What Is a Bed and Breakfast?

By Elizabeth Arneson

Question: What is a bed and breakfast?

Answer: At the most basic level, a bed and breakfast is place -- often found in a renovated home, mansion or small hotel -- to spend the night and enjoy a full breakfast (included in the price of the room) in the morning.

But every bed and breakfast is different, and there's no single accepted definition. Innkeepers, travelers, B&B associations, lawmakers and others all tend to have different ideas. Even the breakfast part is not 100 percent certain. Some B&Bs offer only a continental breakfast, and some inns which would otherwise be considered a bed and breakfast offer no morning meal at all.