The RV Life

Tuscany tops its billing. It is an Arcadian countryside strung with grapevines, shimmering silver with olive trees, and peppered with medieval hilltowns and ancient art-stuffed cities. Tuscany is the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florentine steaks, and Chianti wine- an earthly Eden, a must-see stop on big bus tours and a playground for rich wine snobs. Yet the very richness and variety of its culture ensures there's always a budget alternative to $100 wines and $500 hotel rooms. We're going to enjoy Tuscan feasts for under $15, sample some of Italy's greatest wines for free, admire masterful fourteenth- and fifteenth-century frescoes in churches and cheap civic museums, and stay in rooms with a view for under $50. We'll do that by avoiding familiar Florence and tourist-jammed Pisa (where the newly reopened Leaning Tower costs a ridiculous E15/$13.75 to climb) in favor of four alternative urban wonders just a few kilometers away. Two of our towns are also tourist favorites but hide a budget side: Siena, a Gothic city of brick palazzi and notoriously friendly citizens, famous for turning out major saints, sinful cookies, and colorful Gothic frescoes; and San Gimignano, a "Medieval Manhattan" of more than a dozen stone skyscrapers. Two others are on the brink of discovery, beloved by discriminating travelers but as yet bypassed by the big tour buses: Elegant Lucca with its pretty churches and preference for bicycles over cars, and wine-soaked Montepulciano, where wine tasting is free and Renaissance palaces sit atop a labyrinth of aging cellars. (The room rates we cite below are totals for a double room, and the restaurant prices cover a full meal-pasta, main course, and dessert-with wine, water, and cover charge.) Lucca Lucca (just next to Pisa) is a genteel, unjustifiably overlooked city set into plains that wash up against the foothills of the snowcapped Apuan Alps, where Michelangelo mined his marble. The choirs of its Romanesque churches once rang with the young voices of future composers Puccini and Boccherini. Puccini warbled at San Michele in Foro, which rises at the very center of town on the site of Lucca's ancient forum. The church's lofty facade is distinctive of the local Romanesque style, a towering stack of open arcades kneeling on rows of midget, mismatched columns. The stack of thirteenth-century facade arcades on the Duomo di San Martino cathedral hangs above a portico packed with medieval carvings and sculptures. The sacristy (E1.65/$1.50) preserves Lucca's great art treasure, Jacopo della Quercia's masterly early Renaissance tomb of Ilaria Guinigi, a tragic beauty who married the town boss before dying at 26. The cathedral's religious treasure is the Volto Santo, a time-blackened Christ that legend holds was carved by Nicodemus himself (it's probably a thirteenth-century copy of an eighth-century Syrian work). This ancient town still preserves its Roman street plan, including Piazza Anfiteatro, an oval of medieval buildings grafted onto the remains of an ancient amphitheater within a circuit of massive sixteenth-century brick bastions. The broad ramparts were turned into a narrow city park by Princess Elisa Bacciocchi, Napol,on's sister, whose regency ended Lucca's long centuries as an independent republic. It's now a grand tree-shaded avenue thronged with Luccans strolling or riding their bicycles. Luccans far prefer biking to driving, and you'll find few cars within the walls (rent your own cycle wheels for about E2.20/$2 per hour at the rental outfits on Piazza Santa Maria). At 4:30 p.m., locals line up at the Art Nouveau take-out window of Amadeo Giusti, Via Santa Lucia 18-20, to snack on Lucca's best pizza bianca (white pizza). They then take the snack on their evening passeggiata (after-dinner stroll) along shop-lined Via Fillungo, popping into historic 1846 Antico Caff, di Simo at no. 58 for an espresso or Campari. Luccan lodging Lucca's best hotels are all small family-run affairs. Phone ahead to book at the excellent Piccolo Hotel Puccini, run by the wonderfully helpful Paolo, a block from central Piazza San Michele (Via di Poggio 9; 0583-55-421, hotelpuccini.com, E80/$73.45 per double room; breakfast E3.50/$3.20). On a pocket-size piazza off Via Fillungo sits the amiable La Luna, where seventeenth-century frescoes decorate a few of the otherwise contemporary rooms (Corte Compagni 12; 0583-493-634, hotellaluna.com, E99/$90.80 per double; breakfast E10.50/$9.65). Cheapest of the lot, half a block from the Duomo near the city's southern walls, simple little Albergo Diana is divided into a main hotel and a slightly more luxurious, more expensive annex; the staff is sometimes unfriendly (Via Molinetto 11; 0583-492-202, albergodiana.com, E52-E83/$47.75-$76.20 per double room; breakfast ... la carte from E3.50/$3.20). Luccan meals Lucca sports three excellent trattorie serving up inexpensive, heaping portions of Lucchese dishes, including zuppa di farro (emmer wheat soup). Trattoria Da Leo is the old-fashioned lunch spot of choice for locals just off the central Piazza San Michele (Via Tegrimi 1; 0583-492-236, meals around E20/$18.35). The huge Da Giulio packs them in for dinner, making up for a lack of graceful decor with quality cooking and smiling service (Via Conce 45/Piazza San Donato, 0583-55-948, E20/$18.35). Papa runs the single room of homey Da Guido, mamma runs the kitchen, and there's a TV blaring in the corner (Via Cesare Battisti 28; 0583-476-219, E14/$12.85). For a lighter meal in Lucca, head to Pizzeria da Felice for excellent pizza by the slice, local specialty flatbreads cecina (made with chickpeas) and chestnut-flour castagnaccio stuffed with sweet ricotta (Via Buia 12; 0583-494-986, E4.55/$4.20). Siena Siena is a city in hilltown clothing. Its Gothic brick palazzi and marble Baroque church facades are splayed along three ridge tops centered along a trio of (usually) car-free boulevards: Shopping drag Via Banchi di Sopra, touristy Via di Citt..., and quiet Via Banchi di Sotto. The three meet just outside Siena's lovely main square, Piazza del Campo, a sloping scallop-shell of herringbone brick where people picnic, nap, and celebrate soccer victories. Anchoring the base is the crenellated thirteenth-century town hall, the Palazzo Pubblico/Museo Civico, well worth the E6.50 ($6) admission to admire its public spaces frescoed with Sienese Gothic masterpieces. These include Simone Martini's courtly, early La Maest... (Madonna in Majesty) and the richly patterned Guidoriccio. Ambrogio Lorenzetti's seminal Allegory of Good and Bad Government and its Effects on the Town and Countryside, which is packed with scenes of fourteenth-century daily life and is perhaps the most important secular painting from medieval Europe, decorates the chamber of the old ruling Council of Nine to remind them of the effects of their government. The bulky zebra-striped Gothic Duomo (cathedral) is free except from August 23 to October 2, when the stunning patchwork of inlaid and etched marble panels carpeting the floor is uncovered (E5.50/$5.05). On other dates, a few panels are always left visible, and most of the cathedral is free (except the Libreria Piccolomini, an antechamber lushly frescoed by Pinturricchio and his young assistant Raphael; E1.50/$1.40). At the duomo's crossing are a chapel by Baroque master Bernini and a densely carved pulpit by Gothic geniuses Nicola and Giovanni Pisano. The brick vaults under the massive sixteenth-century Medici fortress, once a symbol of Florence's dominance, now host the Enoteca Italica Permanente, a sort of national wine museum where you can sample Italy's best vintages for E1.30-E2.60 ($1.20-$2.40) per glass. Siena boasts many more sights and museums, but most (save the churches) charge admission. The city offers a multitude of cumulative tickets for various grab-bags of sights; there are many permutations, but the E15 ($13.75) one gets you into pretty much everything. Sienese sleeps Amazingly, one of the best hotel deals, Cannon d'Oro, is on the main drag, where its big rooms mix some nice antiques with functional pieces (Via Montanini 28; 0577-44-321, svpm.it, E52-E85/$47.75-$78 per double room; breakfast E6/$5.50). Tiny Hotel Bernini is a home away from home. The nine guest rooms are fitted with a rummage sale of antiques set on patterned tile floors, and are only separated from the family's half of the apartment by a curtain. Nadia will let you onto the roof terrace overlooking St. Catherine's house, and Mauro often serenades guests with his accordion (Via della Sapienza 15; 0577-289-047, albergobernini.com, E82/$73.50 per double; E62/$56.90 without bath; breakfast E6.70/$6.15). A bit institutional but remarkably cheap, Alma Domus is run by nuns who unfortunately insist upon an 11:30 p.m. curfew. The basic rooms lack amenities save A/C in a few, and the phones can only receive calls (though this may change). The best have balconies overlooking the striped Duomo across a wide gully (Via Camporeggio 37; 0577-44-177, E65/$59.65 per double room; breakfast E6/$5.50). Sienese spreads Next door to St. Catherine's house, the brick floor of cozy Osteria La Chiacchera ("the chatterbox") is scattered with little wood tables crowded with locals. The desserts are stupendous (Costa di Sant'Antonio 4; 0577-280-631, E11/$10 per full meal). Although it's just two doors off Siena's main square, the down-home trattoria La Torre, its kitchen open to the dining room and turning out homemade pastas and traditional Tuscan dishes, hasn't been discovered by tourists (Via Salicotto 7-9; 0577-287-548, E17/$15.60 for an extensive meal). Finally, a big splurge: Simone Romi's service makes the single room of Castelvecchio feel intimate, and Mauro Lombardini's skill in the kitchen brings forth a daily menu of creative Tuscan cuisine based on the freshest ingredients. This classy level of taste, atmosphere, and service usually costs three times as much (Via Castelvecchio 65; 0577-49-586, E25/$23). San Gimignano The poster child of Tuscan hilltowns, San Gimignano is a minuscule medieval metropolis with over a dozen stone towers bristling above vineyards that produce a tart, straw-colored white wine ranked among Italy's best. Try to spend the night: The tour bus hordes disappear at 5:30 p.m., the town comes back to life, and the medieval air rekindles in stone-clad alleys. The best view of the skyline is from the ruined ramparts of La Rocca, a tumbledown medieval fortress now planted with a tiny town park. Back on the main piazza, you can climb past the lovely small civic museum of paintings-including rare, racy, fourteenth-century secular frescoes of a wedding night-to the top of the town's tallest tower, the Torre Grossa (E6.20/$5.45), for a postcard panorama of patchwork fields. Every inch of the interior of the Collegiata (main church, E3.10/$2.85) is swathed in colorful Gothic and early Renaissance frescoes that illustrate, comic strip-style, biblical scenes for the once-illiterate masses. At the far end of town sits the little-visited thirteenth-century Sant'Agostino church, preserving gorgeous fifteenth-century frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli and Sebastiano Mainardi. The tourist office sells a cumulative ticket for E7.50 ($6.90) that gets you into all the main sights in town (except for the privately run Torture Museum; E7.75/$7.10) including those mentioned above, plus the modest Museums of Sacred Art and of Archaeology (Etruscan and Roman remains), the Spezeria di Santa Fino historic pharmacy, and the new Modern Art Museum, which features rotating exhibits. San Gimignano digs No hotel in San Gimignano is cheap. The best you can do is the rather nice Bel Soggiorno (Via San Giovanni 91; 0577-940-375, hotelbelsoggiorno.it, E75/$68.85 per double room, E80/$73.45 with valley views; breakfast included). The secret to saving money here is affittacamere (rental rooms). They can be hit-or-miss, but some are quite lovely, and they start as low as E30 ($27.50). The tourist office gives lists (Le Vecchie Mura restaurant, below, even rents a couple at E49/$45); get a sneak peak at several through sangimignano.com. You can book most through the local agency Associazione Strutture Extralberghiere (Piazza della Cisterna 6; 0577-943-111). San Gimignano dining The budget trick in San Gimignano is to get off the tourist-choked main street. Near the Porta San Matteo end of town sits Osteria delle Catene, a medieval vault with modern art and lighting fixtures where locals gather to enjoy everything from mixed meat-and-cheese platters to full Tuscan meals accompanied by excellent Italian wines (Via Mainardi 18; 0577-941-966, E18/$16.50 for a multicourse repast). The pricier Le Vecchie Mura serves hearty local fare at long communal tables under brick-vaulted eighteenth-century horse stalls, with a lovely summer terrace outside atop the city walls (Via Piandornella 15; 0577-940-270, E25/$22.95). Montepulciano Life in this ancient hill town revolves around the powerful, versatile Vino Nobile, one of Italy's mightiest red wines. For over 1,200 years, this "noble wine" has been aged and bottled in the wine cellars under Montepulciano's Renaissance palazzi. Many of these warrens of stony rooms and tunnels carved into the tufa bedrock are open to visitors, offering free samples of wine, grappa, and sometimes cured meats, cheeses, and breads produced by the vineyards' farms. Plus you'll never find a better price on bottles of Italy's top wines to take home. The free smorgasbords concentrate along Via Gracchiano nel Corso and around Piazza Grande; four stand out. Ercolani/Pulcino, at Via Gracchiano nel Corso 80, is the most commercial, with archaeological bits and an Etruscan tomb displayed in its cellars, and it boasts the most free samples. Its neighbor Avignonesi, at no. 91, is the classiest cantina in town; no cellars to explore, but a bar to tipple gratis from one of Italy's oldest and most-respected wineries. Classic Cantina del Redi, installed in the multistory foundations of Palazzo Ricci on Via Ricci, stacks huge barrels in a series of towering narrow brick vaults connected by steep underground staircases. At Gattavecchi, Via Collazzi 22, the "shop" where you enter is just a large storage closet off the bottling room, but you can always rustle up a friendly face to pour a sample and flip on the lights in the most wonderfully creepy, moldy cellar tunnels in town. To connect the free booze and nibbles at either end of Montepulciano, follow the winding main street (it goes by numerous names, all ending in "Corso") lined with an astonishing number of Renaissance palazzi, including Palazzo Bucelli (no. 73), whose foundation is a collage of 2,700-year-old Etruscan funerary urns. The street climbs steadily, often steeply, to the top of the hill and Piazza Grande, studded with Renaissance palaces designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder; a duomo that's filled with early fifteenth-century sculptures and a golden altarpiece by Taddeo di Bartoldo; and Michelozzo's Palazzo Comunale, a fourteenth-century travertine copy of Florence's old city hall. Wend your way inside, past civic offices and overstuffed filing cabinets, to climb the crenellated tower for fantastic countryside vistas (free). Just outside this end of town sits an exercise in geometrically precise Renaissance architecture, Antonio da Sangallo the Elder's celebrated Tempio di San Biagio, a travertine temple to classical models built on a grassy lawn. Montepulciano hotels Montepulciano has some great little family-run hotels. One of my favorites is Giorgio and Ivana Caroti's Meubl, Il Riccio, with functionally comfortable rooms over the mosaics studio founded by Giorgio's father (Via Talosa 21; 0578-757-713, ilriccio.net, E77.50/$71.15 per double room; breakfast E8/$7.35). Marcella rents a trio of simple rooms without bath above her restaurant Cittino that feel just like crashing in your Italian auntie's spare bedroom-one room even squeezes in a bunk bed for families (Vicolo della Via Nuova 2/Via Voltaia nel Corso, 0578-757-335, E34/$31.20 per double room; breakfast ... la carte). Call ahead so the shopkeeper-owner can open the door of Affitacamere Bellavista. Rooms lack character-just a sagging bed, wooden table, and chair-but they do offer great valley views, especially the 180 degrees of countryside from no. 6's tiny terrace. Avoid viewless no. 5 (Via Ricci 25; 0578-716-341, E49/$45 per double room; no breakfast offered). Montepulciano dining Sadly, Tuscany's famous pappardelle al chingiale (sheet-like noodles in wild boar sauce) is often made with frozen farm-raised boar, but the pappardelle at Montepulciano's down-home Trattoria Diva & Matteo is so genuine I once bit into a pellet of buckshot (Via Gracchiano nel Corso 92; 0578-716-951, E23/$20.10 per multicourse feast). At a more modest price, Marcella makes everyone feel at home at Cittino, recommended as a hotel above. The dining room opens off her living room, and she'll bring out a tray of the pastas handmade that morning for you (E20/$18.35 per full meal). You can get great simple dishes and platters of salamis and cheeses from the owner's farm at the tavernlike Osteria dell'Acquacheta (Via Teatro 22; 0578-758-443, E25/$22.95). Since 1868 everyone from Pirandello to Fellini has made Art Nouveau CaffS Polizano their Montepulciano home-away-from-home for cappuccino and panini; try to snag a table with picture-window valley views (Via Voltaia nel Corso 27-29; 0578-758-615, E14/$12.85). Traveling around Lush hills and countless tiny towns to explore make Tuscany one of the best places to splurge on a rental car-groups of three won't spend much more on a car than on separate train and bus tickets; for groups of four, a car is usually a savings. It's always cheapest to book a few weeks in advance with the major U.S.-based companies, though specialists Auto Europe (888/223-5555, autoeurope.com), Europe by Car (800/223-1516, 212/581-3040 in New York City, 800/252-9401 in California, europebycar.com), and Kemwell (800/678-0678, kemwell.com) sometimes underbid the likes of Hertz and Avis. Lucca lies on the Florence-Viareggio train line; it's also a short hop from Pisa, which is a major stop on the main coastal line from Rome. Siena's train station (on a direct line from Florence; from Rome, switch at Chiusi/Chianciano Terme) is two miles outside town, requiring a city bus to run you to the center. For once, taking a bus from Florence makes more sense, as buses tend to be more frequent, slightly faster, and stop in town. There are also a half-dozen daily buses from Rome's Tiburtina station. Siena's bus station is on Piazza San Domenico; the ticket office is under the church's right flank. Montepulciano is tricky. There is a Montepulciano Staz stop on a local train line from Siena, but it's way out in the countryside and not well connected to town. Instead, get off at the Chiusi/Chianciano Terme stop, where the Siena line meets the main Rome-Florence line; from here, a local bus meets most incoming trains. San Gimignano is the most frustrating. First you have to get a bus or a train (from Siena direct, from Florence through Empoli) to Poggibonsi, from which 19 buses (only two on Sundays) trundle up to San Gimignano. For Web information on these destinations, visit lucca.turismo.toscana.it, siena.turismo.toscana.it, sangimignano.com, or comune.montepulciano.siena.it. Getting to Tuscany No flight from the United States flies direct to Tuscany, though many airlines will connect you through a European gateway to the international airports in Pisa or Florence. But it's usually cheaper just to fly into Rome and then take the train. An even more frugal, but more complicated, alternative is to get any low fare to London (Europe's cheapest gateway) and book a separate ticket on no-frills Ryanair (ryanair.ie) to Pisa for about o50 ($73.40) round-trip. When calling Italy from the United States, dial 011-39 before the number. Within Italy, just dial the numbers as they appear here.

The glacier that has just come into view looks like a giant wave spilling down the face of the mountain, a tsunami of ice that seems ready to crush anything in its path, including us. But fortunately, the glacier isn't really going anywhere, or not very quickly anyway. According to our guide, an excruciatingly chipper woman named Candace, the glacier is, in fact, moving. Backwards. Like the vast majority of Alaska's glaciers, Spencer is retreating. So needless to say there's no danger as we pass. Named for the poor chap who fell into a crevasse there in 1914, the Spencer Glacier is the first of several we'll see along our journey. This is glacier country, after all. There are more than 2,000 of them in the state, according to the Bruce Molnia, a glacial geologist with the United States Geological Survey, even though there is about fifty percent less ice here than there was 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age. We are traveling by train through the heart of Southwest Alaska, riding the "Coastal Classic" from Anchorage to Seward. My wife and I agree that the ride is an impressive value at just $98 per person. (The Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward departs Anchorage daily at 6:45 am from May 15 to Sept. 13, 2004.) The train ride is a mere 120 miles, and takes just four and a half hours, but it is without question one of the most beautiful routes in the country. This is truly an excellent way to see Alaska, to gape at its awesome scale, its epic beauty. Any cube-dwelling city-slickers looking for a drastic change of scenery in their lives could hardly do better than coming to the 49th state. Our trip officially began in Anchorage, where we spent several days enjoying festivals celebrating the summer solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. On the morning of our departure, we were up at 5 am, and made our way to the spartan, but efficient, Anchorage station, where, according to Tim Thompson of the Alaskan Railroad, trains have one of the best reputations in the country for running on time. "We're very proud of that fact," he says. A fact that is pretty amazing if you consider the size of the state of Alaska. Getting here was easy. We booked our United Airlines flight several weeks in advance from New York to Anchorage through Orbitz for $500 per person. Several airlines, including Alaska Airlines, occasionally run Web specials to Anchorage, so keep your eyes out for them. Also, it's significantly cheaper if you fly from the West Coast. Along with scores of tourist-focused families and Seward residents heading home, we boarded the Coastal Classic, a gleaming blue and yellow chain of railroad cars, cars that appeared so well maintained, they'd make a New York City transit worker seethe with envy. The train offers reserved seats and a dining car, but there is also a dome viewing car with a kind of sunroof on steroids, that allows riders to gawk and snap pictures with panoramic abandon. Shortly after leaving Anchorage, the train passes through the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Also known as Potter's Marsh, the area is teeming with wildlife. We spot thousands of migratory birds gathered in broad ponds and see several Moose loping around the edge of the water. We come upon the resort town of Girdwood and then chug further down the Southeast edge of the Turnagain Arm, a broad mirror of grey water that forms a branch of the Cook Inlet and experiences the world's second highest tides at over 30 feet. The Arm's name comes from an 1778 expedition led by Captain James Cook. Cook had entered the arm during his search for the Northwest Passage, but upon reaching the dead end of the arm, he was forced to "turn again", leaving it with the somewhat awkward-sounding name. The train we are on has recently been through several major changes. Four years ago, the Alaskan Railroad Corporation, which is owned by the State of Alaska, decided to improve the line to make it more inviting to tourists. They spent almost $5 million restoring the cars and adding dome viewing cars. The result is a remarkably appealing rail adventure that has an almost Disneyesque feel to it. In a good way. "They [the Alaska Rail company] really does a phenomenal job catering to tourists," says train buff John Coombs who runs alaskarail.org, a private site dedicated to the Alaska rail. "They've done a terrific job restoring it. When the sun is shining, [the Anchorage to Seward route] is probably the most beautiful ride in the country." While glaciers and rivers are a treat, the wildlife seems to capture the attention of our car's passengers, particularly the children. Already we have seen Dall sheep scaling the rocky mountainside with balletic ease. Further on, we see a baby brown bear sneak into the brush and a six-foot tall Moose munching grass next to a shallow stream. Several bald eagles soar overhead, easily identifiable from the white shock of their head feathers. Of course, we're lucky. The early explorers to this part of the country were deprived of such a glorious (and comfortable) way to see the Alaskan countryside. The railroad wasn't finished until 1923, when President Warren Harding drove in the famous golden spike near Anchorage, thus opening up easy passage to Seward, once a lonely fishing village. Since then, traffic has grown impressively. Last year, over 400,000 passengers rode on the Alaskan railroad. We pass several other glaciers along the way, including the Bartlett and Trail Glaciers, each of which Candace brings to our attention with her inimitable charm. We climb a mountain via sweeping switchbacks that take the train back and forth up the mountainside and which must have been an engineering nightmare. We pass Kenai Lake, whose turquoise blue color comes from suspended glacial silt in the water, but whose hues seem unreal. After four and a half hours that pass like two, we arrive in the town of Seward on Resurrection Bay. It is a magnificent summer's day and the town is gearing up for the famous 4th of July celebration a few days away, when the population will double and the Mt. Marathon race will pit extreme athletes against one another to race to the top of the race's namesake. Even though it is our destination, Seward is known as the "gateway" to Alaska because it is here that the railroad "officially" starts. The town is named in honor of William H. Seward who, in one of the sweetest deals in American history, orchestrated the purchase of Alaska from the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million, or little more than two cents an acre. Having reached our destination, we step off the Coastal Classic and made our way to the charming Van Gilder Hotel, where we booked a spacious room for $150 per night. We feel distinctly saddened that the trip was over. There is nothing like traveling by train. Of course, the feeling is short-lived, eclipsed by the excitement that a new stage of our trip was just beginning.

In theory, at least, it's a simple idea. We all have spare rooms, spare beds, a cot or a couch. Why not make them available to congenial people when they travel to your home city, in exchange for their doing the same for you upon a visit to their home city--or to the city of another congenial person? Unlike a "vacation exchange," which involves a meticulously scheduled, simultaneous swapping of homes or apartments, the "hospitality exchange" is a far more casual facility, available at any time. On the eve of a trip, members--in the usual instance--consult a directory of other members, and then phone or write to learn if they can be accommodated. The others--the hosts--do the same when it's their time to travel. Each is received in another's home as a relative would be, either for free, or at most for a simple reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. Sensible? Logical? It's more than that. It's like a perfect world, this cooperation among people, like enjoying an extended family all over the world. But there's a problem: the considerable amount of time required of an organizer. The practice involves, at least, the periodic publication and distribution of a members' directory, sometimes even direct assistance from the central organization in making reservations. Because membership fees must be kept modest, and no one earns a living from them, the idealistic founders of many a "hospitality exchange" have eventually been forced by hard reality to give up the effort. That's what happened in 1986 to Tom Lynn's "Traveler's Directory," a nationwide "hospitality exchange" that was both the "giant" (several hundred members) and a pioneer in the field. But eight other groups continue to carry the torch, and deserve our attention. Each caters to a different type of American: The Hospitality Exchange of Lewistown, Montana, is the direct successor to the Traveler's Directory. This 40-year-old company, which is run by Wayne and Kathie Phillips, recently brought a similar organization called World for Free into its fold. About one-third of the current 500 hosts are "retired"; the others are between ages 35-55, or younger. "They come from all income brackets and all occupations, but share one ideal: an enthusiasm for travel and travellers," says Wayne Phillips. As potential hosts, members all retain the right to say no to a prospective stay--"your home is your castle" is the organization's motto. Members have access to a secure password-protected Internet-based directory of members' listings. Thus member information is current. In addition, an annual directory is printed for those who prefer that. Only members have access to the electronic and print directories. Membership: $20 for one year, $35 for two. For an application form, contact: The Hospitality Exchange, phone 406/538-8770, 822 West Watson, Lewistown, MT 59457, or visit its website at hospex.net. Evergreen Bed and Breakfast Club is for people over the age of 50 who love to travel. Members provide hospitality and overnight accommodations for each other in their own homes. The club has operated continuously since 1982 and now has more than 2,000 host locations throughout the US and Canada. No exchange visits are required. Most visits are for a day or so as members drive cross-country, travel south for the winter, or attend special events. Members make reservations directly with their hosts and pay a gratuity of $10/day for one or $15/day for two, including breakfast. Annual dues are $60 for singles and $75 for couples. New members receive a 50% discount on dues for the first year. Mail: 201 West Broad Street #181, Falls Church VA 22046. Phone: 800/962-2392; Email: info@evergreenclub.com: evergreenclub.com. The Affordable Travel Club, like Evergreen, limits its membership by age (in this case to those over the age of 40) and must have a permanent residence and allows its members to charge a small fee to defray the costs of hospitality ($15 per night single, $20 double). Travel privileges are only open to host members, all of whom must pay a yearly fee between $55-$70 depending up whether they take the computer version or the printed Directory for U.S. Hosts. Canadian members pay between $45-$60. Overseas membership is free. It also offers pet sitting and house sitting services. Each year they offer a cruise or tour to the members. Affordable currently has over 2,800 members (1400 households) in 48 states and 30 countries worldwide. Write or call The Affordable Travel Club, 6556 Snug Harbor Lane, Gig Harbor, Washington 98335, 253/858-2172, Web: affordabletravelclub.net. Women Welcome Women Worldwide is the most seriously idealistic of the clubs. Its goals are no less than to "foster international understanding by cross culture friendship" and redefine the role of women in society. To those ends, this massive organization of 3,000 members in 79 countries sponsors conferences and gatherings, as well as publishing a quarterly newsletter and a directory in hard-copy for members. Yearly membership is $50. Members set up their own visits, by contacting women in the cities and towns that they are planning to visit. And while male partners and friends are allowed to accompany their female counterparts on trips (with the permission of the hostess), they are not allowed to join. A truly impressive organization. For more information, contact the North American representative, Sharon Giese, P.O. Box 648, Westport, CT 06881, phone 203/866-4774, or Shirley Anderson, E-mail: shirl@cruzio.com; Web: womenwelcomewomen.org.uk. Lesbian & Gay Hospitality Exchange International, was founded in 1991 to "make the world a friendlier place for gay and lesbian travelers" according to founder Garnet Colly. Currently it has over 1,000 members in 30 countries, with large clusters of members in Berlin, Paris, London, Brussels, Minneapolis, Montreal, Copenhagen, and Chicago. Membership is $40 per year per household and if you join with a lover, family member or roommate, you can travel separately under the same membership. Memberships can be paid for online via PayPal. For further information, contact Lesbian and Gay Hospitality Exchange International, c/o Jay Wiley, Schonleinstr. 20, D-10967, Berlin, Germany, e-mail lghei1@aol.com, Web: lghei.org. Educators Bed and Breakfast Travel Network, as the name suggests, is a club for those in (or formerly in) the teaching profession, and school administrators. Set up somewhat differently from the other organizations, members are not given each others' contact information. Rather, anyone can access the online directory of listings, but no names, addresses, or phone numbers. You choose from the descriptions, call the club and then they make all the arrangements for you. The nightly fee is $34 for a double room, $30 for a single, plus a $5 booking fee for each reservation. Of those amounts, $10 goes to the host in the form of a travel credit that can either be used toward the yearly membership fee ($36 per year, plus a one time non-refundable initiation fee of $10) or toward the host's own travels. Visit the organization's Web site at educatorstravel.com or write to Educators Bed and Breakfast Travel Network, P.O. Box 5279, Eugene, OR 97405, phone 800/956-4822). UU'RE Home was started by a Universalist couple, but has since been sold to Paula Robbins. It has many Unitarian Universalists as members, although it is not directly sponsored by any church. And in addition to homes, its directory lists higher-priced and more formal B&B's. Membership is $18 per year, which entitles you to a copy of the printed directory (published in April) and an identification card; one-year access to its website plus membership and directory is $23; and web-only access is $10/year. Contact UU'RE Home, 43 Vermont Court, Asheville, NC (phone 828/281-3253), Email: info@uurhome.com; Web: uuhomecomings.com. The one without reciprocal obligations And finally, there's Servas, of New York City, similar to a "hospitality exchange," but not really so, because members are entitled to receive hospitality without being obligated to provide it; as a Servas member, you can be a "taker," not a "giver," all because thousands of other Servas members around the world are willing to put you up without expecting anything in return; they do so because they enjoy have foreigners in their homes and because they believe the activity furthers the cause of world peace. An outgrowth of the peace movement, Servas has built its remarkable roster of 14,000 hospitality-givers over more than 50 years, and yet maintains a relatively low profile in the United States. Applicants pay a fee of $85 and are then screened for membership by a Servas interviewer in their locality; being accepted for membership, they are then entitled, on the eve of a trip, to receive the names and addresses of hosts in the cities to which they will be traveling. The normal stay with a Servas host is three days and two nights, which may be extended at the discretion of the host. Day-hosting or day-stays are also an option. A great many Servas travelers, known to me, invariably stay for a week and longer in the homes of their hosts. If you're endowed with the proper attributes--you enjoy meeting people, conversing with them and ascertaining their views, sharing the daily rhythms of their lives--then you'll want to join Servas. To me, Servas is the most exalted travel organization on earth. Contact: United States Servas Inc., 11 John Street, Room 505, New York, NY 10038, phone 212/267-0252, Web: usservas.org. All of these organizations are anxious to grow, anxious to serve. By simply providing occasional hospitality to their members--an enriching experience--you can then receive hospitality from their members, traveling cheaper and better.

Although people from time immemorial have been renting spare rooms in their homes to transient visitors, the activity came of age in the United States only with the creation of large-scale "reservations service organizations" (RSOs) in the early 1980s. Such early RSOs as Bed-and-Breakfast Rocky Mountains, Bed-and-Breakfast Nebraska, Bed-and-Breakfast Philadelphia, and dozens more, provided the marketing efforts and all-day telephone confirmations in their respective cities, states, or regions that no individual B&B household could afford to supply on its own. An explosion in the use of B&Bs soon followed. The cost-conscious public, on arrival in a large city, had only to look under "B" in the telephone book to find the area-wide reservations service that could recommend any number of B&Bs and then confirm space at them. To aid matters more, various telephone companies soon created a "bed-and-breakfast" category in the Yellow Pages, enabling travelers to find those few ornery RSO services whose names did not begin with "B": Sweet Dreams and Toast, Urban Ventures, Pinellas County Bed-and-Breakfast, etc. Suddenly, the public had a surefire means of always uncovering a nearby B&B. But more important, they were able at last to deal only with homes that had been pre-screened for suitability by a larger organization. The single greatest dread of the traveler--arriving at an improper lodging, to be met by an unshaven and bleary-eyed proprietor--was overcome, and Americans by the tens of thousands began flocking to guest-accepting homes confirmed and vouched-for by a regional "reservations service organization." The negative reaction And then the reaction set in. First from the hotel industry. Whether America's commercial innkeepers are behind the banning of B&Bs in Carmel and Santa Fe is hard to determine. But there are suspicions of their part in drafting fire regulations that impose unreasonable burdens (in my opinion) on the bed-and-breakfast industry. A recently enacted New York State fire ordinance (admittedly, the nation's most stringent) requires elaborate sprinklers, expensive extra stairs, and special fire doors of any establishment housing more than four paying visitors on a habitual basis. The application of such rules to an easily-evacuated, one-story ranch house or simple two-story home seems a bit much. Other attempts to put B&Bs out of business have focused on residential zoning laws that forbid the taking of "boarders." But most courts have responded that the boarder ban was meant to refer to guests who were full-time residents of the city, not transient visitors, and that other significant differences also made the rules inapplicable. Such zoning fights--the disputed interpretation of various vague prohibitions against commercial activity--are obviously the result of fears that a steady stream of B&B visitors will cheapen a residential neighborhood, attracting motor vans, backpackers, impecunious wanderers, and the like, to an area of quiet homes. As sensitive as we all might be to such concerns, there seems no evidence at all to support the prediction. Many B&B houses have no signs outside, nor are they open to walk-in members of the public--as in a hotel--but only to specific individuals who have made reservations in advance. Far from harming a community, experience shows that a thriving bed-and-breakfast industry attracts the best sort of additional tourism: sensitive and reasonably well-financed travelers who prefer the charm of a private home to an impersonal hotel or flashy motel. It brings considerable extra income, even prosperity, to the areas in which those homes are located. Why you're not seeking a B&B inn A problem of equal weight has been the adverse reactions of some travelers to the rates charged by B&B "inns," which are frequently higher than in a hotel. Confusing a B&B "inn" with a B&B "house," such disgruntled guests have proceeded to damn the entire movement. It is important that, somehow, both the B&B proprietors and the writers of B&B guidebooks adopt a proper semantic distinction between B&Bs that are inns and those that are homes. A B&B inn is a multi-room structure wholly devoted to transient visitors. It is often a place of exquisite decor, down comforters, punctilious attentions, and cinnamon croissants (or strawberry-flavored quiche) for breakfast. Its prices are, often justifiably, higher than those of hotels. By contrast, a B&B home is that of a normal, private family that has simply decided to supplement its income by setting aside one or two spare rooms--rarely more--for occasional paying guests. The family does not derive its entire income from that activity, but simply an extra $3,000 to $6,000 a year--the average earnings cited by most reports on the B&B industry (supplemented by the family's frequent ability to write off a portion of its home expenses or home purchase price on their taxes). Places that are B&B houses as opposed to B&B inns continue to charge 40 percent to 50 percent less than comparable hotels all over the country. Yet because they are confused with B&B inns, they are suspected of gouging. The industry needs different names for different categories. Becoming a B&B host What should someone do who is tempted to enter the bed-and-breakfast field? If you, for instance, should have a spare room or two in your attractive and well-located home, should you simply phone up the nearest "reservations service organization" forthwith (they're listed in the Yellow Pages under "Bed and Breakfast Accommodations") and ask them to list you? (The RSO fee is usually 20% to 30% of the sums they generate for you.) Greater deliberation is called for. If you live in a large city, check first to learn whether a local "urban independent night school" (a Learning Annex, Discovery Center, Open University or some such) is offering a one-night course in "How to Start a Bed-and-Breakfast Business." There you'll learn of additional pitfalls in addition to prospects. Or else order a copy of one of the several books on the subject, such as Open Your Own Bed & Breakfast by Barbara Notarius and Gail Brewer (John Wiley & Sons) Its chapters ("Is Bed and Breakfast for You?" "Financial Considerations," "Public Relations and Advertising," "Working with a Reservations Service," etc.) deal with just about every question you may have. Ms. Notarius, herself a successful B&B host, formed a consulting service that operates periodic weekend seminars January through April (costing $400 for the first person, $500 per couple) for would-be hosts of B&Bs, and also provides personal, one-on-one advice to persons contemplating the more serious step of opening a multi-room B&B inn. Contact Barbara Notarius, Alexander Hamilton House, 49 Van Wyck Street, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 (phone 888/414-ALEX or 914/271-6737, alexanderhamiltonhouse.com). Or for a more intensive look at B&B inns, not homes, order "So ... You Want to Be an Innkeeper" ($17 through the mail from Professional Association of Innkeepers International, P.O. Box 90710, Santa Barbara, CA 93190 (phone 805/569-1853 or fax 805/682-1016 or e-mail them at: info@paii.org, or go to its Web site at paii.org) The PAII also issues an inn-keeping newsletter and will send you a list of workshops on the subject if you ask. Alternative book, alternative seminars: Carl Glassman's "How to Start and Run Your Own B&B" (for persons aspiring to let from two to 14 rooms) $15.95 from Stackpole Books, 800/READNOW; Glassman's own seminars and consultancies run $499 for one person, $550 for two, including overnight accommodations (call his "Inn School" in New Hope, PA, at 215/862-2570, or new-hope-inn.com). For slightly more expensive seminars, but scheduled more frequently and in more numerous and scattered locations, contact Oates & Bredfeldt, 886/720-INNS or 802/254-5931, or fax 802/254-3221, or Web site: oatesbredfeldt.com. A wise man once said that Hell consisted of being condemned to stay, each night into eternity, in a different Holiday Inn. Through the judicious use of B&Bs, that need not be your fate. They provide us with a refreshing and cheaper alternative to the stale and increasingly standard hotel. The leading B&B reservations organizations Regional in scope, each representing about 100 homes, these firms perform the function of pre-screening/inspecting each lodging to ensure its suitability for transient visitors. They also have the wherewithal to advertise (a bit) and to maintain extensive phone lines and reservations personnel. In booking a B&B, be sure to make a sharp distinction between "bed-and-breakfast homes" and "bed-and-breakfast inns." When I refer to a B&B, I mean a low-priced room in a private home--the term's initial meaning. Important: our selections will make reservations for you in 26 of the 50 American states, plus the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy. If the state to which you will be traveling is not listed, then your first recourse is to consult a "Yellow Pages" phone directory for the key cities in that state, or to ask the information operator to consult "Bed and Breakfast" in those Yellow Pages. The US, plus Canada & Europe bbonline.com This online listing of B&Bs contains nearly 5,000 properties of all types and in all price ranges, concentrated mainly in the U.S. Owner Randy Fought has been adding 50 to 125 new listings every month since the website's founding in 1995, and recently began listing international bed and breakfasts (including such far-flung destinations as Kenya, Thailand, Estonia and Peru). Website users can search by country, state, region and city to find listings, which include photos of the properties as well as all information needed to make a reservation directly with the B&B. In addition, the website has an extensive listing of package deals and last-minute or off-season specials to appeal to the budget traveler. Alaska Alaska's Travelers Accommodations 4672 S. Tongos HighwayKetchikan, AK 99901Phone: 907/247-7117 or 800/928-3308Web: alaskatravelers.comAlaska Travelers Accommodations is a free service for travelers coming to the 49th state. The company concentrates on southeast Alaska, offering travelers a choice of over 100 pre-screened B&Bs. Alaska Private Lodgings P.O. Box 200047Anchorage, AK 99320Phone: 907/235-2148Web: alaskabandb.comEmail: apl@alaskabandb.comIn business 24 years, representing almost 200 homes ranging from apartment suites to cabins throughout Alaska. The service includes not only the making of reservations, but complete itinerary planning if needed, specializing in adventure travel (kayaking, rafting, etc.) Homes range from $65 to $150 a night. Arizona Mi Casa Su Casa P.O. Box 950Tempe, AZ 85280-0950Phone: 800/456-0682 or 480/990-0682Web: azres.comE-mail: micasa@azres.comOwner Ruth Young boasts her service is one of the oldest in the country. Operating since 1981, she currently represents over 250 host homes, inns and cottages throughout the Southwest, including Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, as well as California, Mexico and Spain. Rates vary widely depending on location and type of lodging. California California Association of Bed and Breakfast Inns 2715 Porter StreetSoquel, CA 95073Phone: 831/462-9191Web: cabbi.comThis non-profit association represents over 300 B&Bs throughout the state. Victorian homes in the Napa Valley, inns in the midst of redwood forests, the former home of San Francisco's A'chbishop&CABBI can book em all. Double rooms range from a modest $55 up to $500 for the most luxurious of accommodations. Connecticut Nutmeg Bed & Breakfast Agency 1204 Main Street SouthWoodbury, CT 06798Phone: 203/263-4479 or 800/727-7592Web: bnb-link.comEmail: nutmegbnb@comcast.netNutmeg represents about 85 host homes ranging from simple rooms to luxurious suites in mansions, with both private or semi-private baths. Average cost is $80 to $100/night. The fifteen-year-old company has homes in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Delaware Bed and Breakfast of Delaware 2701 Landon Drive, Suite 200Wilmington, DE 19810Phone: 302/479-9500Email: bnbofde@juno.comMillie Alford handles a mix of comfortable modern and period homes in the quaint old town of New Castle, as well as Wilmington and in the Chadds Ford area of Pennsylvania. Ten of her properties are on the National Historic Registry, several are near museums, and others are near or on the beach. Rooms average $75 a night for singles, $95 to $160 for couples or families. District of Columbia Bed and Breakfast Accommodations, Ltd. P.O. Box 12011Washington, DC 20005Phone: 877/893-3233 or 413/582-9888Web: bedandbreakfastdc.comEmail: reservations@bedandbreakfastdc.comAn assortment of about 30 homes in every major area of the city; some of the houses are rambling Victorian mansions featured on local house tours. Most rates range, in this high-priced city, from $65 to $300 a night for singles, or $75 to $400 for a double. Hawaii Bed and Breakfast Hawaii P.O. Box 449Kapaa, HI 96746Phone: 808/822-7771, or toll-free 800/733-1632Web: bandb-hawaii.comEmail: reservations@bandb-hawaii.comThis firm pioneered in developing a broad network of bed-and-breakfast accommodations in Hawaii, at considerably lower nightly costs than are offered by hotels. Double rooms start at $65 and go up to a top of $150 in most (not all) cases. Bed and Breakfast Hawaii will send you a free listing of their homes upon request. Be Back Hawaii 3429 Kanaina Ave.Honolulu, HI 96815Phone: 808/732-6618 or 877-4-BEBACKWeb: beback.comEmail: beback@lava.netBe Back specializes in placing guests on all the islands, mainly in the undiscovered locations of Hawaii, that tend to be less "touri"ty." They"represent over 300 properties on all the islands. Average cost per room is between $75 and $125, although they can place guests for as low as $55 per night. Bed and Breakfast Honolulu 3242 Kaohinani DriveHonolulu HI 96817Phone: 800/288-4666 or 808/595-7533Web: hawaiibnb.comEmail: BnBsHI@aloha-bnb.com Represents 410 private homes at locations ranging from beachfront to mountainside, for a flat fee of $10 per unit actually reserved. Honolulu B&B has branched out in recent years and can now make bookings not only on Oahu, but on all the islands. Hawaii's Best Bed & Breakfast Phone: 800/262-9912 or 808/692-0100Web: bestbnb.comLocated on the so-called Big Island, this firm represents 100 rather upscale properties on all the islands. But while some of the rooms rent for $175 and $470 a night, the bulk range from $90 (like the private wing of a rambling ranch house, with exercise room and use of hot tub) to $105 (private cottage overlooking the high slopes of Mauna Kea.) Liz Hey's Bed & Breakfast Kaui Phone: 808/822-1177 or 800/822-1176Web: bnbkauai.comEmail: heyliz@bnbkauai.com All of Kauai is represented by Liz Hey and she charges between $65 and $400 for a double, but with 90% of the doubles available for under $130. Illinois Chicago Bed and Breakfast Phone: 800/375-7084Web: athomeinnchicago.comEmail: citybnb@sbcylobar.netFifty properties in brownstones, Victorians and high-rises, more than half of which are unhosted apartments with continental breakfast left in the refrigerator. Apartments overlook key neighborhood attractions, often with views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. Double occupancy rooms range from $105to $205; self-contained apartments, from $115 to $325, for the most part, but remember, many of the apartments are two bedrooms or larger. Indiana B & B Midwest Reservations Phone: 812/378-5855 or 800/342-2632Web: bandbmidwest.comRepresents more than 55 homes throughout all of Illinois except the city of Chicago proper, and Indiana. Owner Martha McDonald-Swan claims that her service offers one-stop shopping for travelers. Website includes customer comments with a rating system. Lousianna Bed and Breakfast Reservation Service P.O. Box 52257New Orleans, LA 70152Phone: 800/729-4640Web: historiclodging.comEmail: web@historiclodging.comIn business for nearly 25 years, Bed and Breakfast Reservation Service is one of New Orleans' oldest reservations services. It lists approximately 30 properties (over half of which are viewable on their website) located all over New Orleans, including the French Quarter, the Garden District, and the St. Charles Ave district. Co-owner Susan Smith stresses that while all of the properties are owner-occupied, they are all very private, many including private entrances. Prices in high season for the modern homes, Victorian mansions and all other properties range from $71 to $262 a night, and are lower in the off-season but higher during festivals and special events. New Orleans Bed & Breakfast & Accommodations 828 Rue Royal, Suite 259New Orleans, LA 70116Phone: 888/240-0070 or 504/561-0447Web: neworleansbandb.comEmail: nobba@cox.netThis reservation service has properties ranging from traditional bed and breakfasts to private cottages and efficiency apartments. Prices range from $75 to $400 a night, but the majority of the properties fall in the $125 to $150 range, with prices higher during festivals and events like Mardi Gras and Bowl games. A two-night minimum is normally required during the regular season, and varying by special event and property. Massachusetts Bed and Breakfast Cambridge & Greater Boston Phone: 617/720-1492 or 800/888-0178Email: bandb@gis.netSixty homes located mostly in Cambridge, with rooms available in Boston and the suburbs. Rates for rooms with shared bath are: $80 to $100 for singles, $75 to $95, doubles. Single or double rooms with private bath range from $130 to $150 a night. Bed and Breakfast Associates Bay Colony P.O. Box 57166 Boston, MA 02457-0166Phone: 781/449-5302 or 888/486-6018Web: bnbboston.comEmail: info@bnbboston.com Has over 150 homes, inns and unhosted apartments, both downtown and suburban, Victorian and Federalist, modern as well. Double rooms range mainly from $100 to $160; singles, from $78 to $175. Also handles Eastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands. New England Bed and Breakfast P.O. Box 1426Waltham, MA 02454Phone: 617/244-2112Fifty generally less-expensive homes in Boston, Cambridge or other New England towns, charging $55 to $95 double, $50 to $65 single, with no extra fees or taxes (but there's a $10 surcharge for a one-night stay). All are within 15 and 20 minutes of downtown Boston via public transportation, and always within walking distance of a subway or bus stop. Berkshire/Folkstone Bed and Breakfast Homes 37 George St. Springfield, MA 01105Phone: 413/731-8785 or 800/762-2751Web: berkshirebnbhomes.comRepresents homes in western and central Massachusetts and eastern New York. It specializes, in particular, in aiding parents with college-age students to tour schools in the area (Amherst, U. Mass., Smith, Wellesley, and others.) Homes range from Victorian houses to working dairy and sheep farms. Mississppi Natchez Trace Reservation Service P.O. Box 193Hampshire, TN 38461Phone: 800/377-2770Web: bbonline.com/natcheztraceRepresenting about 40homes along the Natchez Trace Parkway, most properties are in Mississippi with a handful in both Tennessee and Alabama. Houses include early eighteenth century properties, antebellum and plantation homes, as well as Victorian structures and modern homes. While some accommodations start at $75, the average price is $100 a night for a single or a double. New Mexico New Mexico Bed and Breakfast Association P.O. Box 70454Albuquerque, NM 87157Phone: 800/661-6649Web: nmbba.orgEmail: info@nmbba.org Has over 60 guest houses throughout New Mexico, charging an average of $115 a night in high season. Choose an adobe casita, expansive hacienda or a cozy suite in a historic Victorian inn. Each New Mexico Bed & Breakfast Association inn is inspected, assuring high quality accommodations and standards. A free member directory is available on request. New York City Abode Limited P.O. Box 20022New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212/472-2000 or 800/835-8880Web: cimarron.net/usa/ny/adobe/htmlUnlike its competitors, Abode offers only unhosted B&Bs in town houses, high-rises and brownstones in Manhattan, requiring a minimum of a four-night stay. Groups can be lodged in a fashion that keeps all members close to one another. Unhosted apartments (they come with a refrigerator stocked with staples) start at an average of $100 a night for a studio, to way, way up for the two-bedroom and three-bedroom variety; most visitors rent the studios or one-bedrooms. City Lights Bed and Breakfast 1562 First Ave., #244 New York, NY 10028 Phone: 212/737-7049Fax: 866/513-6538Web: citylightsbandb.comEmail: frontdesk@citylightsemail.comClaims to be New York's olde't B + B registry, founded in 1985. City Lights represents 350 homes, most in Manhattan, but also in Brooklyn and Queens, and charges $95 to $135 a night for a double room in hosted lodgings, $75 to $125 for singles. New World Bed & Breakfast, Ltd. & All Around the Town 270 Lafayette Street, Suite 804New York, NY 10012Phone: 212/675-5600 or toll-free 800/443-3800Web: newyorkcitybestbb.comEmail: aroundtown@worldnet.att.netOne of the largest of the New York City firms, representing 60 fully inspected Manhattan apartments. B&B prices range from $100 to $175 double occupancy. If those seem high, wait until you inquire about rates at a hotel! Manhattan Getaways Phone: 212/956-2010Web: manhattangetaways.comOwner Judith Glynn, a former travel writer, personally inspects each of the 100 homes she represents. Of those 100, approximately 80 are unhosted apartments. Before booking, Ms. Glynn has all potential guests fill out a detailed questionnaire so that she can better match guests with hosts. She also has abundant photos of every B&B option. Rates start at $95 per night for hosted B&Bs and can climb up to $125 for the unhosted apartments. As the name suggests, all are in Manhattan. North Carolina Carolina Mornings/Asheville Cabins 109 Circadian WayChapel Hill, NC 27516Phone: 800/770-9055Web: asheville-cabins.comEmail: info@asheville-cabins.com100 varied properties, which range from traditional houses to log cabins in Asheville and western North Carolina. She emphasizes personalized services for her clients. Rates average at $120 per night for two guests and $180 for cottages housing groups of four or more. Oregon Ashland's Bed and Breakfast Network Phone: 800/944-0329Web: abbnet.comA cooperative group of more than thirty Ashland-area bed and breakfasts that will provide recommendations and availability information for any B&B in the network, as well as connecting customers to the inn of their choice to make reservations. The service lists properties of all types and price levels, from hand-crafted log cabins to Victorian or contemporary homes. Summer high season prices range from $100 to $300 a night, but a significant percentage are in the $125-$140 a night range. Pennsylvania A Bed and Breakfast Connection of Philadelphia Box 21, Devon, PA 19333Phone: 800/448-3619 or 610/687-3565 Web: bnbphiladelphia.comEmail: bnb@bnbphiladelphia.comRepresents 120 townhouses, historic homes, Victorian inns, quaint cottages, high-rise apartments, and estates in the Philadelphia area. Offers accommodations in Valley Forge and the Main Line, Brandywine Valley, Lancaster County, New Hope and Bucks County, the Pocono Mountains and Lehigh County, and Susquehanna. Rhode Island Bed and Breakfast of Rhode Island Phone: 401/849-1298 or 800/828-0000Web: bnbnewport.comLists over 90 homes throughout Rhode Island. Many are historic structures from the 1700s. "Yo"'re'never far from the water in Rhode Island," r"marks president Rodney Wakefield. Rooms range, for the most part, from $135 to $225 for a double. Bed and Breakfast Newport, Ltd. 7 Park St.Newport, RI 02840Phone: 800/800-8765 or 401/846-5408Web: bbnewport.comEmail: info@bbnewport.comLists 48 different properties largely in Newport with a few in surrounding Middletown and Portsmith, including colonial, Victorian, and modern homes in some of Newport's most central locations. Rates range from start at $85 per night in high season, but can get as high as $300 for the most deluxe accommodations. South Carolina Historic Charleston Bed and Breakfast 5341 Mt. View RoadSuite 150Antioch, TN 37013Phone: 800/820-8144Web: tennesseeinns.comEmail: stay@tennesseeinns.comEighty-five member bed and breakfasts, with the average price ranging from $90 - $120. Inns located all across the state, ranging from secluded mountain cabins and gracious log homes to elegant Victorians and contemporary city inns. While this is not a reservation service, if you call the Association it will suggest B&Bs in any area you please. Tennessee Tennessee Bed and Breakfast Innkeepers Association 5341 Mt. View RoadSuite 150Antioch, TN 37013Phone: 800/820-8144Web: tennesseeinns.comEmail: stay@tennesseeinns.comEighty-five member bed and breakfasts, with the average price ranging from $90 - $120. Inns located all across the state, ranging from secluded mountain cabins and gracious log homes to elegant Victorians and contemporary city inns. While this is not a reservation service, if you call the Association it will suggest B&Bs in any area you please. Texas Bed & Breakfast Texas Style, Inc. 6374 Ivanhoe LaneBeaumont, TX 77706Phone: 800/899-4538Web: bnbtexasstyle.comEmail: info@bnbtexasstyle.comOffers bed-and-breakfast homes in 61 Texas cities, from Austin to Wimberley, from Dallas to Waxahachie, in every important location. Rates extend from $70 to $170 for a double. Washington Pacific Reservations Service Phone: 206/439-7677 or 800/684-2932Web: seattlebedandbreakfast.comFeatures a wide variety of private rooms starting at $60 to luxury suites at $350, most averaging in the $75 to $100 range. Handles more than 225 properties including waterfront cabins, private apartments, condos, houseboats, and full scale houses located throughout the state, and in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. United Kingdom Bed and Breakfast (GB)500 Chiswick RoadLondon W45 RGGreat BritainPhone: 011-44-871-781-0834Web: bedbreak.comEmail:bab@bedbreak.comHandles over 1,000 affiliated hosts throughout Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France. Offers rates beginning at $29/night in London, and as little as $27/night outside of the capital, including B&B's in I'eland, Scotland, and Wales. BedandBreakfasts.co.uk Web: bedandbreakfasts.co.ukOffers B+Bs throughout Britain and Ireland, including many close to airports. Lodging ranges from modern city hotels to manor houses and castles, and national parks, including the Lakes District, Sherwood Forest, Scottish lochs and the Yorkshire moors. Home From Home 75 Wilton RoadLondon, UK SW1V 1DEPhone: 800/748-9783 or 011-44-207-233-9101Web: homefromhome.co.ukEmail: info@homefromhome.co.ukhout Chelsea, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, and Kensington. Rates start at 840 pounds/week and vary depending on the location. Apartments can be rented for a minimum of one week to a maximum of six months. Canada The Downtown Toronto Association of B & B Guest Houses Phone: 416/410-3938 or 888/559-5515Web: torontobedandbreakfast.comEmail: info@torontobedandbreakfast.comRepresents 30 homes, apartments, and condos in downtown Toronto within walking distance of popular shopping centers, restaurants, and tourist sights. Owner Linda Lippa believes the greatest asset to her services is its accuracy in meeting the needs of its guests. Single rooms range from $55 to $120 CDN and double rooms range from $65 to $100 depending upon property and guests' needs. Blue Dolphin Reservations Service Phone: 250/479-1986Web: bluedolphin-travel.com Email: gardencitybnb@shaw.ca Provides a variety of accommodations in Victoria, as well as some in Vancouver, San Diego and Temeula, CA. Rates for double rooms start at $48 USD and vary depending on location. Italy Bed & Breakfast Association of Rome Via A Pacinotti, 73, SC. E00146 Roma, ItalyPhone: 011-39-0-655-302248Web: b-b.rm.itEmail: inquiry@b-b.rm.itA terrific service, representing over 100 apartments--hosted B&B style and unhosted--throughout Rome. The staff is efficient, friendly and all speak excellent English. Single rooms start as low as $37/night, doubles start for $62/night per person. Most B&B lodgings have a two-night minimum. Unhosted apartments (a minimum of three-night stay) as low as 42 euro/night for accommodations that sleep two, 300 euro/night for triples and quads.