What’s the Difference Between a Hotel and a Bed and Breakfast?

In the real world, the difference between a bed and breakfast and small hotel is somewhat vague.

But there are a few ways to clearly delineate the two.

Does it matter?

Quite a bit, actually. A bed and breakfast simply calling itself a hotel does not make it a hotel.

As such, you’ll typically notice behavior like higher bounce rates on websites that call themselves the wrong type of business but are not in casual visitor’s eyes. Even worse, you risk a potential guest arriving and experiencing disappointment with their stay, pushing-down your property’s guest return rate and possibly even your ratings on review sites.

How do you avoid this?

Understand the differences between the different establishments. It’s pretty much entirely determined by what amenities are available to guests on a given property.

How OTAs Differentiate Between a Hotel and a B&B

The rules TripAdvisor are not unique to them, so we’ve added their documentation as a guide here.

TripAdvisor Rules for Determining identity of individual properties

The accommodation meets the category requirements. We need to see the required services listed on the accommodation’s official website, a tourist board’s website, or a reservation partner’s website.

The accommodation holds an official business license issued by a local governmental or tourism authority, and that license identifies the specific type of accommodation as defined by local authorities.

Category Requirements for B&B and Hotel

Bed and breakfast requirements are lower thresholds to cross in terms of cost than hotel requirements. But they’re also higher than listing an individual property as simply a hostel. Vacation rentals cannot be listed on TripAdvisor.

B&B and Inns

To be listed on TripAdvisor as a Bed and breakfast or Inn, properties must:

Be locally licensed to operate as a B&B
Be listed with local tourism authorities
Offer daily housekeeping included in the room rate
Not require guests to stay more than 3 nights
Offering a private bathroom for each unit is not required, but expected

Hotels

To be listed on TripAdvisor as a Hotel, properties must:

Have a front desk that is open and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Offer check-in hours that can have a start time, but should not have a designated end time
Offer daily housekeeping is included in the room rate
Offer a private bathroom for each unit
Not require guests to stay more than 3 nights

Specialty Lodging

To be listed as Specialty lodging of any sort on TripAdvisor, properties are:

Any accommodation that offers shared (dorm-style) rooms will be considered a hostel
Special interest accommodations are also listed in this category

Need More Guidance on the difference?

For more information on any of these requirements for TripAdvisor, visit:

How do you improve the quality rating of your hotel or bed and breakfast?

Good question, head to our article on how hotels and bed and breakfasts get their star rating.