Bed & Breakfasts in Pisa ★★★

There are two types of Bed & Breakfasts in Pisa these days: the old pension-type inn—cheap, worn about the edges, and pretty hit or miss, but cheap—and the upscale private home upscale B&Bs that burgeoned in the 1990s. 

How much does a B&B in Pisa cost?

B&Bs are usually anywhere from 5% to 40% cheaper than hotels.

Expect to pay anywhere from about $60 to $170 for a double room at a typical B&B (perhaps up to $250 for historic properties in popular destinations).

Breakfast is, of course, included.

What a Italian B&B is like

In Pisa this relatively new category of lodging is even officially called by the English term, "bed-and-breakfast" (or, rather, a "bet-hand-brrek-fust")—though a few places hold on to the old name, locanda, which means "inn" and is similar in most ways to a B&B (albeit sometimes a bit larger).

A bed and breakfast—also sometimes called a guesthouse or inn on booking engines—essentially works something like a small hotel, one which provides breakfast and is located in the owner's home (or at least an a converted apartment in their building).

The size is usually limited, by varying regional laws, to no more than 3–15 rooms (typically more on the order of 3–7 rooms).

In practice, this means a cozy, welcoming, friendly place and plenty of interaction with your hosts.

There's no guarantee you'll get that prototypical kindly older couple and mansion of huge rooms loaded with chintz and doilies, charmingly creaky wooden floors, and a sumptuous breakfast spread at a communal table that will leave you needing to crawl back into your canopy bed for a nap before you head out for the day.

These days as many B&Bs are installed in modern city apartments or isolated farmhouses as in grand old homes in town, and many no longer even feature the resident-owner. Usually, however, a friendly, family, home-like atmosphere prevails.

There are sometimes drawbacks to the B&B, however. With a hotel, you are guaranteed a certain degree of anonymity: you just ask for your key at the desk and then are left alone. This is often the opposite of a B&B, where chitchat is considered part of the charm—but sometimes, you just don't want to make small-talk with the owners and other guests. On the other hand, a B&B can be a great opportunity to meet some local folks and really get an inside scoop on the culture.

Also, at a smaller B&B there's sometimes a curfew, either stated or implied—after all, you wouldn't want to wake that kindly older couple up at 2am when you stagger back to your room, now would you?

They sometimes require half or full board, private baths are rare (but getting less so), but the service is almost usually friendly and personable.

Incidentally, never take board (meal) requirements unless you cannot avoid them, as is often the case in resorty places like spas and beaches (especially in season). Eating in a local restaurant is usually a better bet and offers more variety night-to-night.

For a certain kind of trip, I enjoy B&Bs immensely.

Finding the perfect B&B

As usual, the best resource is usually the local tourist office, which almost always keeps a complete list of all bed and breakfast outfits in town and, in the best cases, includes that list on its Web site...with links.

That said, below are links and resources to help you find B&Bs across Pisa.

Note that there's a thin line (often just which set of local standards, requirements, and legal complications the owner wants to deal with) between a B&B and rental rooms.

• Booking.com - One of the best general booking sites out there, and one of the few that includes B&Bs (filed variously under the categories of "Bed and Breakfasts," "Guesthouses," and "Inns"). By the numbers: 25,350+ B&Bs in in Italy, including 3,377 B&Bs in Rome, 600+ in Florence, 250 in Venice.Partner
• Agoda.com - This booking engine, once just an Asia specialist, has recently rocketed to second-best all around the world, with some 1,700 B&Bs in Rome alone.Partner
• Hotels.com - Another generalist lodging booking site with a decent representation of B&Bs: 922 in Rome.Partner
• Airbnb.com - Famous network of both official and unofficial B&Bs, homestays, room rentals, and apartment and house rentals. So many I can't even post total numbers here. Of course, Airbnb is less regulated than most official or online resources, and many of the places to stay are not registered with the local authorities—which helps make them cheaper, but they are not inspected, or subject to official compaints, and certainly do not pay taxes. Buyer beware.
• Hostelz.com - Aggregator bringing together from many hostel and cheap hotel booking engines. If you select "Guesthouses" as the Accommodation Type you will find plenty of B&Bs in there.Partner
• Bedandbreakfast.com - B&B specialist listing more than 4,400 bed and breakfasts across Italy. User reviews help you make informed decisions.Partner
• Bedandbreakfast.eu - Massive database of 153,000 places to stay around Italy (around 9.600 in Rome alone), but it is more of a classifieds site, with each property submitting and writing its own listing, and many are not, actually, B&Bs in the traditional sense. Still, a good resource for the room hunt.

You will notice that all hotels, B&Bs, and other lodgingds (as well as sights and restaurants) on this site have a ReidsItaly.com star designation from ☆☆☆ to ★★★.

This merely indicates that I feel these accommodations offer a little something that makes them special (or extra-special, or extra-extra special, etc.).

These star ratings are entirely based on personal opinion, and have nothing to do with the official Italian hotel ratings—which have more to do with quantifiable amenities such as minibars, and not the intangibles that make a hotel truly stand out, like a combination of great location, friendly owners, nice style, and low prices.

In general, a pricier place to stay has to impress me that it is worth the added expense.

This is why I give ★★★ to some (official) "two-star" hotels or B&Bs that happen to provide amazing value for the money—and similarly have ranked a few (official) "four-star" properties just (★★☆).

Accommodations rates vary wildly—even at the same hotel or B&B—depending on type of room, number of people in it, and the season.

That's why here at ReidsItaly.com we simply provde a general price range indicating the rough rate you should expect to pay for a standard double room in mid-season.

There are three price ranges, giving you a sense of which lodgings are budget, which are moderate, and which are splurges: