Bed & Breakfasts

A bed and breakfast, often referred to as a B&B, is a lodging typically operated out of a large single family residence where guests can be accommodated at night in private bedrooms (which may or may not be equipped with private baths) and where breakfast, sometimes Continental and sometimes the full English variety, is served in the morning. In Ireland, most B&Bs serve a traditional Irish breakfast as a point of pride. The business may be operated either as a primary occupation or as a secondary source of income, and the staff often consists of the house's owner(s) and members of their family who live there.

It is possible for guests to stay more than one night, but in some cases they will be expected to be away from the house during the main part of the day. This arrangement however is generally found to be convenient, for many of the more popular B&Bs are located in beach and mountain areas, such as Hawaii and Colorado where daytime recreation and tourism activities are popular. One advantage of staying at a B&B is readier access to popular locations off the beaten path which may not be convenient to the city center.

Because most B&Bs are small, rarely with room for more than about 10-15 guests, it is advisable for anyone wanting to stay at a bed and breakfast to make reservations well in advance of their travel date. Consultation with a qualified travel agent knowledgeable in this type of accommodation is recommended; many B&Bs belong to associations, have a web presence, and are described in various books and travel guides.

The B&B arrangement is actually a very old one; before the 20th century, it was quite normal for country travelers to spend the night at a private house rather than an inn, and the custom persists in many parts of the world. However, this was strictly an informal arrangement constrained by acquaintance and social rank; a doctor might stay with a doctor or pharmacist, while a nobleman would only stay with the local gentry.

Modern B&Bs often consciously seek to recall earlier days; they are frequently established in attractive older houses that have been renovated and filled with antique furniture. In some cases an existing inn will relabel itself as a "B&B" to improve business.

Boarding House

A boarding house is a house (often a family home) in which holiday-makers or lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. Years ago the boarders would typically share washing, breakfast and dining facilities; in recent years it has become common for each room to have its own washing and toilet facilities. Such boarding houses were often found in English seaside towns (for holiday-makers) and e.g. university towns (for students).

In the United Kingdom, the boarding houses were typically run by landladies, and the practice was that boarders would arrange to stay bed-and-breakfast (bed and breakfast only), half-board (bed, breakfast and dinner only) or full-board (bed, breakfast, lunch and dinner). Especially for families on holiday with children, boarding (and particularly on a full-board basis) was an inexpensive alternative and certainly much cheaper than staying in any but the cheapest hotels.

Bed and breakfast accommodation (B&B), which exists in many countries in the world (e.g, the UK, the USA, Canada, and Australia), is a specialised form of boarding house in which the guests or boarders normally stay only on a bed-and-breakfast or half-board basis, and where long-stay residence is rare.

Apart from the worldwide spread of the concept of the B&B, there are equivalents of the British boarding houses elsewhere in the world. For example, in Japan, minshuku are an almost exact equivalent although the normal arrangement would be the equivalent of the English half-board. In Hawaii, where the cost of living is high and incomes barely keep pace, it is common to take in lodgers (who are boarders in English terminology) that share the burden of the overall rent or mortgage payable.