Are Bed and Breakfasts a slowly disappearing business?

[TheGander]

On holiday in the Lakes at the moment. DH and I reminisced about the B&Bs we have stayed in during 25 yr marriage. At least half were run by people who seemed to resent their guests, one I stayed in recently was a little run down and you could feel the owners counting down to retirement ( decor was 1980s, outdated electrics, carpets seen better days etc). It got me wondering if fewer and fewer people want to take on the work of running B&Bs, and maybe with air BnB, holiday lets etc it’s getting harder to make a living from it. Anyone else got that feeling?

Yes, ok JAN

a poster asked me to explain from a tongue in cheek comment. Calm down and go to bed.

No idea what JAN is supposed to mean, but you managed to patronise me even so.

Either you're being obtuse, or you're not prepared to admit to trying to derail the thread. Judging by your nastiness, I would guess it's the latter.

Sorry OP, I hope you're enjoying your break!

Sure, Jan

How is it lacking a sense of humour to not even know what you're on about. You posted something with absolutely zero context.

I would rather stay in an independent B&B then a faceless chain hotel.
I couldn’t run a B&B so have to admire those that do.
I do agree though that if takes a certain personality to run a B&B.

My neighbour would be great at running an old school B&B. Her name is Jan.

We've been to B and B recently and it seems that they are mostly just 'B' now. The last one we stayed at had a room with toaster and microwave that any guest could us. I thought that was a great idea. But the breakfast can be expensive, £25 for 2 for example. There are usually small cafes with bacon rolls and coffee for £12 for 2.
You just have to pick which is best for you..
I liked it when there was a full breakfast and could chat with other guests too.
Obviously there are still places that do this.

Who is Jan? None of your comments belong to this thread, they are not relevant. Maybe you should calm down and go to bed? 😂

I stay in a b&b when I go to London and it's lovely. Much better than some faceless "let yourself in and Christ only knows who's in the room next to you" business, plus it's much cheaper than a hotel - no surge pricing lol. People chat to each other at breakfast and it's safe and clean.

There do seem to be fewer of them now which is a shame - Airbnb is a terrible setup really when you consider you don't know who you're dealing with and there's no responsibility for standards, safety etc.

PS. Another thing we noticed was that the B and B wasn't staffed during the day. There was a phone number in case you needed to contact them. The keys were in an envelope with your name and room number on it. They were to be collected after 3pm. We only saw the owner/manager for 5 minutes when we left. A good setup we thought.

I like a B & B with a proper breakfast. The last one we stayed in advertised a “continental breakfast.” It was completely DIY - croissants in plastic packets, cheap value bread, “spread”, cheap jam, tea bags, instant coffee and long life milk. No cheese or cold meats. I left them a review…

You know what you're getting with a chain hotel, which is usually clean, private bathroom, decent mattress. Independents can be excellent, but they can also be quite grim, seemingly without access to a vacuum (Hastings), and uncomfortable mattresses (Rugby and Hastings). And they don't always fo breakfast, either (Hastings.)

I started a thread on the same topic last year or the year before. DH and I were going to have a weekend away, we were debating whether to go for a Premier Inn or try to find something a bit more quirky . You know what you are guessing with one of these anonymous type hotels but we could be missing out with more interesting experiences. They certainly seem harder to find them when we first got together 30 years ago.

Many years ago i lived & grew up in Bath & B&B signs were very common in all areas, When I visit now I can not find any, just Hotels at expensive prices.

I'm in a tourist village. The B and B's in the village are still there and very professionally run. I have two holiday let units in my garden and we broadly charge a similar amount as the B and B's.

It's a totally different market though. My friend runs one of the BandB's and she says her guests go out all day and are out every evening. She has a guest lounge but she says nobody ever uses it. My guests are often in as they can cook and they have a sitting room/hot tub to relax in, and outside space. I think it must be a different type of person who books and I must say I find it fascinating.

I'm very lazy so can't imagine being up and out every day and night on a UK holiday. It's also really expensive to eat out lunch and dinner. But there's certainly a huge market for them.

I’ve never stayed in a B&B as I just don’t find them practical.

I’d rather rent a whole house/flat where I’ve got the space to do as I like with and come and go from. Especially with children and a dog, a B&B just wouldn’t work.

On my own or with a couple of children, a hotel works better too. I just feel a lot more comfortable in an anonymous hotel rather than a b&b.

Yeah what are you on about. How would anyone get that from a thread just being about b&bs? Very weird mate.

We travel around Scotland very often> We pass through lots of towns and villages where just about every house you drive past has a B&B sign outside.

I can't remember a single one ever having "Vacancies" on the sign. It's always "NO|Vacancies" So, some places are either doing a roaring trade or the owners have the sign set that way 365/24/7 as they don't actually want guests 🤔

I love a B&B and sometimes prefer it to a hotel. (Holiday rentals like AirBnB are a different category as you can cook, and you have the place to yourselves, so I'm not comparing B&Bs with those.)I like meeting and talking to people, and often have a chat with the hosts, some of whom have had very interesting lives!

They do seem to be less common, but I've stayed in some recently. With a few exceptions of large houses that with several bedrooms, perhaps bought on purpose as a business, most I have used over the years have been run by older people, often with just a couple of rooms spare after the kids have moved out. Maybe this doesn't make money any more? Maybe people want the anonymity of a hotel? DH I'm looking at you Maybe everyone wants ensuites, which they can't always provide? Maybe the hosts want more freedom themselves?

I stayed in a couple last year which were on AirBnB but were rooms in someone's house with a simple breakfast provided (toast or cereal rather than cooked breakfast) - I suppose strictly speaking these were B&Bs, but online advance booking only, and no sign outside.

I can't remember the last time we stayed in a B&B.
Mainly I tend to use Airbnb or similar. We have a small, very well behaved dog.
I drove to Spain and back recently, I used pretty basic, side of the motorway places and bought breakfast in the bars attached.

Yes, it’s great when you find a good B&B but there are a few duds out there, so unless you know the place you are taking g about of a risk. . Premier Inn is OK but I don’t like not being able to open the window. I think fewer and fewer people are willing to run B&Bs. We used to go to a lovely one in Coniston run by a farming couple but now it’s entire house rental only so obviously a lot more expensive.

we only stayed in a BnB once, luckily for one night and it was awful (not the place itself it was lovely!). We felt like we had to be on our best behaviour, whisper, keep the tv so low we couldn’t hear it, scared the toddler would wake up crying in the night etc. Breakfast was awful because it felt so awkward and Dd1 couldn’t eat. Self catering all the way.

Yes. I think they are.

Don't like bed and breakfast, being in someone's house. Premier inn or car camping/camping or nice hotel.

Last one we stayed at in York
Lovely room
Lovely breakfast

Every time we came back in
Just in the door
Landlady
Where have you been
How did you get there..20 fucking questions.
Really did feel like saying leave us the fuck alone.