Bed and breakfasts are, in and of themselves, a niche accommodation. However, they are becoming a more popular alternative to hotels. As more and more B&Bs pop up in destination towns, you may find yourself struggling to set yours apart. But transforming your B&B into a more unique, boutique B&B is not as hard as you might think. Here are a few simple changes you can make that will really help your B&B stand out from the crowd.

Serve a unique breakfast.

"Breakfast" is half the name of "bed and breakfast," and yet, many B&B owners underestimate its importance. If you can serve a really unique and amazing breakfast, word will spread quickly, and regardless of what your space looks like, you'll get a lot of new bookings. Some ways to really set your breakfast apart include:

• Using only local ingredients to prepare the dishes.
• Creating each meal around a theme from a different country. One day, you could serve an Irish breakfast; the next day, you might serve a German breakfast.
• Serving a variety of one item, such as 6 different types of muffins or pancakes.

Create a library.

So many people love to read, but they don't have a lot of time to do so in their busy, daily lives. They do love to read while on vacation, though. Adding a library to your bed and breakfast can make it a really attractive place for bookworms and passionate readers to stay — and there are a lot of readers out there! If you have a spare room that you can make into a library, that's best. But if not, you can put a big shelf along one wall in the living room, and make do with that. Just make sure you offer tons and tons of books. You can often pick up inexpensive used books for $0.25 or $0.50 apiece at thrift stores and garage sales.

Create a garden.

Gardens are another thing that people don't have enough time to experience every day, but love to experience on vacation. If your B&B has a yard, use it to plant a garden. Whether you have flowers, vegetables, or some of both, your guests will love browsing through the plants, picking any ripe veggies, and maybe even helping you to care for the garden. Guests can sign a guest book with notes about their experiences in the garden. Over time, the garden will become something your guests specifically come to see — and that's a boutique experience.

B&Bs are known for being quaint and cozy, but sometimes you need to be a little more than that to set yourself apart. Luckily, it only takes a few key changes to transform your B&B into a more unique establishment like The Abigail Inn.