Hints for Finding B&Bs

Eilean Donan Castle

In our fourteen years of traveling to Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales we've stayed in hundreds of bed and breakfasts and guest houses.  We do stay in hotels occasionally.  We always stay at the Edinburgh Airport Hilton on our last day of a Scotland trip because it’s so convenient to town (via bus 100) and to the airport for our 6:00 AM flight home. We also stay at the Anchor Hotel in Tarbert, but it’s friendly enough to be a B&B.  We now have our favorite go-to B&Bs in several areas.  The questions I want to answer in this post are: How do I find new B&Bs, and what do I look for in selecting a B&B?

B&B in Carnarfon, Wales

Duirinish Guest House, Portree, Isle of Skye

First, though, I need to let you know the difference between a B&B and a Guest House.  Fairly consistently throughout the UK and Ireland a Guest House is simply a larger B&B.  B&Bs generally have few than six rooms and Guest Houses from six to ten rooms.  That distinction isn’t written in stone (or law, that I know of)--we’ve stayed in Guest Houses with only two rooms and B&Bs with as many as seven.  One website from the St Andrews Tourist Board suggests that a Guest House has at least four bedrooms and is more of a commercial operation than a B&B which is more family run. A Lonely Planet Guide Book site solicited opinion about the difference and got responses from “no difference” to “calling your place a Guest House allows you to charge more.”  From our prospective and the perspective of this post, they’re just different names for the same animal.

Now, how do I find a new B&B or guest House?  A first place to look for accommodations is to use a guide book for the area.  In my golf guide books on Scotland, Ireland, and Wales I list B&Bs where we’ve stayed in the various areas with brief descriptions of the accommodations and contact information (Golf in Scotland: The Hidden Gems, Golf in Scotland II: Scotland and Wales, and Ireland’s Small Greens which is to be updated this winter--all available from us or Amazon).  Guides that I’ve used are the Rick Steve’s series and the Lonely Planet series.  Others may be good, but I can recommend those two from experience.  

Greyhound Inn was a great hotel stay; there were no B&Bs in the village.

Beyond the guide books, the best source is the internet.  Search for accommodation or B&Bs in the specific area you are traveling to.  An internet search will yield a variety of results, from commercial sites (booking.com, scotland-bedandbreakfasts.com, bedandbreakfasts.com/scotland) to general tourist information sites (visitscotland.com, visitballater.com, visitdornoch.com).  The commercial sites usually charge the B&Bs a fee for each booking and the regional tourist sites charge the B&B a yearly fee to be on their site.  I will use the regional tourism sites especially in areas where I travel to only a little (England and Wales), but for most of my internet search I use TripAdvisor.com.  

If B&Bs have dinners available it can be a great time.  Dinner with family and guests at Merlindale.

As a senior contributor to Trip Advisor I understand how to get the most use out of the site.  On Trip Advisor you get a list of most of the accommodations in an area, descriptions of the B&Bs, links to websites, comparative ranks and ratings, and reviews by people who have stayed.  First, don’t pay too much attention to the ranks of the B&Bs.  There’s probably little difference between being number one in an area and being six or seven and there are ways to manipulate ranks, for instance, buying advertising garners higher ranks.  

At Greenan B&B in Alloway we had a luxury suite.  Look for things that can make your stay special.

Second, ratings (one to five stars) are not always fairly given.  Ratings are subjective to the reviewer.  The best way to use Trip Advisor is to read a number of reviews for each establishment you are interested in--read carefully.  

This brings me to my second question: What do I look for when selecting a B&B?

I look for several things starting with the “general personality” of the B&B.   Look at photos of the house, and try to look for photos of the area.  For example, in Perth in central Scotland there is a row of B&Bs where each individual building would look very nice.  But if you go to Google Earth and look at the building within its surroundings you’d find the buildings don’t look so inviting when you see B&Bs in a row and across the street is a commercial mall with fast food joints.  

Ferintosh Guest House in Dumfries.

Robertson and Emma at Ferintosh GH are super friendly hosts.

Look for comments about the friendliness and helpfulness of the B&B hosts--stories in the reviews can be very telling.  B&B websites that give specific details--such as menus, things to do in the area, other traveler links to check out--can be helpful in giving a feel for the B&B.  Pay attention to website information or reviews that describe the amenities and descriptions of the rooms.  All these will create a picture for you or give a personality to the B&B. 

Next, use location as one of your criteria for selecting a B&B.  Do you want to be in town or within easy walking distance of town?  Parking may be more of a problem and the location may be noisier.  Or do you want to be out of town where it is apt to be quieter?  

The Log House in Ambleside (Lake District, England) is a well respected restaurant that rents room.  Breakfast was wonderful and we didn't have far to walk to dinner.

Be careful, though, a “ten minute walk to town” for a Scot may take you twenty or more.  At Strathy Point B&B in northern Scotland you are really isolated--twenty to thirty minutes to drive to the nearest food--though the B&B hosts will provide dinners upon arrangement.  But isolation is also the beauty of the location.  Special features will make a difference in the quality of your stay in a B&B so look carefully for things like good parking--though we continue to go back to a B&B in Aberystwyth that has only on-street parking because of its perfect location just above town.  The view is another special to look for.  

Lilybank B&B, Lamlash, Isle of Arran

Our bedroom at Lilybank looked out to the bay and the Holy Isle.

Lilybank’s (Lamlash, Isle of Arran) bedrooms look out to the bay and the Holy Isle and The Wing in North Berwick has a lounge with a wonderful view of Bass Rock.  Also pay attention to those B&Bs which cater to you special needs, for example main floor rooms for those with mobility problems.  

The main entry at The Warren in Machrihanishg.

The Warren in Machrihanish has a special drying room for golfer’s who end up with wet gear and Grammar Lodge in Campbeltown is nicely set up for cyclists and golfers. 

Good off-street parking can be an overlooked plus.  Merlindale B&B in Crieff.

Check out menus provided in websites for the B&Bs--they can tell you plenty about the quality of your stay.  

Breakfast in the lovely Merlindale dining room is a chance to visit with other guests.

The Blueseas Hotel (only seven rooms) in Penzance is a place to stay just for the breakfast (the best we’ve had), though everything else is good as well.  

This is half the sideboard breakfast area at the Blueseas in Penzance, Cornwall.

In the final analysis, though, it will be the people, your hosts who make a B&B great.  Read reviews for comments about the hosts, their friendliness and helpfulness.  Milestone House in Dingle, Ireland, would be an interesting stay anytime, but Barbara and Michael make it a great stay.  Barbara has organized dinners and concert tickets for us and Michael sends us to the local golf course with a fresh loaf of his famous soda bread.  At Dunromin B&B in Kilkenny, Ireland, Tom and Val organize morning Irish sing-alongs for the guests.  

When you’ve done your research, taken your trip, and found the perfect B&B or Guest House, spread the word.  In Scotland we have one of those perfect places.  

Built in the 1860s, Merlindale B&B in Crieff is a lovely remodeled Victorian home.

Our bedroom at Merlindale.

Merlindale B&B in Crieff (central Scotland) has it all.  The rooms are huge and lovely.  The breakfasts are huge and delicious.  And the host, John and Jacky Clifford, are wonderful, gracious, and helpful.  We recommend Merlindale to everyone we know.  Another perfect stay is at The Boathouse in Laughne, Wales, where Anne is a marvelous host/cook who runs one of the loveliest B&Bs we’ve ever stayed in.  

We have stayed in hundreds of B&B in Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales and only seldom have we been disappointed with our choices.  Every once in a while we find a place that we wouldn’t go back to, but by doing our research diligently more often than not we book into great stays.  Hope you have the same good fortune.  

The Scottish Highlands