Do any comprehensive and searchable B&B Databases exist?

September 18, 2005 6:56 AM

I live in the Boston area and would like to go to a bed and breakfast for a long weekend. I have found a number of B&B sites, but each site only has a limited number of inns. I'd like to find a site that is a clearinghouse for B&B's which is more searchable. For example, I'd like a place that is 2 1/2 hours or less from Boston within a certain price range, etc. So far, all the sites I've been two have been so limited. Any ideas? Or am I going to have to start creating a wiki/web site/Googlemaps Mashup that provides this information myself! (Like I have the time for that!!) Certainly this wheel has already been invented. These are the sites I've found so far. It seems you have to know where you're going before you start looking, and that's the point... I just moved to Boston. I don't know where I want to go!
posted by abbyladybug to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

OK, 2 recommendations:

For a real B&B, check out the Colonial House Bed & Breakfast. Get the room at the end of the top floor, with the big bathroom with the tub.

Not a B&B, but for an amazing stay, go to The Porches Inn at Mass MoCa. Get a King bed room, it will come with a private porch attached. Pricey on the weekends but better on weekdays and off-peak.

I recommend these places highly based on personal experience.
posted by sol at 7:47 AM on September 18, 2005

I hadn't thought about getting specific recommendations here, but if you have some ideas, they surely couldn't hurt.

We will probably have to go on a weekend, since my position is new, and I can't take off a lot of time just yet. I'd prefer non-pricey (under $150 a night if possible). And please no Laura Ashley explosions. If it's too country quaint, I may throw up! We were hoping to get a little fall color action, but it isn't absolutely essential. And although I love kids, I'd prefer a quieter, non-family type place for our getaway. We thinking hiking and good food are nice things.

So specific recs are OK, but that database thing is still something I'd really like to find.
posted by abbyladybug at 7:53 AM on September 18, 2005

abbyladybug, I'm not sure that your link is working - I'm not logged into delicious but it just resets to the front page.
posted by fionab at 9:13 AM on September 18, 2005

Perhaps a better AskMe question would be something along the lines of "I just moved to Boston and I want to plan a weekend trip. What's within 2 1/2 hours' drive from here?" You can mention that you like hiking, good food, et cetera....and then you'll get a torrent of recommendations.

I tend to find it works much better once I have a rough idea of where I want to go -- there are so many B&Bs/tourist information sites out there that it's hard, as you discovered, to make much sense of all the data when you don't have a particular destination in mind.
posted by Vidiot at 9:16 AM on September 18, 2005

Here is a repaired link.

Regarding Vidiot's request for a better question, I sort of asked it above, but I'll repost what I'm looking for specifically:

I'd prefer non-pricey (under $150 a night if possible). And please no Laura Ashley explosions. If it's too country quaint, I may throw up! We were hoping to get a little fall color action, but it isn't absolutely essential. And although I love kids, I'd prefer a quieter, non-family type place for our getaway. We thinking hiking and good food are nice things.

All that said, if the database doesn't exist, there's a part of me that would like to remedy that situation by creating one, so that's also part of my question.

Yes, I like to find what I'm looking for, but I'm also very interested in making the web a better, more usable place. Soon, someone else who lives in a slightly different place and who has slightly different needs will wonder the same set of things, and so it would be good to have both the specifics for myself and something that would help the me's of the future!
posted by abbyladybug at 11:34 AM on September 18, 2005

Abby, try Vermont. It can be a 3 hour drive, true, but we have TONS of B&Bs.
posted by k8t at 11:40 AM on September 18, 2005

Making some headway here...

Inns of New England

Bed and Breakfast.com

What worked REALLY well was going to that Inns of New England page and utilizing my Greasemap Greasemonkey Use Script to map all the inns in each state. It let me see what was in populated areas, what was right by interstates, what was far, what was near.
posted by abbyladybug at 1:05 PM on September 18, 2005