A
Definition of Bed and Breakfast Accommodation in One Place May
Not be the Same as in Another By
Philip
Suter
I
was going to visit Barcelona, Spain in February and meet up with
relatives who had stayed there before. They had previously stayed
at a reasonably priced hotel in the centre of the city.
I
tried to find out more information on the Internet, but unfortunately
they did not have their own website and was listed on one of those
sites that you could add your own comments and photos to. The
photos of the room (taken by a previous guest) did not too exciting
so I searched the Internet for alternatives. Hotel prices in Barcelona
appear to be fairly high, even in February so being resident in
England and knowing that Bed and Breakfast accommodation in the
UK and Ireland and the Chambre d’hôtes (equivalent) are good value
tried searching for Bed and Breakfast accommodation in Barcelona.
I
soon found a place that was in the city centre, had en suite accommodation
and called itself “A comfortable, quiet and modern Bed and
Breakfast in the most central place of Barcelona”.
Arriving at the place on a warm February evening, we were shown
the place. 2nd floor apartment with a double room with en suite
facilities, plus communal lounge, 2 further twin bedrooms and
bathroom and a kitchen. The place looked like the good photos
on the owner’s website. One thing was missing – Breakfast. Now
in Britain and Ireland the B & B business has traditionally provided
a cooked breakfast although more and more establishments are now
providing a croissant/rolls and coffee/tea continental type breakfast,
as you would find in France. In this Barcelona B & B after 5 nights
stay there was no breakfast!
Upon
my return home, I took another look at their web site. In small
print was the phrase “Another advantage of this bed and breakfast
is the full equipped kitchen where guests can prepare their own
breakfast, lunch or dinner, or help themselves to cold drinks
or fresh fruit whenever they want.” My comment would be –
although a modern kitchen, it did lack anything to make coffee
with (no kettle) only a saucepan and considering the accommodation
was for two other double rooms as well, the two small cups would
not be much use! The operators of such establishments in Britain,
France and Ireland could not get away with this and in the UK
could be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act. On the 2nd
March 2006, I decided to email them...
Dear
Sir / Madam -You advertise "Bed and Breakfast" and when we stayed
there for 5 nights in February, never had breakfast delivered.
Surely you should not be advertising your place as a Bed and Breakfast
unless you actually provide breakfast? - I look forward to hearing
from you. Regards Philip Suter
At
the 9th March 2006, I had still not had a reply. So much for good
customer relations.
If
you are booking such a place, confirm by phone or email that if
they call themselves a Bed and Breakfast that they actually serve
it. They did state on the booking receipt sent by email that they
wanted to be paid on arrival. What they did not state, was that
they would want 10 euros extra to process a credit card.
My
relatives stayed at the “not too exciting” hotel, it was not luxurious,
but had the owners portrayed it themselves on a website and shown
the room we visited then we would have stayed there. The price
was much cheaper than the B & B and you paid extra for breakfast.
(But you would have got it) Take care on your travels and if someone
is offering bed and breakfast in Barcelona be prepared, although
you might get a bed you might have to find your own breakfast
somewhere else.
Philip
Suter is a Director of jml Property Services; http://www.jmlproperty.co.uk
a UK based company offering Insurance products on line at http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk
and a holiday home advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com
and management training within the uk. He a travel writer and
is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work
in the Residential letting business in the UK and served on the
National Council of ARLA. He is a Fellow of the National Association
of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential
Letting Agents (ARLA) Article
Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Suter
N.B.
This information should not be relied on for accuracy and is presented
here without the responsibility of jml Property Service and the
website it is being displayed at. ©jml property Services 03-06
See
also
Barcelona
in February
The
Hideaway Spa Guest House Javea Costa Blanca Spain
