Hellobee Boards

Yes! I love them. I went to a couple for the first time over the summer. It was great to stay somewhere small and cute. Also having a home cooked breakfast was wonderful. The inn keepers I encountered were very friendly. I have nothing but positive things to say.

i went to my first one this summer and it was seriously the worst experience of my life!!! i'm sure this one just happened to not be great but it has tainted it for me and i'll probably never stay at another one again.

We don't like them, but I think most people do. I like to be more anonymous when I travel and prefer hotels.

@loki: I'm curious about what happened??

DH and I don't like B&Bs either. We would rather not have to make small talk with people we don't know, etc. It just feels a little too close quartered to me.

@photojane: I think it would be great gift then for people lovers who like to travel!

We have been to one, and it was an AWFUL experience. We will probably never go to a B&B again because it was so terrible.

@IRunForFun: @photojane: it was so bad. i might type a novel. we stayed there with two other couples because we were in a small quebec town for a wedding and B&Bs were the only accomodations. so we took up 3 out of 5 of the rooms. but the owners were VERY intrusive and would constantly just be around... we tried to play cards one night and we weren't rowdy at all (two of us were pregnant) but it felt like we were getting in trouble! the first night we wanted to go out for dinner in town and the owners waited up for us to get home, even though we had keys. it was this ooooold house and the floors were soooo creaky and awful, we just felt so uncomfortable the whole time.
one of the other guests was this bizarre woman who was always around us. we would move to couches to chat and she would sit in a chair so awkwardly beside us reading. we would move to the dining room and she would follow. it was seriously weird. the first night we went to bed and at about 530 am i hear an alarm going off. i got up because i thought maybe it was downstairs... it was in this weird woman's room. it woke EVERY OTHER PERSON in the B&B up... but was somehow not waking this woman up. Our friends had a room that shared a bathroom with her and she would leave her dentures on the sink and her towels on the floor. and she had left the door to the bathroom open so my friend peeked in and this woman's alarm was clearly going off at full volume, right beside her head, all her lights were on and she was passed out. we legit thought she was dead. so after about an hour of it going off, we started pounding on the door and asking her to turn it off. no luck. another hour goes by so we had to go into the other part of the house and wake up the owners because we were genuinely concerned for her well being... the owner came up and just barged into her room and took the alarm. we were standing in the hall and saw her completely naked. it was pretty hysterical but also traumatic haha. anyways her presence didn't affect our stay but it definitely made me realize that that setting is NOT for me. i like a bit more anonymity and i hated feeling like we were naughty teenagers reporting to our parents the entire time.

ok that was insanely long, i'm so sorry for threadjacking haha.

@loki: That is so incredibly bizarre!!

Not for me! I prefer the anonymity of a hotel.

I generally do... But it helps if there's a good personality fit (you and the owners) and I like to know what I'm getting into (accommodations, food, etc). Some of my favorite B&B experiences were when DH and I were in Ireland. I think if you know that they've enjoyed them in the past (or would be willing to help with the research process) I think it's a great idea!

i like them but i've stayed in ones with a private bathroom only.

I'd rather have an impersonal experience when I'm on vacation. I hate feeling like I have to be ultra polite when it comes to a service I'm actually paying for. Plus, I hate small talk Correction, I hate being in a situation when I'm pressured to small talk.

But if it's a large B&B (and not so intimate), then I'm all for it! We've stayed at a Japanese B&B (minshuku) and it was wonderful!

I love the idea of B&Bs and have stayed in one. We felt like we couldn't have sex, haha. It's too intimate. I need the anonymity of hotels. Not like we have loud crazy sex (nothing wrong with that) but we were so embarrassed when the bed made noise.

@photojane: Not that you want to think about your parents having sex

No. Although to be fair I haven't been to one. It's just... let's be honest here... if I'm going to a hotel as a destination I want hotel sex. And I can think of nothing less romantic than worrying about keeping it down or being thwarted by a squeaky antique bed because I know I have to eat breakfast with these people in the morning.