Castles & Estates LOOKING FOR A B&B 29
I AM LOOKING
FOR A B&B
JE CHERCHE UNE CHAMBRE D'HOTE
W
What
is a B&B? It is a chambre d'hote (a guest
bedroom, offered with breakfast). That sounded
easy...
Many individuals, sometimes at retirement age,
sometimes retired from the hospitality world,
sometimes just improvising as such, decide to
open their homes (with some sort of an inter-
esting feature) to the public.
In a historical town? Close to a specific Univer-
sity? Near an authentic castle, or just anywhere,
because there is a need for more rooms in their
tourist spot?
On the French Riviera; in the Alps; in Nor-
mandy; in Scotland; perhaps in Ireland. You
name the country; the region; or the city and you
will surely find one. In the U.S., it is about the
same.
Are there regulations? Well I don't think there
are because if there were, many of them would
be closed by now!
Unfortunately and fortunately, it is about free-
lance for everyone. Probably, there is a labeling
system, which involves stars - questionable I
would add, because the principle of stars in the
French system is very, very strict and regulated.
So everyone else, in countries other than France,
might add a star or two after its name and just
pretend that it has made it. It's a little like adding
a fork to a place setting. If only these establish-
ments knew what it really means, then they
would probably not showcase their questionable
stars or forks? Or would they continue to pre-
tend? Who knows?
I am not overly concerned about this and I try
to read the comments from past guests, travel
guides, and view photos before passing judg-
ment.
In Europe, everything appears to be more pre-
cise. For example, there is a recent rule in
France, which requires an owner of a chambre
d'hote to comply with certain registration re-
quirements; to submit pictures; and verify de-
scriptions.
A few tips for you:
If you see a railroad close to your hotel on the
map (it is easy now to Google the location), you
should re-think the quality of sleep you will get.
It happened to my husband and me when we
visited the charming town of San Marcos in
Texas.
The B&B was Victorian in style, as was the car-
peting and the bed, by the way, not to mention
the bathtub and the shower jets. And so was the
entire night!
We heard the train whistle every ten minutes. Cars
passed by, as if they were racing some confused
bull that escaped from a nearby field.
The house creaked at every slight movement of
the wind so I did not sleep and my husband kept
crashing into me because the mattress sloped
and he obviously did not want to fall out of bed
so instead he rolled onto my side.
Breakfast was rural - sausage and scrambled
eggs. However, European woman like me pre-
fer lighter fare. But my husband loved it!
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