In the 11 or 12 years since the bed-and-breakfast boom began in the United States, the publishing of B&B books has snowballed.
A recent roundup in the Bed and Breakfast Industry Sourcebook, published by the American Bed & Breakfast Association, enumerated more than 50 guidebooks, listings and collections of recommendations, including such publications as ”Motorcycle B&B” and ”Smoke Free Travel Guide.”
But a shakeout may be on the way.
One nationwide organization of B&Bs, after tangling with some painful realities, has undertaken to grade its members, publishing two guidebooks for the United States, one for the East and one for the West, with inspection-based ratings. Each place that passed muster-and more than 10 percent did not-gets a writeup by the editors and a rating.
The ratings, similar to the Mobil Guide system and the AAA Tourguide diamonds, this year range from one crown-”acceptable, meets basic
requirements,” to four-”outstanding.” In future editions, a fifth crown will go to establishments that stay at the top level on a second inspection.
Another source of ratings, the seven regional Mobil Travel Guides, with 12,000 lodging places rated, include 1,000 listed as ”inns,” some of which may be B&Bs. The auto association includes some B&Bs in the ”country inns”
listings of its AAA Tourguides and plans a separate category starting in 1992. The recently published guides are ”Inspected, Rated, & Approved Bed & Breakfasts & Country Inns,” the two volumes covering 500 places.
If the guides sell well and generate business for the listed B&Bs, directories that fail to list their criteria for entries probably will suffer in credibility. In some, amazingly enough, entries are written by innkeepers themselves. And a number of other directories have as their only requirement for inclusion the payment of a fee, directly or through a membership charge.
Sarah W. Sonke, editor of the new series and director of the American Bed & Breakfast Association, described how the project got started.
The association, begun in 1981, for some time published the usual sort of directories under various names and publishers. To verify the quality of the accommodations, Sonke said, she asked innkeepers for references, then sent them questionnaires.
The turning point came about three years ago, she said, with one reply praising an inn that asserted that even the portable toilet was immaculate. Taken aback, Sonke said, she wrote to the innkeeper for further information and got back a catalog page proving that the inn had bought the top-of-the-line portable toilet.
”People`s judgments were really wacky,” Sonke said in an interview. ”I figured we better standardize or go out of business.”
Her apprehension that the lodgings of organization members were at best a mixed bag was verified when she hit the road last year as one of five inspectors and as the supervisor who reviewed the inspections by others, she said.
B&B brochures, she found, frequently were hyperbolic, with adequate furnishings described with ”an abundance of adjectives such as `elegant` or
`exceptionally fine.` ”
Rooms described as ”comfortable” and ”with all modern conveniences”
might lack regular beds-sofa beds were offered-as well as being deficient in adequate lighting, ”air-conditioning and other comforts that most travelers take for granted so much that they would never think of checking when they make reservations,” she said.
More distressing, she said, accommodations as diverse as hotels, motels, lodges, resort condominiums and trailer parks were representing themselves as bed-and-breakfasts.
From the organization`s membership dues, then $150 a year, she set aside enough to begin research and groundwork.
She called in Bill Long of Dallas, who was head of inspections for the Automobile Association guides until November 1989, when the organization moved to Florida. He helped formulate standards and train the inspectors and carried out many of the inspections for the volume on the West. They ruled out inspections by fellow innkeepers.
Inspections were made during the day; inspectors did not stay overnight, as a rule. B&B owners were given three weeks` notice that an inspection would be made. (”That`s why we were so surprised that so many people didn`t pass,” Sonke said.)
Inspectors examined at least three rooms, usually in different price ranges, all the public areas and the kitchen. But their budget did not permit certain tests, for example, the water pressure in the shower.
The association`s criteria covered grounds and building exterior, common rooms, guest rooms, guest baths and the administrative setup.
At the ”acceptable” one-crown level in each category, things must be
”clean, neat and presentable,” although one ”major maintenance problem needing attention,” such as badly worn paint outside or worn out carpeting in the public areas, was permitted in any area except the bathroom or a guest room.
An ”acceptable” host is courteous and demonstrates knowlege of the local area; Continental or full breakfast is included.
A ”good” two-crown bathroom, for example, has everything required in the acceptable bath, plus ”attractive decor,” plenty of space for guest toiletries and color-coordinated towels. At this level, only a ”minor maintenance problem” is permitted.
The organization had 800 members when the inspection issue was broached;
when word went out, Sonke said, 100 more joined in late 1990.
Then the croissant began to crumble. Before the inspections began, 140 members said they did not want to be inspected, some because they said they could not afford the membership, some because they were not ready, and about 80 because they said the organization had no right to do it. They quit the organization.
Of those remaining in the group after inspection, Sonke said, 80 failed to meet the basic qualifications for membership, including adherence to the organization`s code of ethics, and membership or renewal was not offered.
Sixty others did not want their ratings published and dropped out; only one of these, Sonke said, had a high rating, three crowns, but the proprietor believed her bed and breakfast to be one of the best in the country and considered the ranking inadequate. Total loss: about 300 members. Now at 600 members, in the director`s view the organization is leaner and cleaner.
Membership dues for the coming year will be $250, to continue the inspection program. This means that few places with one or two guest rooms, the sort normally operated as a sideline, will be members. Right now, Sonke said, 20 of these small places are members, but none is in the books.
”Inspected, Rated & Approved Bed & Breakfasts & Country Inns East,”
with 400 places rated, costs $12.95 in bookstores, $15.95 postage paid, mail ordered from the publisher; the West volume, with 100 entries, is $10.95 at stores, $13.95 by mail. American Bed & Breakfast Association, 1407 Huguenot Rd., Midlothian, Va. 23113; 804-379-2222. The dividing line for East and West is the Mississippi River.
