Advice on booking Inns, from an Innkeeper
My first experiences staying at B & B's was in the UK back in the early 70's. They had a fantastic centralized system where you could be leaving in the morning from one town and make your reservation for that night in another town. It all seemed very efficient to me - a college student at the time. I'm not sure that is still in affect, but I did notice we were at a disadvantage in that we never saw what the place was going to look or be like beforehand.
Of course, today we might say that with our technology, that's certainly not the case. But I'm not so sure we don't have the opposite situation. Several years ago, my husband and I traveled to a B & B along the coast north of San Francisco. Wow, the website had fantastic views of the river flowing into the Pacific and our cottage was built at the edge of the cliff overlooking the whole thing. The deck looked fantastic; everything looked first class; on and on. It even had an outdoor hot tub (no picture). There is no benefit in going into the gory details. The only thing remotely accurate was the view. We really paid for that view and definitely not the cottage we were in.
It is probably human nature to try to make things look the best we can, but I believe most of us who travel have had sufficient experiences that we may get an idea about a location, but we're certainly prepared for something a little less.
I have two suggestions. One, most of you already know. And that is to visit a website like Trip Advisor, Yelp, for Google Reviews. There is no question that personal reviews will give you a much more accurate "picture". Being in the position of the Reviewee, I'd also like to suggest that you not base your decision on how many reviews there are. And don't necessarily back off if there has been one negative review, but certainly check the overall evaluation.
A second and perhaps not very often considered "yardstick" can be the organizations that a B & B belongs to. For example, most states have a B & B Association. In order for a B & B or Inn to be accepted as a member of that organization, we have to pass a pretty extensive review every 2 years. I know that on my state's website under membership, anyone can look at the "Code of Quality, Standards & Ethics" as well as the "Inspected and Approved Requirements."
There are numerous organizations that a B & B/Inn may belong to. My state also has a "Green" designation. Again, it is required that the Inn meet certain standards in order to display the "Green" emblem. Check into these "memberships" to see what is involved.
A final note of caution, Inns get listed in many "directories" where information may be limited or where the directory is trying to "sell you as a lead to the Inn." Go to the Inn's own website at some point and educate yourself based on what the Owner has confirmed.
Now that I have written all of this, I think I had better confirm that my own website has my association and affiliations listed. Walk the Talk. Right?
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