Requirements for Private Bed & Breakfast Establishments in Texas

Before opening a bed and breakfast in Texas, you must consider the size of the establishment, the sleeping accommodations and the food services. The state separates bed and breakfast establishments into three categories based on those three conditions, and the laws and requirements differ for each category.

Health and Safety Code

A bed and breakfast with seven or fewer rooms for rent that serves only breakfast to guests is not subject to the Texas' food-service-establishment laws. An owner or manager of a bed and breakfast that does not fall into this category must complete a food manager's certification course accredited by the state. An establishment with more than seven rooms for rent or serves more than breakfast to its guests may not be required to meet the same criteria required of larger food service establishments, however.

Bed and Breakfast Types

Three types of bed and breakfast establishments exist in Texas as defined by the Texas Department of State Health Services. A limited bed and breakfast that has seven or fewer rooms for rent and serves only breakfast to overnight guests is not considered a retail food establishment. A bed and breakfast with more than seven rooms for rent or that provides food service other than breakfast to overnight guests and is subject to certain state food safety and hygiene rules pertaining to food supplies, preparation, cleaning and sanitizing, employee restrooms and hygiene. A bed and breakfast that serves food to guests other than the establishment's overnight guests must meet the rules and requirements of a retail food establishment.

Tax Code

For Texas taxes purposes, a bed and breakfast is officially considered a hotels, which includes hotels, motels, tourist homes, tourist houses, tourist courts, lodging houses, inns, rooming houses and bed and breakfast establishments. The hotel tax rate is 7 percent of the total amount paid for the accommodations and is paid monthly to the city or municipality in which the bed and breakfast operates.

References:

• Find Law: Exemption for Certain Bed and Breakfast Establishments
• Tex. Tax Code § 156.001: Taxation
• Texas Administrative Code Rule §229.162: Definitions
• Texas Administrative Code Rule §229.174: Bed and Breakfast Extended Establishments