When your host gives you a cheerful and loud greeting by name every morning, it goes without saying that the atmosphere isn't exactly conducive to, say, negotiating a confidential business deal. At a hotel you can lock your room door and shut out the world. At a bed and breakfast, no can do. I stayed in a small inn once where the beautiful hardwood floors also creaked loudly when anyone walked across them, and where I heard every other word the honeymooning couple next door said to each other on their wedding night. Still, these are minor inconveniences in the overall scheme of things.
People managing bed and breakfasts really go out of their way for their customers.
Innkeepers have been known to do everything from taking clothes to the dry cleaner to administering medicine to sick guests. The food is never the same, and neither is the decor. Chances are good you'll end up seated across the table from one of your fellow travelers at meal times. Christopher Elliott, a k a The Crabby Traveler, is a Los Angeles-based writer. All rights reserved.