innkeepers, as long as they are personable. They always know the lay of the land that you are in, can tell you what to do and what to avoid, and have more of a vested interest in making you comfortable.

Only a few times has the breakfast been truly outstanding, but it's at least as good as the local diner.

[Alison]

There are a handful of places like you describe around here. This is largely because there's only so many hotels an area this small can accommodate, and yet for a few weekends out of the year every last one of those hotels and B&Bs, plus all the local guest rooms, are sold out. I tend to prefer the 4-10 room places (which, BTW, often ARE the proprietor's home, just large enough that it doesn't feel that way), especially since we don't tend to keep the same hours that our hosts do, but the other can definitely come in handy.

[teacherrefpoet]

Friends of ours suggested that B&Bs can be perfect for a romantic getaway.

Why would I want to spend my romantic weekend in a stranger's home, surrounded by other strangers, in someone else's bedroom, in a room with tissue-paper walls?

It was a nice, inexpensive night (since we had a coupon), but I wouldn't describe it as romantic.

[Alison]

Well, TRP, remember that the 4-10 room inns are frequently also called B&Bs, and they can be quite romantic. In fact, what you stayed in would not be called a B&B around these parts - it's a "guest room." Perhaps a regional difference of terms?

[Eve]

Well, some of us actually LIKE getting to know the owners of B&B's and getting to know the other people staying there. It has the appeal of a hostel, but is a little more grown up and makes more sense if you're traveling as a couple.

I think it comes down to personal style. I am recalling the post your husband made about comparing churches...some of us LIKE religious communities where people are warm and fuzzy and welcoming. Some people don't. It's the same with B&Bs versus traditional hotels, which I often find stiff and corporate and dull.

On the other hand, cheap motel sex is often some of the best. So maybe it depends on mood, too.

[teacherrefpoet]

Well, I never liked hostels either. Only stayed in them for financial reasons. Only once did I enjoy it, and it was the day they accidentally put me in a women's room. Hung out all night with a cool French girl. Don't remember her name, but she took me to the Sacre Coeur (misspelled, I'm sure) church.

But I'm not good becoming best-buds with strangers, whether they're stroking my back at their church or asking questions about my life over breakfast when I've never seen them before.

Alison's point is on-target, I think. Bigger B&Bs are better. I liked the one we stayed at in boston for your wedding to Kaphine, for instance. Less forced intimacy. I loathe forced intimacy with anyone, especially strangers.

[Mom]

I'm with you. We have stayed in a couple but only because they were gifts. You notice we never do that on our own. I like to pick the people I spend time with. Of course the Beverly Beach is different. Like a regular hotel of sorts.