Whats a good price for a B&B?

[1982john]

Not in a big city, for a single person one night. Just wondering what I should expect to pay. When I was last touring it would be £35-40...

[pwa]

Doing the Offas Dyke Path recently, rates varied from about £55 to 75. All in attractive locations though. And that was for two.

[foxyrider]

It will vary alarmingly depending on location. I would expect, on average, to pay £45-50 these days. Earlier this year I paid £35 in one place and more recently £55 at another but I hope to score somewhere between.

[PH]

I find if you can book well in advance and do some research there's plenty of bargains to be had. I can usually find something around £40 when advance booking, but have paid up to £70 when booking on the day. I do stay out of the tourist areas at peak times.
Not many places seem to have single rooms, so at busy times you'll be paying a hefty supplement to occupy a double/twin one. travelling with a companion and sharing a room will be a significant saving.
Also worth considering Travelodge and Premier Inn if you're looking for value, both welcome cyclists.

[sun ra]

I've toured up the West coast of Scotland on three occasions. In quiet parts of Dumfries and Galloway I've paid between £35 and £40
per night with breakfast ()beginning of September) The same in Brodick on Aran, Campbell town down on the Mull. I think I found them on the cycle 'n' sleep website. Made very welcome at all of the b&bs


As said above though all of these were booked well in advance.

[Jon Lucas]

Depends greatly on location, including whether there is much competition between b&bs in the town, and also on when travelling. Others have suggested booking well in advance by searching the web. I would suggest the opposite in some areas where there are plenty of places, as many of the cheapest will not have a web presence and have only a few rooms. This is obviously more chancy, but there are b&bs in some towns with single rooms as low as £20 (and cheaper if you want room only), but the quality won't be great (though ok for one night) and you cannot guarantee you can find them or that any will be available. For a decent room found on the web you will probably have to pay at least £35 and in more up market places £50 depending on the area you are visiting, and any booking agency on the web will be showing prices a lot above this at first sight. While weekends are often more expensive in touristy areas, some b&bs elsewhere will advertise cheaper rates then as they are dependent largely on commercial traffic.

[Username]

I've toured up the West coast of Scotland on three occasions. In quiet parts of Dumfries and Galloway I've paid between £35 and £40
per night with breakfast ()beginning of September) The same in Brodick on Aran, Campbell town down on the Mull. I think I found them on the cycle 'n' sleep website. Made very welcome at all of the b&bs


As said above though all of these were booked well in advance.

I have also toured the West of Scotland. My fav part of the UK. Cant remember what I paid for B&Bs, suffice to say nuts to prebooking. When I tour, I have a rough plan of where I want to head, then find something available where ever I end up. I remember the campsite at the bottom of Ben Nevis was a tenner a night for 1 man and a tent, travelling by motorbike. But typically from as low as £30 to about £60 per night. I did once pay £100 for a night as I could not find a campsite, and I had done enough miles for the day so was desperate. That was for a family suite tho.

[DaveGos]

Many years ago when touring in both UK and continent we would start looking out for accomodation from 4 pm onwards . This was generally good as you could adjust your mileage . do less when weather was bad or you came across interesting things or had a mechamical and other days you could do a greater mileage . In recent times I have prebooked as I feel most such booking is now internet based and prices go up for last minute bookings. I would be interested in others experience. I have not tried something like booking,com at the very last minute

[rickd]

Last May two nights at different B&Bs in Lincolnshire both came in at under £40 a night. That involved sharing a twin room. One even gave a discount for arriving by bike. It took a lot of searching to find something at that price and most places seemed to be over £50.

[PH]

There is a joy to not having anything booked and the ability to change plans or not have any to start with, this is why I like camping and I'm not adverse to staying off site. But the times I've done so without a tent I've spent more money than I would have if pre booked and/or spent time looking for accommodation I'd rather have spent doing something else. I also have the fear of arriving somewhere late, wet and dirty and being turned away. Also I'm normally on quite a tight budget, spending more than necessary on accommodation means less touring.

[Ivor Tingting]

There's also Warmshowers which are free where you can meet some fabulous people in some fabulous places.

[pq]

To give another perspective, I run a b&b, and while it's in France, the way we operate can't be unusual.

One nighters aren't attractive business, so unless the b&b really needs the money, they won't be falling over themselves to offer you a good rate. We don't accept one night bookings in general because we make so little money on them, they're not worth bothering with. However I do sometimes accept last minute one nighters if it suits me - so sometimes the only way to do a one night stay with us in the season is to knock the door.

My own preference when I'm touring is not to book anything, and usually that's fine, but I have sometimes ended up having to ride long distances in the dark when I couldn't find anything. All depends how risk averse you are.

[horizon]

I do think that it is ironic that in the dawning of the age of the smartphone, you still have to book weeks in advance. In fact, in many ways it seems harder than it used to be due to variable pricing. And with so many hostels gone, it's a choice between cheap (although not always so cheap) and flexible camping and warm and comfy but pricey B&B. This year I've done all three (camping, YHAs and B&Bs) and all three have worked well in their different ways. But what I haven't tried yet is AirB&B and I'm wondering whether it will finally bridge the gap.