Even if a few television sit-coms are getting their laughs by making fun of bed and breakfast lodgings, more and more people prefer this type of accommodations when they are on the road or are sightseeing. Some bed and breakfasts are intimate places where a handful of guests get to know each other; quite a few are larger establishments akin to hotels where only breakfast is served.

A couple of centuries ago when the word bed-and-breakfast was not coined yet, travelers spent their nights away from home either at an inn or at a private house. Although social class and knowing the hosts dictated their stay, being a guest at a private home eventually graduated to paid-boarding in houses converted to the needs of travelers that came to be known as bed and breakfast inns.

In the United States, before the eighties, only a handful of these residences could survive for several years. Some folded up quickly, even when they had been founded with the best of intentions and lots of care. During the nineties, however, people discovered the positive in bed and breakfasts, giving a big boost to the industry. And why not? Bed and breakfast places have a lot to offer to a traveler.

To start with, they can be economical, because most of them cover all meals, charge less for telephone calls, and most of their services are favorably comparable to hotels. Since they have fewer guests than the hotels, guests get to know each other and form friendships. The owners are knowledgeable about the area and are willing to help the guests with information and sightseeing.

A B&B, short for a bed and breakfast inn, usually offers delicious food on fine china. The breakfasts are especially much higher quality than one can get in chain hotels and motels that give free continental breakfasts. Some smaller B&B establishments take pride in serving three meals a day, and they don’t just whip something up. Most take special care for special diets.

The owners are usually very friendly and willing to help, and they even go out of their way to please their guests. When a businesswoman’s laptop broke down, the innkeeper at the bed and breakfast she was staying called a repair service for her computer and let her work on his own computer until the repairs were done.

Into the bargain, bed and breakfasts can be lodgings with ambiance. A Northwest bed and breakfast is also a working lighthouse. A Vermont bed and breakfast is sculptured out of a converted barn. Others can be a Victorian house or a fisherman’s cottage. I stayed in several so-called haunted B&Bs; although I haven’t seen or heard any ghosts, I appreciated the efforts of the hosts for making the guests feel the eerie mood.

In addition, women who travel alone can feel more secure in a bed and breakfast. Business travelers may find these lodgings to contain all the amenities like the internet or the wireless connection and fax services. Owners can provide babysitters for little children from people among their family or staff.

One negative may be the absence of private bathrooms. Some of these establishments–since they have been converted from private use–have only a few bathrooms on each floor, but others have gone through the expense of adding a bathroom to each room.

A guest needs to do his homework and obtain all the information about the bed and breakfast he will stay in, and he has to make his reservation ahead of time. Bed and breakfasts are very popular nowadays, and since they can hold only a limited number of guests, they may have no vacancies.

B&Bs are excellent choices for the smart traveler for their high quality, friendliness, and ease. Once you experience a stay at a good B&B, you’ll be surprised to find that you’ll want to search for one when you travel again.