There are many online guides available to help you choose bed and breakfast accommodation, whether it is a city location such as a Leicester bed and breakfast that you are looking for or a quiet retreat deep in the Scottish Highlands.

Some online guides offer a bespoke booking service, with instant confirmation of your room reservation, as well as offering visitor information on the location or region you will be staying in. Special discounts for online bookings and late availability discounts for last-minute room reservations are also offered. On line guides sometimes offer independent reviews of featured bed and breakfasts, with ratings awarded to different aspects of the accommodation, such as cleanliness, quality of the food, decorations and furniture and the welcome given to guests. After you have finished your stay, you may be invited to provide feedback and this, in turn, will be useful to future prospective visitors.

Bed and breakfast accommodation is a growing area online for guests to research and finds well priced overnight stays. It is also an increasingly popular medium for bed and breakfast owners, as they are able to reach a national and even international market. Formerly, many bed and breakfasts would have remained undiscovered gems, only able to attract local visitors or those able or willing to search out guide books and contact the tourist information facility in the region of their proposed stay. The Internet has changed all that, by providing a world platform to guest houses, inns, farmhouses and many other types of bed and breakfast accommodation.

The great appeal of bed and breakfasts is that they offer a more personal alternative to a hotel, in a relaxed atmosphere. As well as the traditional seaside bed and breakfasts in coastal resorts such as Blackpool, Skegness, Scarborough and Brighton, you can find intimate cozy countryside retreats in beautiful areas such as the Lake District or the Cotswolds. There are also many establishments aiming at the top end of the market and these are situated in towns, villages and countryside alike, meaning that you can experience luxury in, for example, a sleek modern London, Birmingham or Leicester bed and breakfast or in an “old world” environment of a thatched Gloucestershire pub or Shropshire coaching inn.

A stay in a good bed and breakfast should be like a welcoming home away from home. You should feel as relaxed as if you were staying over at a friend’s place. You will get breakfast and sometimes even a packed lunch (usually at an additional charge, although some establishments will fill up your flask with tea or coffee for free). Drying facilities are normally on offer if your bed and breakfast is on a walking trail so that if you get a soaking (quite likely, given the typical British weather!) your clothes will be dry and ready to wear again the following next day. As most bed and breakfasts are run by the owners themselves, they tend to know a lot about the local area and can be an absolute mine of information. They will know the best pubs, restaurants, shops, walks and excursions and often enjoy sharing their knowledge with their guests.

Qualicum Beach captured our attention when we were there. Strolling along the seaside promenade we had views of Lasqueti and Texada Islands and the snowcapped peaks of mountains on the mainland in the distance. Qualicum has a strong belief in heritage preservation and their antique shops, galleries and the museum are definitely worth a stop.

Campbell River, another seaside town, is known as Canada’s Salmon Fishing Capital. On a visit to the Marina, this came as no surprise; from the pier we saw masses of masts. Campbell River is also acknowledged as one of the top five scuba diving destinations in the world because of its exceptional under-water visibility, diversity of sea life and wreck sites.

“As Wild as You Like!” is a Campbell River slogan. Between skiing Mount Washington and diving the Strait of Georgia, this appears to be an apt slogan. There are trails meandering through lush forests that are worth exploring where the sounds of wildlife are a song in your ear. From the beach, we watched cruise ships, freighters, barges, sailboats, yachts and the ferry to Quadra Island travel through Discovery Passage. There is a Maritime Museum with a collection of more than 500 artifacts, some dating back 2,000 years. There is also the John Hart Dam operating at upper Campbell Lake that is worth visiting.

Traveling the road to Gold River is also well worth the effort. It is considered ‘The Cave Capital of Canada’. Upana Caves are particularly accessible and safe for novices who enjoy the sport of spelunking. There are also many more miles of caves to be found in the area for both the novice and the more adventuresome.

The West Coast Trail follows the contours of the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island and is one of Ucluelet’s main attractions. Rainforests meet pristine beaches and there is a panoramic view of Barkley Sound and the Broken Islands of Pacific Rim National Park. Lighthouse Park is another attraction where, on a slightly foggy day, you may hear the lighthouse warning boaters to be aware of the rocky and treacherous shoreline. The rugged shoreline, as seen from the walking trails, is typical of much of B.C.’s coastline. During winter storms the breakers can be as high as 20 feet. Ucluelet is popular for whale watching expeditions and each spring celebrates the migration of 20,000 gray whales.

Long Beach has a quite different shoreline with miles of sweeping white sand. When we were there, the surf was high and surfers were enjoying the excitement of catching a wave. There are many warnings to surfers and others to never turn your back on the ocean and to be especially careful around water’s edge.

We also stopped at Cathedral Grove Provincial Park located at Cameron Lake. The park is a preserved section of lush old-growth forest; many trees are 800 or more years old. Walking among these giants, we marveled at the beauty, endurance, resiliency and power of nature.

Victoria, B.C.’s capital, known as the City of Gardens, is a perfect place to visit any time of the year. Butchard Gardens is a particularly beautiful place to tour as are the Parliament Buildings.

We took time to explore the Inner Harbour, Old Town, Chinatown, James Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf and Beacon Hill Park, all within Victoria’s downtown core. This can be done either on foot, by double-decker bus, horse-drawn carriage or boat tours. Victoria is home to several exceptional museums and heritage buildings.

Other attractions include the Undersea Gardens, the Wax Museum, the Butterfly Garden, Craigdarroch Castle, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse, Canada’s first west coast lighthouse.

There are many other great places to visit on Vancouver Island but a real exploration of this interesting island could take a very long time.

We had not heard about Vancouver Island before having a lovely couple who lived there, stay with us for a month when we owned a hospitality business. Therefore, when the opportunity came up to go and see it, we jumped at the chance. We booked a day tour to take as much in as possible given our limited time in Vancouver. Picking us up from the hotel the coach delivered us to the ferry at the harbor and as it was a drive-in ferry, the coach came too.

We were blessed with a dazzlingly blue sky and cool weather. The ferry started its slow journey across to the island, the swells not very big. The ferry wasn’t crowded so it was a very pleasant trip. Privileged to see some of the marine life alongside and in the distance including some sea lions as we passed rocks and a headland of the island As well as other forms of sea life, but to this day I have no idea what they were!

It was a beautiful view as we passed through the straits on our way to Victoria, the capital of British Colombia. Remaining with the coach, we were taken for a drive through the suburbs, past the beaches on our way to the Butchart Gardens. These hundred-year-old gardens were originally a quarry and have since been transformed into an amazing garden or sequence of gardens. I think even if you were not interested in gardening at all, this one would still be mind-blowing. The tour guide allowing us three hours to see the gardens, and my first thought was gosh that is a long time for just a garden.

How wrong that assumption was! Glorious with the spring flowering shrubs and flowers, we took many pictures and feasted on the sheer beauty of the gardens. We came to a stop for a welcome rest at the cafe and inevitable souvenir shop at the end of the allotted time.

We could have cheerfully returned the next day and repeated the experience.

Then it was into Victoria itself for lunch and a wander around the city. After lunch the chance to see the British Colombia Museum. I have always enjoyed museums and this one was no exception. The attention to detail and the displays made it a worthwhile use of time while in Victoria. Then it was off to the Chemainus hotel for our booked and expensive afternoon tea. Bookings have to be made in advance here, as it has always been a very popular pastime! Indeed, it was worth the experience, the scones, cream, and strawberry jam to drool over in memory in the coming years.

The Harbor itself was a very pretty one and given the gorgeous day, made the Waitemata harbor at home in New Zealand look like a poor cousin! I would dearly love to live here; it had a wonderful feel and a lifestyle bar none. There was just not enough time to take it all in, a mental note made if we came back to Vancouver island to allow so much more time to enjoy this part of the world.