I have been fortunate to have stayed in B&B's from Florida in the Deep South to the edge of the Arctic Circle and from Virgina and Maryland in the East to California on the West Coast. The one thing they all offer is a very personal welcome and a home from home experience. Something which hotels cannot offer for the most part, because they deal in volume and because the staff are not personally involved in the business.
For me, there is no better way to explore a destination than by being able to talk through the options available and get personal suggestions from locals. That is exactly what I did during my recent stay at the Cheshire Cat Inn in Santa Barbara, chatting with Christine Dunstan and her partner Jack over a glass of two of wine during their afternoon wine and nibbles hour for guests, and over breakfast each morning with the duty manager. You can do that at a hotel with a concierge, but it isn't the same and they can't spare you the same amount of time.You also generally get more space in a B&B, and very often a lot more luxury than many hotels. This is not your typical British seaside B&B we're talking about. In the case of the Cheshire Cat, my room - Tweedledum, in an annexe away from the main house - had a large lounge with fireplace (not needed, thanks to warmer weather coinciding with my arrival), TV, settee and winged chairs, plus a kitchenette area with tea and coffee making facilities, microwave and sink, with crockery and utensils. There was a separate dressing room, en suite bathroom with shower and a huge bedroom complete with large, soft bed, Jacuzzi bath, flat screen TV and iPod dock. The main house had a sitting room/library and there was a gazebo in the garden outside. And free wifi, both in the annexe and in the main house.
I'm sure Christine and Jack won't mind me saying the decor was a little too chinzy (as in flowery - the British meaning) for my taste. Or the fact that the light switches and sockets had been so cleverly wallpapered to match the pattern behind that you had to hunt to find some of them. But those are not meant as compaints at all.I moved on yesterday to the elegant ultra luxurious Langham Huntingdon Hotel & Spa in Pasadena for a cultural heritage tourism conference I am speaking at. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World, it has been wowing guests under various guises since 1907. Now I love a bit of luxury, and my room is very comfortable with a bed to die for. But why in such a landmark hotel are guests not provided with tea or coffee making facilities in their rooms? And how come a CD player rather than an iPod dock? Who takes CDs with them when they travel now?
I always prefer to park my car when staying at hotels, in case I need to go back and get something from it or have to get away in a hurry instead of having to wait for it to be retrieved from the valet parking lot. Here, and in many other hotels of this ilk, there is no option, you have to have your car valet parked. For $25 per night. Plus the tip each time you pick it up or drop it off. Sorry, but I think that is outrageous. As is the wifi charge many of the top-end hotels levy. In this instance as I am part of a conference it is free. But otherwise it costs $9.99 per night, per piece of kit you access the internet on. So overnight parking and wifi on your laptop and iPhone, like I have, would set you back almost $50 per night, plus tips and $9.99 more if you also had an iPad.
OK, there is a lovely swimming pool, a spa, restaurant and bar, 24-hour room service, 24-hour business centre, overnight shoe cleaning and all the other amenities you expect from a top hotel. I just wish it didn't feel like guests are constantly being fleeced. And I mean all upmarket hotels, and many other mid-range ones too.
I'll put the soapbox away now...
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