New England Country Inn - What Is The Difference?

Many people often wonder the difference between bed and breakfasts, country inns, and historic inns. One kind of bed and breakfast, known as a homestay, is usually a private home with just a few rooms and offers a simple breakfast to its visitors. Homestays are often a part-time operation run as a means of extra family income.

Most bed and breakfasts, however, are professionally run and offer more rooms than homestays. The Camden Maine Stay has nine rooms, while the Cliffside Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, and Captain’s House Inn, in Chatham Massachusetts, have around sixteen. B&Bs are owner managed and operated, and usually employ additional staff to help with cooking, housekeeping, and guest services.

Country inns are bed & breakfast inns that offer dinner service as well as breakfast. Often, their dining rooms are open to the public like Gateway’s Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, which is an ideal getaway for conferences and weddings. Country inns tend to have between five to thirty rooms and, like the Windam Hill Inn and Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont, or the Chesterfield Inn in New Hampshire, can have a staff of 20-30 people to maintain the inn and care for their guests. Some inns go one step further by offering on-site spas like those found at New Hampshire’s Manor on Golden Pond and Inn at Thorn Hill.

Many inns and bed & breakfasts are also historic inns as they are located in historic areas or are themselves a National Historic Landmark like the Deerfield Inn located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The Deerfield Inn opened in 1884, and is part of a 350 year old village that is home to an assortment of 18th and 19th century museum houses.

Whether you are looking to visit a quaint bed and breakfast, a renowned country inn, or an inn that is part of history, New England is your destination and the Distinctive Inns of New England offer it all.