Price and Services
Organizing your own vacation is a very fun experience: finding the accommodation that offers the services we need, at reasonable price can be even exciting!
In order to avoid unpleasant misunderstandings with your hosts, we would like to bring to your attention the following suggestions, valid in general, not only for our structure.
1. Read the descriptions carefully
Bed and Breakfasts are not "cheap hotels": they are almost always private individuals who rent a part of their home.
For this reason, B&Bs do not offer all the services and comforts that a hotel does and this is the reason why their price is lower. Therefore, when choosing a B&B, don't be attracted only by the price but read carefully what the structure offers and what is not present.
It is very irritating for a property to receive a negative review because "there is no minibar", when they've clearly written in the list of its services that the minibar is not offered.
If the property does not offer what we need, we should reserve elsewhere.
2. Communicate the approximate arrival time
Often the managers of a B&B are non-professional: they have a primary business, a family, etc.
For this reason, a B&B does not offer 24/7 check-in but requires you arrive in a pre-established time slot.
Often, however, the time is flexible, especially for those properties where the managers are resident on site. For these reasons, the manager often asks you for the approximate arrival time, in order to better organize the reception.
If you have other time requirements, contact the manager before booking, to see if it is possible to agree.
3. Check the location
Before booking a property, it is a good idea to check its location on Google Maps (or other similar services) to understand the distance from the places of our interest and what is present in the surrounding area.
For example, when you arrive at the B&B from a long trip you might want to have dinner in a nearby restaurant, within walking distance, or you might want to relax by going to the cinema. Check that there is a restaurant or a cinema nearby, via Google Maps, before booking.
4. Review your host reasonably and objectively
When we leave a review, we must judge the B&B reasonably and objectively.
First of all we must ask ourselves if the property has provided us with everything it promised us in the descriptions: we cannot expect services if the managers, in the description, have indicated that they do not offer them.
Secondly we must judge considering what is the competence and responsibility of the property. For example:
- the weather is not the host's responsibility: you can't leave a bad review because it rained.
- if the municipality has closed the road for work, it is not the property's responsibility and, in fact, it would be considered positive if the managers notified us as soon as they knew and did their best to help us with our luggage.
- the surroundings are not the property's responsibility: it does not depend on the host what is not present nearby (restaurants, bars, supermarkets, banks, etc.). Leaving a bad review because there are no services we need in the surrounding area is unreasonable: you need to find out before booking (see point 3) and, if necessary, look elsewhere.