Breakfast Business

Entrepreneur: While a bed and breakfast is by definition a lodging that serves breakfast as part of the room rate, there are several different types of B&B properties ranging from intimate family homes with less than a handful of guest rooms to full-fledged country inns with a dozen or more rooms. Part of the charm of B&Bs is that each is a bit different, but they all fall somewhere within five basic categories. A homestay, also called a host home, is a private home with one to four guest rooms that are used to bring in supplemental rather than primary income. Homestays don’t typically post signs on their property or advertise, relying instead on reservations services. A bed a breakfast is a step up from the homestay, typically consisting of four to five (but as many as eight) guest rooms and a live-in owner or host family. Bed and breakfasts typically have a sign out front, advertise and conform to zoning, health and other government regulations. Bed and breakfast inns are full-fledged lodging establishments rather than a family home with rooms to rent. With six or more guest rooms and a live-in host, the B&B inn has a well-posted sign, does lots of advertising and adheres to all government regulations. Bed and breakfast hotels are really B&Bs but instead are hotels with 30 or more rooms in a historic building. Breakfast is offered as part of the room rate. Unhosted apartments or cottages are sort of a cross between a vacation rental and a B&B, a self-contained lodging that is completely separate from the host’s home.
Bed and Breakfast [Entrepreneur]