Why we love a Bed & Breakfast - There are so many hospitality options on offer for today's traveller, from the cheap and cheerful to the sublime and overpriced. You can be anonymous, or you can be cossetted. You might think of Bed and Breakfasts as the "traditional" option but - been around for how long - but they've often got a lot more to offer than their contemporary counterparts. Of course, we might be a bit biased, but here's why WE love a great bed & breakfast...

It's friendly and it's personal  - Typically, our B&Bs are independently owned and professionally run. That means you get a friendly welcome on arrival, excellent service and incredible local knowledge. That's the great thing about a B&B: it's the owner's home too and they are inviting you into it. Not only do they want to be there, they want you to want to be there too. B&Bs offer a friendly, personal touch that can often be missing from larger establishments or national chains. B&B owners pride themselves on it!

It's cosy - A B&B really is a home-from-home and as such it offers another level of cosy. The owner wants you to feel at home. A B&B is not a big, impersonal space, heaving with noisy strangers; it's somewhere that you can return to, relax and be looked after.

It offers a real breakfast - Of course it does! That's the whole point of a bed and breakfast. With most dietary requirements now catered for, you can enjoy freshly prepared, home cooked delights every single morning. And the best thing? You don't have to deal with the washing up afterwards!

You can take your dog - It's true. Some B&B owners love dogs too and they're very happy for you to bring your four-legged friend on holiday with you. Check out our selection of dog-friendly B&Bs up and down the country here. There's almost 1,000 of them so we think you'll find something you and your dog will love.

Some things you might not know about B&Bs...

• B&Bs can be traced back to the 1700s when stagecoach inns provided stabling for horses and lodging for travellers, as the country's transportation network evolved. As the first roads opened, so did inns providing modest accommodation
• There are now 25,000 B&Bs and guest houses in the UK, and B&Bs all over the globe The first ever National B&B Day was held in March 2018 by the B&B Association and online booking platform eviivo. In the week after the event, B&B bookings went up by 8.1%
• B&Bs play an important role in rural and coastal areas, where they are often the only accommodation for tourists. Their presence supports local livelihoods too, beyond just those of the B&B owners.

And finally, for what it's like to be the B&B owner and not the guest, read this from the Telegraph: 13 things being a B&B owner taught me about the British. It reminds us that B&B owners do it more for love than money!