In the last decade the hospitality industry has been overrun with empty homes marketed as airbnbs, and giant booking agents that exorbitantly upcharge both customers and businesses.
Genuine bed and breakfasts that are individually owned and operated and don’t add obscene fees have become more difficult to find, even online.
Many small establishments can’t keep up with the pay per click models that prioritize a business on search engines or sites like booking.com, Travelocity, VRBO, and competitors.
So how do you find the kind of personalized hospitality a real bed and breakfast can offer?
Ask ChatGPT
ChatGPT pulls from information available on the web, rather than the paid results search engines come up with. B&Bs with unique offerings like First Farm Inn that post blogs and offer legitimate additional information are found more easily.
Even specific search terms like “horse farm bed and breakfast Kentucky” on a regular search engine can pull up historic houses without horses, or places you may only see a horse occasionally in a neighbor’s field. Some businesses advertise that they have horses and may simply be near a region that has horses. Some buy the key words.
Look for Associations
Many state bed and breakfast associations have gone under due to fewer real B&Bs and the demand for intensive volunteer effort and finances to keep an organization going.
The Bed and Breakfast Association of Kentucky | Places to Stay has about 50 listings, though a decade ago there were around 600 B&Bs in the Commonwealth. The larger and higher priced inns that can afford membership fees are still prominently featured. To maintain financial stability they also list airbnbs that don’t serve breakfast and may not be owner-occupied.
With so many state B&B groups disappearing, some regional associations have appeared, listing inns from a wider geographic area to help cover website and promotion costs. These don’t come up on searches for B&Bs either, but knowing that the Midwestern Innkeepers’ Association has been formed recently, I could find: https://mwinns.com/ Again, economics mean these lists usually include high-dollar larger inns, but can still be a good starting point.
Follow the Paper Trail
Real bed and breakfasts pay tourism taxes just like hotels, and are listed on state and regional websites. While we are located in Kentucky, since we’re so close, we’re included in a regional tourism group for the greater Cincinnati area. https://www.visitcincy.com/places-to-stay/bed-breakfasts/
If you don’t know the tourism bureau’s current catchy name, search the city or state name and “tourism” to find the nearest one.
Kentucky’s site even offers a mapping option that will give you a much better idea of where inns are if you don’t know all the town names: https://www.kentuckytourism.com/trip-planning/where-to-stay/historic-inns-and-b-bs
You’ll find our listing https://www.kentuckytourism.com/explore/first-farm-inn-1405 as well as upcoming festivals and other activities.
The Northern Kentucky CVB makes it look easy to plan a full week of activities, but don’t be fooled. https://www.meetnky.com/explore-northern-kentucky/things-to-do Many of the listed places are only open for special events or don’t have activities regularly. Personal recommendations from local innkeepers are more reliable!
Keep Looking, It’s Worth It to Find Small Inns Committed to Customer Service!
Recent Texas guests spent five days and didn’t plan any activities in advance – other than riding horses with us. Asking for recommendations, they enjoyed seeing little-known sites, (buying t-shirts to mystify friends!), eating regional specialties at great historic family-owned restaurants, relaxing in the porch rockers, and homemade breakfasts each morning.
Staying with folks who know the neighborhood, participate in community activities, eat at local restaurants, help with historical societies, and know the area (including which roads are closed when) offers you a much different experience than hotels with concierges who can’t wait to clock out!
