Last Updated on September 5, 2012 by Mike
Home Away From Home: Three Ways To Save Money On Vacation When You Stay At A Bed and Breakfast
Bed and Breakfasts… they’re certainly a different kind of place to stay when compared to the many hotels and motels you see across the country. The majority of folks use hotels and motels because they are so highly advertised. However, if you’re the type of person who wants to try something new on vacation or a business trip, then you can’t go wrong with a bed and breakfast business.
The History Of Bed and Breakfasts – Their Mark On The American Culture
Keep in mind that just because you’re hearing about bed and breakfast businesses now doesn’t mean they’re a new concept. In fact, the concept has been around in Europe for some time but made their introductions to the United States in the mid to late 1960s. It’s thought that there are more than 30,000 of these places within the U.S. In the Seattle area, a bed and breakfast was open on the water; a houseboat or boat that offers guests the bed and breakfast experience.
What Are Bed and Breakfast Inns? How Are They Different From The Common Hotel/Motel
Bed and breakfasts are similar to hotels/motels in one retrospect: they offer lodging to folks looking for a place to stay. However, the number of folks who can stay in these places is on a much smaller scale… usually no more than 10 occupants at a time depending on the home size and rooms available. Bed and breakfasts are typically private homes with less than 10 rooms used for commercial reasons.
Guests to these places are accommodated with private bedrooms and bathrooms. There are some homes that have a suite of rooms that is attached to a bathroom. Some homes have a bathroom that is shared by the guests.
In these places, guests may be treated to breakfast in their rooms. Of course, there’s also the option of eating in the owner’s kitchen or dining room. Generally it’s the owner who cooks the breakfast and cleans the rooms although it’s not unheard of help being hired to deal with the cleaning and cooking.
What Makes A Bed and Breakfast Highly Competitive Against Motels/Hotels
The bed and breakfast industry has changed and has been forced into competition against other lodgings. This is good for persons looking for more service, for less money. What kinds of services do guests enjoy while staying in a bed and breakfast? They get to enjoy the free snacks, coffee and tea, free large breakfast, free wi-fi and so much more. Typical hotels have added these perks onto their service.
Taking Advantage Of The Lulls: 3 Ways Of Getting A Room For A Discount
It’s important to understand that these businesses have high points and low points. If you’re going on vacation, you can use that information to your advantage to get a really good deal on a bed and breakfast room/service. Bear in mind that a bed and breakfast that relies on the skiing season will have low and high points during that time. Many bed and breakfast businesses will offer deep discounts to generate business during their low points. If you’re going on vacation and want to stay in a bed and breakfast and you do have some flexibility, then you could walk away with a bed and breakfast experience with money in your pocket. How can you get in on these great deals?
The first way to save yourself some money and take advantage of the good deal is to make reservations during the week rather than the weekend. Remember, these businesses are getaway spots, where you’d go for a couple of days and go back to your place. Thus, the weekend is going to be far busier than the weekdays. Mid-week renting for bed and breakfasts is harder to come by and many will offer discounts to get the rooms filled. Owners hate having empty rooms so they’ll do what they can to get those rooms filled.
The second way is to check out the coupon sites. Remember these places don’t like empty rooms so they’re looking for ways to fill up the beds, which means they’re branching out to the Internet to ensure the rooms stay filled. Of course, when searching for coupons, be mindful about the restrictions on dates and availability. This keeps you from spending more money than you initially want to.
The third way is to ask the owner directly about a discount. If you plan on staying for more than a couple of days or will have a large group coming with you, then a price break might be worthwhile for you and for the owner.
What’s the key to an owner’s bed and breakfast business’ survival? Keeping those rooms filled at all times. So, don’t be afraid to go looking and asking for those discounts.
Are you ready to go on your next vacation? Do you want to stay in just another hotel room or do you want the experience of a home away from home? If you’re looking for the home away from home experience then consider staying in a reputable bed and breakfast. Just remember to look for bed and breakfasts that are clean, comfortable, reputable, and most notably, hospitable.
This is a very nice and informative post. I enjoyed reading every line of the post. I go out on a vacation almost every year. Mostly I stay at hotels or at any of my friends place. I have never stayed at any Bread and Breakfast. I always wanted to, but somehow could never manage to. I have shared this post with other family members and convinced them that we try a Bed and Breakfast next time we are on a vacation at Miami.
I have always wanted to stay at Bed and Breakfasts, but usually end up staying in a chain hotel. I will have to put more effort into finding an affordable Bed and Breakfasts next time my husband & I are on vacation. It would be nice to have a welcoming place to come back to after a day at the beach or site seeing.
These are great tips! I like how they gave a little history into bed and breakfasts. It’s good to know all of these tips when it comes to researching places to stay. I think that a bed and breakfast would be much more cozy than a hotel or motel. I’ll definitely be looking into them for my next vacation.
It’s great reading so much info about Bed and Breakfasts. I’ve wondered what the experience is like staying at one, but never really looked into it. Seems like a great option for vacations. I’m going to consider it next time instead of defaulting to hotels.
Great tips – it also helps if you go off-season, you have more bargaining room (though that is dependent on the area).
I love staying at Bed and Breakfast Inns — so romantic! The last time I stayed in one was in Monterey last summer. The Inn overlooked the bay and also featured beautiful gardens. The bed was a huge Victorian with wonderful lace linens. You could even hear the seal lions barking! =)
Here’s a site to find some deals: http://www.bnbfinder.com/?action=specials