Saturday, October 13, 2012

Bed & Breakfasts

Did you watch Gilmore Girls in high school?  I did!  It was a great show until Rory went to college and then left college, they started featuring Paris all the time, Rory hooked up with a married Dean (boo) and what used to be subtle, humorous comments became in-your-face punchlines every 3 minutes.  Somewhere, not sure where-maybe moving to college, maybe cutting her hair, maybe dating Logan who gifted her a Birkin bag (really?)- the show 'jumped the shark.'  And it was never the same...but I should move on.  What' I'm trying to say is, Lorelai got me curious about bed and breakfast inns and despite the show getting crappy I am permanently in debt to it!

My first bed and breakfast experience was with Aaron on a trip to Asheville.  We stayed at the Wright Inn.


The inn is a beautiful, Victorian house which is just as gorgeous inside.

Foyer

Dining room

Our bedroom

It was fabulous. We paid slightly more than you would pay for a mid-range hotel (~$160) and it was totally worth it.  I would rather have the unique experience over any cookie cutter hotel room.  Plus, the breakfast rocked.


That vacation was 2 winters ago, last winter we got engaged.  Since then, we've put vacations on hold while saving for the wedding + our lives together, but we did get a chance to go out-of-town for a friend's wedding this September.  So we went back to Asheville!  We stayed in a different bed & breakfast, picked purely on proximity to the reception.


This is the Bent Creek Lodge.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but it is located on a mountainside and you travel up a short, winding road to get to it...you really feel like you are getting away. :-)  We were also less than 5 minutes away from the Asheville arboretum (where the wedding was held) and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Our room

View from our balcony

Delicious, hot breakfast!

Both places were awesome and I would give each rave reviews.  If you ever consider the 2 of them, just know the Wright Inn is located closer to downtown Asheville while Bent Creek Lodge is more on the outskirts (not a bad thing-great for relaxing).   

Here are some tips if you decide to consider a bed and breakfast

-use bedandbreakfast.com for reviews

-know that some bed and breakfasts have check-in requirements or requests, such as please check in by a certain time, like 7 pm, or alert the owners of what time if you will be later.  This is because most bed and breakfasts don't have someone manning the desk 24/7, but usually there is always someone on-site to assist you

-some bed and breakfasts have breakfast at a communal table, others will allow guests to sit separately.  Aaron and I found that we prefer the first and have made some great friends :-)

-despite the dated housing, most bed and breakfasts will have fully updated bathrooms

-however, not every bed and breakfast will include a television in the room

-be sure to pick a room online before booking!  this is fun, allows you to pick a floor of the house and allows you to choose a bathroom to meet your needs (double sinks? tub?)  

This is all I can think of for now, comment below if you have any more questions-or recommendations!  I look forward to Aaron and I visiting more bed and breakfasts across the country, at the beach, in large cities.  Just another way to add adventure to your vacation!

2 comments:

  1. I've never stayed in a b&b but that place y'all stayed looked super cute when we dropped you off!! what we like to do is rent cabins instead of hotels which is sorta the same thing but you have to cook your own breakfast! ;) check out VRBO.com and you'll want to go on vacay all the time because there are so many!!

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  2. Ooo I looked at VRBO but I haven't rented yet!! can't wait to try it out! :-)

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