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Real life / What really killed off the traditional B&B

12 0
08.05.2026

To B&B or not to B&B? That is the question. Whether it’s nobler to offer breakfast to a guest is not in question, but whether it’s possible has been my dilemma since I started my guest house.

After reading Ross Clark on The Spectator website saying that he longs for the traditional B&B, all I can say is I’ve really tried to be that landlady he describes, in pink fluffy slippers, frying bacon in a house with Artex walls.

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I’ve tried to take people who roll up late at night, I’ve tried to put the second B back into the enterprise, and I’ve tried to cope with customers who, like Ross, want the option of a cooked breakfast but not a fry-up – porridge, made just the way they want it, which is different for every single customer. Yes, I’ve tried to cope with all this.

It didn’t go down too well. The first issue is the amount customers want to pay me for a bed and psychic prediction of what they want to eat in the morning.

I do not blame Airbnb for killing the traditional B&B. Because it was already long dead

I do not blame Airbnb for killing the traditional B&B. Because it was already long dead

This goes to the heart of why the traditional B&B really died in the first place, with people like me doing Airbnb, the only readily available comparable experience.

I blame Airbnb for a lot of things, like piling all its service fee on me from next month, rather than splitting it between me and the customer. I also blame Airbnb for........

© The Spectator