The difference between a B&B and Airbnb: what is what, and what does it mean for you?

Short answer: a B&B (bed and breakfast) is a type of stay: you sleep in a guest room in the host's home or on their property, usually with breakfast and with someone who welcomes you. Airbnb is a platform: a website and app where you book stays, from a room in someone's home to an entire holiday rental, and B&Bs as well. So a B&B can perfectly well be listed on Airbnb. When people say "an Airbnb", they usually mean an apartment or house you have entirely to yourself, with no host on site and no breakfast.

It is a confusion we hear often, from guests and from people thinking about starting a B&B. Below we set out the differences: first from the guest's side, then from yours as a host.

What is a B&B?

A bed and breakfast is small-scale accommodation where the host lets one or more rooms, usually in or next to their own home. Three things define it:

• You let rooms, not a whole house. Guests have their own room, often with a private bathroom, but sometimes share a breakfast room or garden.
• There is breakfast. It is in the name. Sometimes it is included in the price, sometimes charged separately. How to handle that is covered in offering and charging for breakfast in your B&B.
• There is a host. Someone welcomes you, gives tips and can be reached. That personal contact is exactly why many guests choose a B&B.

What is Airbnb?

Airbnb is an online booking platform, just like Booking.com. It does not own any rooms itself. Hosts list their accommodation, guests book and pay through the platform, and Airbnb charges service fees for that.

On Airbnb you find three kinds of listings side by side: a private room in someone's home, an entire home or apartment, and professional accommodation such as B&Bs and small hotels. Because entire homes make up such a large share, "an Airbnb" has become everyday shorthand for "a holiday rental you book through an app".

The difference for a guest

Note: that is the typical picture, not a rule. There are B&Bs with self check-in and Airbnb homes with a breakfast basket. The honest question for a guest is not "B&B or Airbnb?" but "do I want a room with breakfast and a host, or a home to myself?". The platform is a second choice after that.

The difference for you as a host

If you run the place, the key lesson is: B&B is what you are, Airbnb is where you sell. That has a few concrete consequences.

1. You can be on Airbnb without becoming "an Airbnb"

Many B&Bs are on Booking.com, Airbnb and their own website at the same time. You remain a B&B with breakfast and a personal welcome; Airbnb is simply an extra channel with its own audience. Which platform suits you is compared in Airbnb or Booking.com for your B&B.

2. Airbnb costs money, and you do not always see it straight away

Airbnb charges service fees. For small hosts that is often a split model: a small percentage for you (around 3%) and a service fee on top of the price for the guest (around 14%). Once you connect your listing to a PMS or channel manager, Airbnb usually switches you to a model where you carry the full fee, around 15%. The figures and the maths are in why Airbnb suddenly deducts 15%. On a direct booking through your own website you pay no platform fees.

3. Breakfast and extras are easier to sell directly

On Airbnb you usually build breakfast into the price and mention it in the listing. On your own booking page the guest can add it as an extra, together with, say, a late check-out or a bottle of bubbles. That is one of the reasons a B&B benefits from steering guests to its own site.

4. The rules apply to your accommodation, not to the platform

Whether you let through Airbnb, Booking.com or your own website, the rules of your region and municipality stay the same. In Flanders, accommodation must be registered with Toerisme Vlaanderen; Brussels and Wallonia have their own rules; and many municipalities levy a tourist tax. Airbnb does not change any of that. How to handle that tax is explained in handling tourist tax in your B&B. When in doubt, always check the official source for your region and municipality.

5. More channels means guarding one calendar

As soon as your room is on Airbnb, Booking.com and your own site, every booking has to update availability everywhere immediately. Do that by hand and a double booking is only a matter of time. That is exactly what a PMS with a channel manager is for: one calendar, and every booking closes the room on all channels. What such a system does is explained in what is a PMS for a B&B.

Which one should you choose?

• As a guest: choose a B&B if you want a room, breakfast and a personal welcome. Choose an entire home (the typical "Airbnb") if you need space, a kitchen or privacy for a group. Then check whether you can book directly with the host: that is often cheaper than through a platform.
• As a host: you do not have to choose. Decide what you offer (rooms with breakfast or an entire home), and use Airbnb as one of your channels next to Booking.com and your own website.

In short

A B&B is a way of staying; Airbnb is a place to book. The confusion comes from "an Airbnb" having become everyday speech for a holiday rental without a host. For a host, the difference is mainly practical: Airbnb is an extra channel with its own fees, the rules for your accommodation stay the same, and with several channels you need one calendar that keeps everything in sync.

BedFlow PMS connects your B&B to Airbnb, Booking.com and your own booking page from one calendar, with breakfast and extras as bookable options. Have a look at the B&B software or the pricing, and try it free for 30 days, no card details needed.