Due to the rise of the organic movement in the UK and worldwide Organics have spread into every area of life, replacing the ordinary world of products and services, and replacing it with organic goods and services, that help to make life that little bit more special, tastier, and healthier.
This includes the world of bed and breakfast accommodation throughout the UK – private homes which welcome overnight guests, providing a warm welcome, a comfortable bed and a good breakfast, before the traveller or holidaymaker continue on their journey. A popular part of life in the UK, and indeed the rest of Europe, the world of the B & B and guesthouse hold a mystique of its own. Most travellers have stayed in both really terrible and really good B & B’s, and can tell stories about both.
How do Organics fit in?
The traditional role of the B & B is in providing a hearty breakfast to guests. This is traditionally the great British breakfast, cooked to the guests special order: bacon, eggs (cooked in any way possible), sausages, sometimes black or white pudding, lots of toast, butter and jam, and lashings of fruit juice, tea and coffee to sluice the feast down with. Bed and breakfasts and guesthouses that offer exclusively an organic service, start from the ground up and use entirely organic produce and products throughout. Somewhere that calls itself ‘organic’ must either use a majority of produce and products, and will probably be registered as such with The Soil Association, or another organic certifier and provider. Registering itself as such means that the SA will regularly inspect the property, and for a fee, certify it as organic, and help to promote it on its website, and through its publications and publicity networks.
Using exclusively organic products and produce runs from the cleaning materials used throughout – from toilet cleaner through to kitchen liquids, all should be of a range that do not harm or pollute the environment; to organically produced bed linen on all the beds, to organic eggs and bacon on the guests plate. Some owners might combine the B & B with some small-scale food production or organic business of some kind.
Many organic farms nowadays realise the potential of welcoming visitors and having a B & B as a side business; using home raised and cured organic bacon, milk, and other farm products.
Promoting Organic B & B’s and Guesthouses
Of course, with B & B’s as with so much else, the main form of publicity is through word of mouth, so if anyone has had a great experience at an organic B & B or guesthouse (or a bad experience), they should let all their friends and colleagues know about it. If there is a guestbook at the B & B, then guests should always leave feedback. Getting in touch with either the Soil Association, if the B & B is registered with them, or even the Tourist Board for the local area is also a possibility.
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