STAYING AT A BED AND BREAKFAST
If You Haven't Stayed In A Bed & Breakfast, You're In For a Treat
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If you want a weekend getaway, or are travelling and want to have a different overnight lodging experience, consider staying at a Bed and Breakfast. You'll almost always find these are private home, often historic ones, that have been turned into a Bed and Breakfast (or B&B as they are often called) by the owners. It's a more intimate setting, and many couples go to Bed & Breakfasts for a romantic getaway. There are only a few guest rooms, and breakfast is always included with the price of your room. You can have breakfast in your own room or in the dining room with the other guests. The food is almost always better than what you'll find in a restaurant, and the prices are usually somewhat less than your traditional chain hotel or motel, too. And you can't beat a B&B for the atmosphere. If you've never tried one and are interested in learning more, here's information for you to use when looking into booking a B&B for a mini-vacation or break from your routine.
Where Can I Find a Bed & Breakfast?
Bed and Breakfasts can be found in almost any area. The trick is in finding one near you, and one with good reviews and ratings. One of the most well-known places to check when looking for a Bed and Breakfast is bedandbreakfast.com. With listings in every state and most every country in the world, you're sure to find one that meets your needs and your budget. They also maintain listings for other types of lodging, such as country inns, lodges, cabins, small resorts, guest ranches, and more. No matter where you want to stay, you're sure to find help at this web site. Another source for listings is the American Bed and Breakfast Association, or abba.com. There are links here for each state and regions in each state. You can also check with your friends and co-workers to gain from their experience.
A Sample Bed and Breakfast, Picked At Random
We've randomly selected a state from bedandbreakfast.com's listing, and came up with South Dakota. What? There's B&B's in South Dakota? Yes there are! To prove our point that you can find a great B&B anywhere, we have selected the Prairie House Manor in De Smet, South Dakota. De Smet is a small community about 95 miles from Sioux Falls. This particular B&B is the former home of one of the characters in the Little House on the Prairie series. This B&B has 6 guest rooms, all with private baths. Each room is decorated with antiques, but also features air conditioning, ceiling fans, radio and TV, an alarm clock, and two rooms also feature an in-room jacuzzi. Breakfast is served from 8 to 9:15 a.m., either on the front porch or the Breakfast Room, and is included in your room charge. Breakfasts are home-cooked, and include waffles, french toast and pancakes. Double occupancy rates begin at $109 per night. Area attractions include the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead, vineyards, shopping, fishing, golfing, hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing, and more. If you're going to be in the area, this sounds like a great place to stay!
What You Can Expect
Most B&B's are run by the owners, who welcome you into their home as special, invited guests. Your room will be clean, comfortable and inviting. Your breakfast will be deliciously cooked and served. There will probably be a common or living area where you can mingle with your hosts and other guests, enjoy conversation, snacks, games, or just take in the atmosphere of your surroundings. Your hosts will be a wealth of information on what to see and do for recreation and fun. You will probably meet other friendly guests at breakfast, in the common area, or coming and going in the halls and living areas. It seems that the nicest people stay at Bed and Breakfasts.
Miscellaneous Information
Here's tips and information that we can't fit in anywhere else, but which might be something you're interested in.
Recipes
You will usually find a special dish served at your B&B breakfast. If you don't think to ask the cook or host for the recipe, in most cases you can find them online at the B&B's web site. For example, going back to our randomly-selected B&B above, clicking on their web site and going to the link for favorite recipes gives us two of the host's favorites: Connie's Eggs Ole and Struddel.
Gift Certificates
Most B&B's offer gift certificates, and you can purchase them online for more than 4,000 B&B's on the bedandbreakfast.com web site. What a great gift idea for that special someone or couple in your life!
Want To Own A B&B?
After staying at a Bed and Breakfast, perhaps you'll want to own your own B&B. If you're a social person who easily converses with strangers, like to cook and enjoys making others comfortable, you may enjoy doing this. There are listings of Bed and Breakfasts for sale at the bedandbreakfast.com web site. Additionally, you'll find information to help you decide if this is really something for you. While it may seem to be a glamorous job from the viewpoint of the resident, being aware of the work and efforts that go into owning and operating a bed and breakfast should be the first thing you do before taking the plunge. Before you buy a B&B or turn your home into one, be sure to read and study all the sources available, both online and in books; talk to other B&B hosts, and consider all aspects of what this entails.