What is a board basis?

What do room only, B&B, half board and all inclusive include?

The four labels describe how much food and drink travels with the room, from nothing extra at one end to a broad bundle at the other. The descriptions below are the everyday meanings; the detail for any given stay comes from the rate that is actually booked.

Room only. The rate buys the room and the use of the hotel's general facilities. Meals and drinks are paid for as they are taken, either charged to the room or settled at the outlet.

Bed and breakfast (B&B). The rate adds breakfast on each morning of the stay. What that breakfast consists of — a buffet, a set menu, a pastry and a coffee, a voucher for a neighbouring café — and the hours it is served are set by the property, as is the number of guests in the room it covers.

Half board. The rate adds breakfast plus a second meal, usually dinner in one of the hotel's restaurants. Some properties allow that second meal to be taken at lunchtime instead; the swap is a property rule rather than part of the label. Drinks with either meal normally sit outside the plan unless the rate description says otherwise.

All inclusive. The rate adds meals plus a defined list of drinks and snacks, usually served within set hours at named bars and restaurants. Even on an all-inclusive rate, premium spirits, branded bottles, minibar contents, room service and speciality dining are often listed as supplements or exclusions. For how all-inclusive properties interact with points stays, see all-inclusive resort award stays.

Why does one hotel sell the same room on several board bases?

Board basis is one attribute of a rate plan, next to room category, occupancy, cancellation terms, deposit, minimum stay and member pricing. A hotel that lists a room as room only and also as B&B is selling two rate plans against the same physical room, and the gap between the two prices is the hotel's price for the meal plan rather than a fixed catering cost.

That has two practical consequences. First, moving up a board basis is not automatically the cheapest way to add breakfast: a room-only rate plus breakfast bought at the property, or a breakfast that arrives as a membership benefit, can work out differently. A breakfast given as a loyalty benefit is a separate item from the board basis of a rate, so both need checking when a room-only rate is compared with a B&B rate — see breakfast benefit.

Second, board basis is rarely the only difference between two rates for the same room. A half-board rate may be non-refundable, carry a minimum stay, or be restricted to particular booking channels, so a like-for-like comparison means matching dates, room category, occupancy and cancellation terms before comparing the prices.

Where are the inclusions actually defined?

The binding description sits in the rate rules attached to the rate being selected: the rate name, the meal-plan line, the list of what is included and excluded, and any supplement schedule. Those terms are what the booking is made on, and they are repeated on the confirmation shown at check-in.

The hotel's own facilities page fills in the practical detail — which outlets serve breakfast, the hours, whether service is a buffet or à la carte — but it describes the hotel in general rather than a specific rate. Marketing pages and photography are the weakest evidence of all: a picture of a beach restaurant does not establish that dinner there forms part of a plan, and a banner advertising breakfast does not establish which guests in the room are covered.

IHG Hotels & Resorts states that most of its hotels are independently owned and operated, so the operating detail of a board basis is settled by the individual property. [11] On any stay, the rate rules for the rate in hand carry more weight than the brand name above the door.

Where board bases differ, and what they do not cover

• Across properties. Because most IHG hotels are independently owned and operated, two hotels under the same brand can describe the same board label differently, and the inclusions listed for each rate are the ones that apply. [11]
• Across countries. Rate names and meal conventions are local. A board basis that is ordinary in one market may not be offered in another, and a translated rate name is not a definition — the inclusions written into the rate rules are.
• Drinks, tips and premium items. These form part of a board basis only where the operator's own description lists them. Where they are absent from the description, they are extras to plan and pay for separately.
• Children and extra guests. Whether a child eats free, pays a child rate or pays in full, and whether the plan is priced per person or per room, are property rules. Both are worth confirming before assuming a B&B or half-board rate covers everyone staying in the room.
• Time and place. All-inclusive plans commonly limit service to set hours and named outlets, and food or drink taken outside those limits is charged separately.
• Other charges on the bill. A board basis describes food and drink, not the whole folio. A resort fee and local taxes are separate line items, and a hotel package rate may fold board together with other elements such as transfers or credits, in which case the package conditions govern how each element is treated.

Related pages

Terms: breakfast benefit, hotel package rate, resort fee, and the full glossary. Guides: all-inclusive resort award stays.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Board rules published by other hotel groups, and by properties outside the markets described above, are not covered on this page.

1. IHG Hotels & Resorts customer care FAQ, checked 18 October 2026