What's the difference between homestays and hotels in Japan?

1. Similarities and differences between homestays and hotels

B&B is a cheap version of a Japanese hotel, more similar to a hotel. B&B may be located in some small towns with no hotels at all, or in cities; Some homestays are run by families, and some rooms at home are rented by guests. Facilities include rooms, showers and toilets. The food is simple and has a family flavor.

B&B is a private small family hotel. Usually there are not as many rooms as business hotels, and there are not necessarily reception counters and uniformed service personnel. Unlike hotels, B&B usually has no advanced online reservation system, credit cards and other services. Cleaning, booking rooms and receiving guests are often the responsibilities of the host and his family.

Originated from form

The word "homestay" originated in Japan? People's library, original intention and British and American "bed" & amp？ Break "(referred to as B&; B) There are many similarities, that is, family hotels that only provide accommodation and free breakfast. In China, "convenience guest house" and "farmhouse" are close to this definition.

Typical homestays are mostly in rural areas where traditional industries (agriculture and fisheries) are prevalent and there are sightseeing resources. For example, it belongs to the category of leisure agriculture (citizen farm), but it is rare in metropolitan areas where hotels abound. B&B is a kind of B&B where the host provides accommodation for passengers. The scale of B&B varies with the host's home environment. The smallest homestay may have only one room, and the larger homestay may have campsites and single-family villas. Some residents also develop many services related to local sightseeing, such as assisting residents to rent cars, planning trips for local tourism and making local specialties. Therefore, homestays with local characteristics and word of mouth are often popular choices. When traveling, many families often choose friendly and enthusiastic homestays instead of chain hotels. In addition, many homestays with exquisite architectural style and room decoration often become the focus of media magazine reports, become well-known homestays, and even become the location of series, which is widely known.

Although B&B is a family hotel, tenants may not live with their hosts or use the same kitchen and bathroom facilities. Some owners who don't like the family being disturbed sometimes hire outsiders to help run the homestay.

B&Bs participates in commercial activities, but it belongs to the private economic system, so there is a certain gray area in laws and regulations. Legal B&Bs are generally managed by the government's tourism bureau, and are often classified as "family sideline" in definition, and defined as "idle rooms in their own houses", and then their fire safety regulations, room number, location, business scale and so on are standardized. In order to distinguish ordinary hotels conveniently. In this way, the owner can apply for the legal business license of the hotel. There are illegal homestays everywhere, such as those that have not applied for a license, or those that have greatly increased their rooms after applying for a license, which are as big as motels or business hotels, or those that are poorly managed and do not meet the requirements.

In addition, in the crime of fraud, people are attracted to book rooms and receive remittances in advance by using the virtual photos and addresses of homestays on the Internet. Only when people visit on the spot do they find that they have been cheated. Or the hotel closed without warning, and the person who booked the room could not recover the deposit. The quality and background of the host are also worrying, and the host may use the operation of the hotel to cover up his criminal behavior. These are the parts of the hotel that have not been well regulated and fully implemented in the gray area of laws and regulations.

Japanese hotels are traditional accommodation facilities in Japan, and some hotels are equipped with hot spring facilities for guests to use. "Hotel" in Japanese is often used to refer to hotels in Japan.

history

Today's Japanese-style hotels appeared before the Edo era, providing services for travelers who traveled to all parts of Japan by road at that time. Japanese-style hotels usually have tatami rooms, which provide bathing facilities for guests and provide space for guests to chat with hotel owners in bathrobes.

Japanese-style hotels are hard to find in today's big cities in Japan because they are more expensive than western-style hotels. Most Japanese-style hotels are located in scenic spots in the suburbs, and many of them are located in the mountains, which is very similar to western-style homestays.

trait

A typical Japanese hotel has a large hall for guests to sit down and chat. A more modern hotel may have a TV in the lobby. Hotel rooms are decorated with traditional Japanese building materials, tatami floors and Japanese paper doors. Even if western wooden doors are used for safety reasons, paper doors will still be used in the room, and there will be places for residents to take off their shoes; Some rooms have balconies.

Japanese hotels generally have bathing places, while hotels located in hot spring areas generally have hot springs for tourists to soak in. The more advanced the hotel, the more likely it is to have an independent hot spring in the room. Hotels will provide bathrobes for tourists to wear, and hotels located in scenic spots may also provide clogs for tourists to wear outside the hotel. Entertainment facilities provided by the hotel include table tennis.

Hotel rooms are generally equipped with cloth balls, which are laid on tatami for passengers to sleep. During non-sleep time, the cloth group will be removed and a small coffee table will be placed for guests to use. Many hotels provide dinner and breakfast for tourists, and there may be an extra charge. The food is traditional Japanese cuisine, such as Shi Huai cuisine; ? Some hotels also provide western food for foreign tourists who can't adapt to Japanese food.

(See Wikipedia "B&B" and "Japan Hotel")