Bed And Breakfast Facilities: A Home Away from Home

Bed and Breakfast (B & B) accommodations are becoming more popular in Guyana as remote villages work to promote their tourism product. These facilities provide overnight lodging and breakfast, in a home-like setting, to guests with the hosts either living there or in a separate building nearby.  This type of accommodation is now a preferred lodging choice for many people due to the social interaction with the hosts and with fellow guests. 

For persons interested in setting up such a facility or improving a similar facility, the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has developed a National Standard – Bed and breakfast facilities (GYS 514:2016) –which includes the basic requirements to run a successful B & B business. According to the Standard, a Bed and Breakfast facility is one that is approved to provide breakfast as part of the room rate to visitors.

This National Standard was formulated to improve the quality of services offered by local providers of Bed and Breakfast facilities. It can be used by providers and potential investors, in this category of accommodation, to ensure that guests are satisfied; this contributes to a successful business. The standard provides minimum requirements for three categories of facilities, A, B and C category.

One of the first things highlighted in the document is the standard space for what is described as a ‘habitable room’ and this is 10M² per person. In addition, it states that while the hosts or caretakers reside at these facilities, the rooms set aside for guests must not be used by the family members. The rooms and surroundings must be consistently clean and well maintained and accompanied by adequate bathrooms dependent on if the facility is classified as category A, B or C.

The Standard specifies that a category A facility offers self-contained double or single bedrooms with ceiling fans or AC and a hot and cold shower. It also offers access to WiFi, television, telephone, a mini refrigerator and other amenities. Meanwhile, a category B facility offers a room that does not necessarily contain AC Units and other facilities. In addition, these rooms are accompanied by shared toilet and bath facilities. While the document does not stipulate the requirements for a Category C accommodation, it states that running water and other amenities which ensure a comfortable stay are essential.

General requirements in the National Standard includes adequate security for guests and their possession, prohibition of any form of discrimination and convenient parking, or adequate advertisement of lack thereof.

As stakeholders celebrate Tourism Awareness Month 2021 under the theme “Preparing for a new frontier- stimulating innovation within the tourism sector,” the GNBS is encouraging the implementation of Standards. The Bureau, this year, launched its Standards Portal which is accessible on our website at gnbsgy.org, or interested persons can contact our office on 219-0064-66 or message us on Whatsapp at 692-4697 (GNBS).