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	More on Bed and Breakfast accommodation

Introduction

Types of Homes

Beds and Bedrooms

Bedcoverings

Bathrooms

Children and the Elderly

Booking and Methods of Payment

Daily Rates and No Hidden Charges

Early Morning Arrival

The Question of Tipping

Some Further Thoughts

Introduction

The Bed & Breakfast holiday is typical of how most people visit Ireland, and you can be comfortable with the idea of flying here, renting a car, driving around a little, staying in B&Bs as you go, and finally returning the car to the same airport before flying home.

Well run B&Bs offer a very high standard of accommodation, and in addition, the unique experience of being welcomed into the private homes of the proprietors. All Quality Approved B&Bs are also the family homes, and it is this opportunity to be part of an Irish family for a short while which is one of the greatest attractions of B&B vacations in Ireland.

Types of Homes

There are three types of B&Bs to enjoy, and you may choose to try out several of these during your holiday.

Town Houses are usually in the city centre or in the suburbs. Most of these are in residential areas and may have little if any off-street parking.
Country Homes are usually in rural areas, or in the outer suburbs where the gardens are large (perhaps a half acre or greater), and there is ample off-street parking.
Farm Houses are set on working farms of at least 20 acres. Quite commonly evening meals are available at Farm Houses.

Many B&Bs operate only during the summer, because the children are busy with their studies for the rest of the year, and the coming and going of visitors would inevitably be a source of distraction. Others such as ourselves (see below) can operate throughout the year, because their homes are quite large, and they can maintain a peaceful environment for the studies, or because the children have grown up and the rooms are permanently vacant.

Beds and Bedrooms

The Quality Approved Association lays down and enforces strict guidelines on the size and equipping of all rooms in the Bed & Breakfast homes. The rules cover the various types of bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the sitting-rooms and diningrooms.

Bedrooms are characterised by number of beds, and by provision or absence of a private toilet with bath or shower (i.e. en-suite or standard bedrooms).

Number of Beds

A Single Bedroom usually has a bed of 36 inches minimum width, suitable for one person only. These are very rarely found nowadays - book in advance if you need one.
A Double Bedroom usually has a bed of 54 inches minimum width, suitable for two persons.
A Twin Bedroom usually has two single beds of 36 inches minimum.
A Triple Bedroom usually has one single bed and one double bed as described above; or it may have three single beds, so it is important to ask before accepting the room.
It is very hard to find rooms with Two-Doubles, for occupation by four adults.
A Family Bedroom usually consists of one double bed, and two single beds, one of which may be a folding bed or week-ender. These rooms usually have a cot (crib) as well - possibly stored in a wardrobe.

Bedcoverings

Many Irish B&B use duvets instead of blankets. These have the advantage of being hypo-allergenic, and of being quite labour-saving in making up fresh beds.
A duvet is the size of a blanket, but is about two to four inches thick and weighs next to nothing. Summer duvets are thin; winter duvets are thick. The filling of the duvet is hollow fiber, and the duvet is sewn in such a way as to prevent the fiber filling from moving around inside.
For cleanliness, the duvet is slipped into a giant pillowcase usually termed a duvet cover.
We make the bed with fresh bottom sheet, fresh top sheet, and finally a duvet with clean cover.
Most pillows nowadays are also hollow fiber. Sheets are cotton or poly-cotton.
As described above, the entire set of bed-linen is hypoallergenic, and you ought not to have any problems even if you have any of the common allergies. You should not be obliged to bring your own bed linen.

If you are inclined to be allergic to natural fibers, you should check with the B&B about:

Under-blankets - are these woollen?
Pillows - may be filled with feathers - are you allergic to these?
Blankets - some B&Bs are proud of their genuine Foxfords - these are pure woollen!
Eiderdown - an eiderdown is filled with the downy underfeathers of the eider duck, and has high insulating value - like a thick duvet, and is almost as light. Eiderdowns are very very expensive, and if cared for they last forever. They are beautiful heirlooms, usually finished in a satin fabric, and some older B&Bs are reluctant to obsolete them!
Dressing-gowns if supplied, might also be Foxford or other woollen source.

Bathrooms

An en-suite Bedroom has a bathroom which is a separate room attached to the bedroom and accessible only from it. It contains at a minimum a toilet, and either a shower or a bath. It is for the private use of the guests occupying that bedroom. (Of course a group may take one en-suite room and one standard room, and all may use the private bathroom.)
A Standard Bedroom does not have a private bathroom, but does contain a wash-basin with hot and cold running water. These rooms have access to a public bathroom which is lockable, and is available to all of the standard bedrooms. The Quality Approved Association has clearly specified the number of public bathrooms required and their facilities, depending on the number of bed-spaces in the standard bedrooms.

We quote here a posting to a travel newsgroup in 1996 which is still as relevant today. It was a reply to a posting in which a traveller had complained about lack of hot water in a B&B.

A bed and breakfast is a private family home, not a hotel. Homes do not have high electric power running into them, and in the countryside they do not have gas heating either. In England (and in Ireland also) energy is expensive and homes do not have the same amount of water heating as we have in the US. You do not show respect for your hosts nor for fellow guests, by taking deep tubs of hot water when you arrive in the evening and again in the morning. Do not think that it is a solution to get up first in the morning while the hot tank is full. All the other guests will be annoyed with you because they will have heard you wallowing in a hot tub, leaving them to bathe in the tepidly cool water remaining after your luxurious soak.

All B&B homes have to have adequate hot water supplies while guests are visiting - enough for a good shower for each guest. But if you want to have a deep hot soak, check with the lady of the house on the night before. She might arrange extra heating if possible, or suggest that you wait in the morning until everybody else has showered, and then allow you to take all the hot water that remains.

Children and the Elderly

You must consider the physical fitness of an elderly person, even for the stress of sitting in a passenger seat of a compact car with manual shift, driving on the wrong side of the road in a country in which you are not "tuned in" to the driving habits of the people. Perhaps you should consider limiting your driving to less than two or three hours per day?

Again keeping physical fitness in mind, you may have to consider taking accommodation in single-storey homes only. The width of stairs is from 30 to 36 inches, often with a 90 or 180 degree turn half way up. Bed and Breakfast homes are private homes in which some rooms are made available to guests - they are RARELY IF EVER equipped with elevators.

Where any person with special needs is booking into accommodation (whether it be hotel or B&B) it is important that they make their needs known at the time of booking. Then the proprietor can provide for their needs in advance, and save any embarrassment upon arrival or when the need comes to light.

For elderly people it may be a need for ground floor rooms, or special diets or provision for incontinence etc. For children it may be cots (cribs), a glow-bulb lit all night, milk-heating facilities. or very often just a big box of toys! Well run B&B's receive such enquiries all the time and for the most part will be able to provide for them.

Some B&Bs, mainly those at seaside resorts cater especially for active children. Their rooms are arranged to be free of objects which might harm the children (or vica versa!), and they can cope with buckets & spades, and sandy swimming trunks. Others are arranged for the adult traveller, and cater well for children also - but just for bed and breakfast!

Booking and Methods of Payment

The voucher system is accepted by about half of the approved B&Bs. They have the particular advantage that you can have your travel agent book your accommodation well in advance of travelling, and one might conclude that they are thus more suited for tourists who plan their itineraries in detail. Most members of the Town and Country Homes Association, accept travel agent's vouchers.

Nowadays many B&Bs accept VISA and Mastercard credit cards, and those cards affiliated to these brands. In the last two years the Town and Country Homes Association has encouraged it members to accept credit cards, and many have complied. If you wish to pay by credit card, you should check upon arrival. If the home does not accept cards, they can tell you where to find an ATM from which you can draw cash using your card and PIN.

In July and August, many reputable B&Bs are almost fully booked in advance for many dates. Some evenings we have had to turn away as many as forty people, having already found accommodation in other B&Bs locally for perhaps the same number.

However, you can usually reserve accommodation the evening before, by phoning ahead from the B&B in which you are staying. It might require several phone calls to find a home with the room you want.

Daily Rates and No Hidden Charges

Typical daily rates for Bed & Breakfast in Ireland are about€25-00 per person sharing a double or twin room. This includes breakfast and all facilities in the room. The rate is about€28-00 per person where the room has an en-suite bathroom. Where the visitor is paying with a travel agent's voucher, a surcharge of€5-00 per person is made for the facility fo an en-suite bathroom if this is not specifically covered on the voucher.

For single occupancy, you would expect to pay about€8-00 or€9-00 more.

In an approved B&B there are not any hidden extras such as taxes, surcharges or extra for full breakfast. Often there are discounts which apply to children under ten years old who share a bedroom with their parents. Often too infants under twentyfour months of age are free of charge. If there is any doubt in your mind, clarify all of these matters before accepting the room.

The only extra charges that should apply are for telephone calls made at your request, for an evening meal or light meal with a separate price agreed, or for laundry done with a price agreed in advance. If you feel that you have been overcharged or are otherwise unhappy about the final cost please feel at ease about complaining in the local tourist office or writing to The Irish Tourist Board setting out the details of your complaint.

In Dublin city and suburbs the basic rates are about€6-00 to€10-00 more. The same is sometimes found in Cork city.

Single rooms are rare, and should be booked as much in advance as possible. During the peak season, it is especially difficult to get rooms for single persons.

Note: Average 2002 prices quoted.

Early Morning Arrival

It is normal practice to arrive at your B&B between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. As you can imagine the bean-a-tí is busy all day washing, cleaning and preparing the rooms for incoming guests. It is unlikely that rooms will be ready for guests until after 4:00 pm at the earliest.

Some B&B homes close to ferryports and airports accept guests on sailings or flights which arrive early in the morning. Those that do so use the term "Morning Guests Welcome" in their literature.

Where you see this term you will know that special provision can be made for early arriving guests. Some homes may require payment for the preceding night as well as the night of the date of arrival, and then they will keep the room vacant overnight in order to have it free for the incoming guest.

If you want to use this Morning Guests Welcome facility you must agree with the bean-a-tí in advance as to the time of your arrival at her home, and whether you will be served a meal on your arrival.

Some homes which do not offer the Morning Guests Welcome facility will make every effort to convenience early arriving guests who make advance arrangements. You should be conscious that the first priority is to serve breakfasts to the guests of the previous night, and while you will be able to leave your bags into the house, you will definitely not have immediate access to a bedroom. It is highly unlikely that you can take your room until after 11:30 am.

The Question of Tipping

Tipping is not required in B&Bs. If you want to show appreciation to the bean-a-tí you could bring chocolates, or a bunch of flowers to her, or write to her after you have arrived home to say how much you enjoyed her hospitality. Indeed, the best way to show your appreciation is to tell all your friends of the particularly good service you enjoyed in that house.

Some Further Thoughts...

If you want to find out about homes in other areas, listen to the experiences of other guests in the home, and of the bean-a-tí (if the house is to your liking). Aim for homes which they found to be good. Your hosts will be happy to book ahead for you once you have selected the home you want at your next destination. Quite a lot of our business comes from word-of-mouth recommendations, and it is the best way for a satisfied guest to show his appreciation.

The routine of packing and unpacking each evening is a significant chore. We have observed that those of our guests who stay a few days at each of just a few locations are able to enjoy their vacation so much more than those who move every day.

So consider staying at one location for several nights, and use it as a base for exploring the countryside nearby. For this reason, arrive at your new destination early enough to inspect the room and the bed and bathroom especially, and see that the dining room and sitting room also are to your liking. If you don't like what you find, you still have time to move on and seek a better home that evening for your sojourn in the area.

(There is no better way to show a proprietor the high standards that our visitors expect - and are entitled to - than to vote with your feet! If you don't like what you see, explain your concerns to the proprietor, and leave immediately while you still have time to find alternative accommodation.) And if you don't want to speak out your mind, then just politely explain that you have a spinal condition and that the bed is too hard (if it is soft) or too soft (if it is hard).

Pack lightly, and wash as you go. Most bean-a-tí will wash a few things for you if you are staying for several nights - ask after you have settled in, but in plenty of time to allow for drying clothes in inclement weather - at least a full day before you are due to leave. And offer to pay for the service!

Copy sourced by kind permission from: www.iol.ie/~avondoyl/avondoyl.htm

AVONDOYLE COUNTRY HOME BED AND BREAKFAST (Limerick)

	Introduction
	The Bed & Breakfast holiday is typical of how most people visit Ireland, and you can be comfortable with the idea of flying here, renting a car, driving around a little, staying in B&Bs as you go, and finally returning the car to the same airport before flying home. Well run B&Bs offer a very high standard of accommodation, and in addition, the unique experience of being welcomed into the private homes of the proprietors. All Quality Approved B&Bs are also the family homes, and it is this opportunity to be part of an Irish family for a short while which is one of the greatest attractions of B&B vacations in Ireland.

	Types of Homes
	There are three types of B&Bs to enjoy, and you may choose to try out several of these during your holiday.
	Town Houses are usually in the city centre or in the suburbs. Most of these are in residential areas and may have little if any off-street parking. Country Homes are usually in rural areas, or in the outer suburbs where the gardens are large (perhaps a half acre or greater), and there is ample off-street parking. Farm Houses are set on working farms of at least 20 acres. Quite commonly evening meals are available at Farm Houses.
	Many B&Bs operate only during the summer, because the children are busy with their studies for the rest of the year, and the coming and going of visitors would inevitably be a source of distraction. Others such as ourselves (see below) can operate throughout the year, because their homes are quite large, and they can maintain a peaceful environment for the studies, or because the children have grown up and the rooms are permanently vacant.

	Beds and Bedrooms
	The Quality Approved Association lays down and enforces strict guidelines on the size and equipping of all rooms in the Bed & Breakfast homes. The rules cover the various types of bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the sitting-rooms and diningrooms. Bedrooms are characterised by number of beds, and by provision or absence of a private toilet with bath or shower (i.e. en-suite or standard bedrooms).
	Number of Beds A Single Bedroom usually has a bed of 36 inches minimum width, suitable for one person only. These are very rarely found nowadays - book in advance if you need one. A Double Bedroom usually has a bed of 54 inches minimum width, suitable for two persons. A Twin Bedroom usually has two single beds of 36 inches minimum. A Triple Bedroom usually has one single bed and one double bed as described above; or it may have three single beds, so it is important to ask before accepting the room. It is very hard to find rooms with Two-Doubles, for occupation by four adults. A Family Bedroom usually consists of one double bed, and two single beds, one of which may be a folding bed or week-ender. These rooms usually have a cot (crib) as well - possibly stored in a wardrobe.

	Bedcoverings
	Many Irish B&B use duvets instead of blankets. These have the advantage of being hypo-allergenic, and of being quite labour-saving in making up fresh beds. A duvet is the size of a blanket, but is about two to four inches thick and weighs next to nothing. Summer duvets are thin; winter duvets are thick. The filling of the duvet is hollow fiber, and the duvet is sewn in such a way as to prevent the fiber filling from moving around inside. For cleanliness, the duvet is slipped into a giant pillowcase usually termed a duvet cover. We make the bed with fresh bottom sheet, fresh top sheet, and finally a duvet with clean cover. Most pillows nowadays are also hollow fiber. Sheets are cotton or poly-cotton. As described above, the entire set of bed-linen is hypoallergenic, and you ought not to have any problems even if you have any of the common allergies. You should not be obliged to bring your own bed linen.
	If you are inclined to be allergic to natural fibers, you should check with the B&B about: Under-blankets - are these woollen? Pillows - may be filled with feathers - are you allergic to these? Blankets - some B&Bs are proud of their genuine Foxfords - these are pure woollen! Eiderdown - an eiderdown is filled with the downy underfeathers of the eider duck, and has high insulating value - like a thick duvet, and is almost as light. Eiderdowns are very very expensive, and if cared for they last forever. They are beautiful heirlooms, usually finished in a satin fabric, and some older B&Bs are reluctant to obsolete them! Dressing-gowns if supplied, might also be Foxford or other woollen source.

	Bathrooms
	An en-suite Bedroom has a bathroom which is a separate room attached to the bedroom and accessible only from it. It contains at a minimum a toilet, and either a shower or a bath. It is for the private use of the guests occupying that bedroom. (Of course a group may take one en-suite room and one standard room, and all may use the private bathroom.) A Standard Bedroom does not have a private bathroom, but does contain a wash-basin with hot and cold running water. These rooms have access to a public bathroom which is lockable, and is available to all of the standard bedrooms. The Quality Approved Association has clearly specified the number of public bathrooms required and their facilities, depending on the number of bed-spaces in the standard bedrooms.
	We quote here a posting to a travel newsgroup in 1996 which is still as relevant today. It was a reply to a posting in which a traveller had complained about lack of hot water in a B&B.
	A bed and breakfast is a private family home, not a hotel. Homes do not have high electric power running into them, and in the countryside they do not have gas heating either. In England (and in Ireland also) energy is expensive and homes do not have the same amount of water heating as we have in the US. You do not show respect for your hosts nor for fellow guests, by taking deep tubs of hot water when you arrive in the evening and again in the morning. Do not think that it is a solution to get up first in the morning while the hot tank is full. All the other guests will be annoyed with you because they will have heard you wallowing in a hot tub, leaving them to bathe in the tepidly cool water remaining after your luxurious soak. All B&B homes have to have adequate hot water supplies while guests are visiting - enough for a good shower for each guest. But if you want to have a deep hot soak, check with the lady of the house on the night before. She might arrange extra heating if possible, or suggest that you wait in the morning until everybody else has showered, and then allow you to take all the hot water that remains.

	Children and the Elderly
	You must consider the physical fitness of an elderly person, even for the stress of sitting in a passenger seat of a compact car with manual shift, driving on the wrong side of the road in a country in which you are not "tuned in" to the driving habits of the people. Perhaps you should consider limiting your driving to less than two or three hours per day? Again keeping physical fitness in mind, you may have to consider taking accommodation in single-storey homes only. The width of stairs is from 30 to 36 inches, often with a 90 or 180 degree turn half way up. Bed and Breakfast homes are private homes in which some rooms are made available to guests - they are RARELY IF EVER equipped with elevators. Where any person with special needs is booking into accommodation (whether it be hotel or B&B) it is important that they make their needs known at the time of booking. Then the proprietor can provide for their needs in advance, and save any embarrassment upon arrival or when the need comes to light. For elderly people it may be a need for ground floor rooms, or special diets or provision for incontinence etc. For children it may be cots (cribs), a glow-bulb lit all night, milk-heating facilities. or very often just a big box of toys! Well run B&B's receive such enquiries all the time and for the most part will be able to provide for them. Some B&Bs, mainly those at seaside resorts cater especially for active children. Their rooms are arranged to be free of objects which might harm the children (or vica versa!), and they can cope with buckets & spades, and sandy swimming trunks. Others are arranged for the adult traveller, and cater well for children also - but just for bed and breakfast!

	Booking and Methods of Payment
	The voucher system is accepted by about half of the approved B&Bs. They have the particular advantage that you can have your travel agent book your accommodation well in advance of travelling, and one might conclude that they are thus more suited for tourists who plan their itineraries in detail. Most members of the Town and Country Homes Association, accept travel agent's vouchers. Nowadays many B&Bs accept VISA and Mastercard credit cards, and those cards affiliated to these brands. In the last two years the Town and Country Homes Association has encouraged it members to accept credit cards, and many have complied. If you wish to pay by credit card, you should check upon arrival. If the home does not accept cards, they can tell you where to find an ATM from which you can draw cash using your card and PIN. In July and August, many reputable B&Bs are almost fully booked in advance for many dates. Some evenings we have had to turn away as many as forty people, having already found accommodation in other B&Bs locally for perhaps the same number. However, you can usually reserve accommodation the evening before, by phoning ahead from the B&B in which you are staying. It might require several phone calls to find a home with the room you want.

	Daily Rates and No Hidden Charges
	Typical daily rates for Bed & Breakfast in Ireland are about€25-00 per person sharing a double or twin room. This includes breakfast and all facilities in the room. The rate is about€28-00 per person where the room has an en-suite bathroom. Where the visitor is paying with a travel agent's voucher, a surcharge of€5-00 per person is made for the facility fo an en-suite bathroom if this is not specifically covered on the voucher. For single occupancy, you would expect to pay about€8-00 or€9-00 more. In an approved B&B there are not any hidden extras such as taxes, surcharges or extra for full breakfast. Often there are discounts which apply to children under ten years old who share a bedroom with their parents. Often too infants under twentyfour months of age are free of charge. If there is any doubt in your mind, clarify all of these matters before accepting the room. The only extra charges that should apply are for telephone calls made at your request, for an evening meal or light meal with a separate price agreed, or for laundry done with a price agreed in advance. If you feel that you have been overcharged or are otherwise unhappy about the final cost please feel at ease about complaining in the local tourist office or writing to The Irish Tourist Board setting out the details of your complaint. In Dublin city and suburbs the basic rates are about€6-00 to€10-00 more. The same is sometimes found in Cork city. Single rooms are rare, and should be booked as much in advance as possible. During the peak season, it is especially difficult to get rooms for single persons. Note: Average 2002 prices quoted.

	Early Morning Arrival
	It is normal practice to arrive at your B&B between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. As you can imagine the bean-a-tí is busy all day washing, cleaning and preparing the rooms for incoming guests. It is unlikely that rooms will be ready for guests until after 4:00 pm at the earliest. Some B&B homes close to ferryports and airports accept guests on sailings or flights which arrive early in the morning. Those that do so use the term "Morning Guests Welcome" in their literature. Where you see this term you will know that special provision can be made for early arriving guests. Some homes may require payment for the preceding night as well as the night of the date of arrival, and then they will keep the room vacant overnight in order to have it free for the incoming guest. If you want to use this Morning Guests Welcome facility you must agree with the bean-a-tí in advance as to the time of your arrival at her home, and whether you will be served a meal on your arrival. Some homes which do not offer the Morning Guests Welcome facility will make every effort to convenience early arriving guests who make advance arrangements. You should be conscious that the first priority is to serve breakfasts to the guests of the previous night, and while you will be able to leave your bags into the house, you will definitely not have immediate access to a bedroom. It is highly unlikely that you can take your room until after 11:30 am.

	The Question of Tipping
	Tipping is not required in B&Bs. If you want to show appreciation to the bean-a-tí you could bring chocolates, or a bunch of flowers to her, or write to her after you have arrived home to say how much you enjoyed her hospitality. Indeed, the best way to show your appreciation is to tell all your friends of the particularly good service you enjoyed in that house.

	Some Further Thoughts...
	If you want to find out about homes in other areas, listen to the experiences of other guests in the home, and of the bean-a-tí (if the house is to your liking). Aim for homes which they found to be good. Your hosts will be happy to book ahead for you once you have selected the home you want at your next destination. Quite a lot of our business comes from word-of-mouth recommendations, and it is the best way for a satisfied guest to show his appreciation. The routine of packing and unpacking each evening is a significant chore. We have observed that those of our guests who stay a few days at each of just a few locations are able to enjoy their vacation so much more than those who move every day. So consider staying at one location for several nights, and use it as a base for exploring the countryside nearby. For this reason, arrive at your new destination early enough to inspect the room and the bed and bathroom especially, and see that the dining room and sitting room also are to your liking. If you don't like what you find, you still have time to move on and seek a better home that evening for your sojourn in the area. (There is no better way to show a proprietor the high standards that our visitors expect - and are entitled to - than to vote with your feet! If you don't like what you see, explain your concerns to the proprietor, and leave immediately while you still have time to find alternative accommodation.) And if you don't want to speak out your mind, then just politely explain that you have a spinal condition and that the bed is too hard (if it is soft) or too soft (if it is hard). Pack lightly, and wash as you go. Most bean-a-tí will wash a few things for you if you are staying for several nights - ask after you have settled in, but in plenty of time to allow for drying clothes in inclement weather - at least a full day before you are due to leave. And offer to pay for the service!