It may not seem the first choice if you are visiting Britain for more than a few days but a Bed and Breakfast can be good value for money. Self catering may be an option but then you have to worry about getting in food, cooking and cleaning and if you compare prices, it can be much more economic to stay in a B&B. Hotels are pretty expensive in the City Centres and although the facilities they offer may be superior, do you really want them all?
If the answer to that is “not really” then consider using a Bed and Breakfast instead. Apart from fitness facilities, indoor swimming pools and in house entertainment, many of the better Bed and Breakfast properties will provide many of the same facilities as a city centre hotel, and sometime to a higher standard. Most British Bed and Breakfast establishments offer good, clean accommodation, your own key so you can come and go as you please and a good breakfast to start your day. Many will also provide an evening meal if you arrange it in advance or give notice of when you would like to have one.
Bed and Breakfasts can be found in every town and most villages throughout the British Isles. They range in size from a single room for letting to a house that has several rooms for hire. Anything over 6 to 8 rooms is strictly speaking classed as a Guest House but the operational functionality of a Guest and a Bed and Breakfast is almost identical. They are family run establishment where the owner lives on the premises and in that sense, usually has more interest in the well being and comfort of their gests than a Hotel that is part of a larger corporation.
Use one or more of the better accommodation websites to find the property that you want. Most will show a wide range of properties in a common format so you can easily compare one with another. Some will have facilities for videos of the Bed and Breakfast and the ability to print out the details. If you are travelling at short notice, use one of the sites that specialise in last minute and late bookings. They operate on the same principal as the airline sites and you can get some very good prices if you are willing to take the chance.
Don’t be put off if the bed and breakfast is not graded by the Tourist Board (Visit Britain) or the AA. It is no longer a necessary requirement of a quality property. The various tourist organisations have finally got their act together and agreed a common grading process. Previously Visit Britain and the AA had different meanings to the star ratings and other symbols such as Crowns and Diamonds were used, these have all been scrapped and only stars are valid now, so in theory, you should be able to tell the standard of any bed and breakfast by its star rating. The grades go from one star to five stars and the more stars the more luxurious the property will be. Having said that, these star ratings are very expensive and have to be paid for by the property owner every season. Whilst the grading system does make a lot of sense and is a good guide to the quality of a property, a lot of very fine bed and breakfasts are not bothering with them any more and are saving the expense. There is a growing awareness amongst property owners that with the internet, competent websites can show sufficient photos and videos for visitors to be able to assess the quality of an establishment and not worry about an expensive, and sometimes, arbitrary grading process. The cost of websites of good quality has become well within the reach of Bed and Breakfast owners and is cheaper in the long run than an annual grading visit and fees.
