The all things Bed and Breakfast blog
As Bed and Breakfast fans for years we are compelled to create a blog for others as enthusiastic as we are. We will cover everything from starting a B&B in an existing home or property to acquiring a property to create one in, and even a list of 5 of the nicest ones we have ever seen.
This site will walk you through all aspects of owning/finding the perfect bed and breakfast. We hope it is a one-stop-shopping place for you to find everything you need related to this fun and rewarding opportunity. Our love and passion for finding and helping people start their own never seems to wane. We have established many many friendships with people we either met at a B&B or own their own B&B.
We have primarily focused our efforts on ones in the United States and Mexico. It turns out, there are so many in the US alone that you could spend a whole lifetime visiting them and never have to leave the country.
We have found that no two are exactly alike. Each owner is unique and each offers their own touches. The object is to make it as comfortable and welcoming as possible. In the ideal stay, the guest(s) are as comfortable and relaxed as if they were sitting in their own home. Some owners choose to interact with the guests in conversation and/or games. Others try to be invisible until something is needed, then materialize out of the ether to accommodate the need.
The savvy owner discerns which approach is most desirable for the customer, often without asking directly, almost becoming an extension of the customer.
I will include a few pictures of our B&B below, and pics of a few of our favorites you can scroll through below that. Please read the About page to see how we got started.
You can scroll through a few of the ones we have stayed at over the years below. These were all delightful places that most anyone would simply adore. The food is yummy and the service world-class at all of them. Read further into the site for more details. A friend of mine, Tom Thorpe, owner of a siding company, shared a few B&Bs he stayed in and recommended over the years. He has traveled extensively and is a food connoisseur, so we were elated to get suggestions from him. He has his own food and travel blog which is a great read if you like food and travel!
I have a friend I met in Richmond, Bob, who attended school in Ottawa Canada and knew some Bed and Breakfast owners up there. He invited me to visit but unfortunately I never got the opportunity. He and some of his friends posted on their site some details about their experiences with local Bed and Breakfasts here. I would love to go there sometime though, as you might imagine, I am no fan of the cold let alone the deep-freeze up there!
One of our contacts who owns B&B’s in several locations has always advocated for going all out on decorations, particularly seasonal ones. For example, he hires a company specializing in Christmas lighting to make his place truly stand out during the Christmas season. He says he could do it himself, but the time involved is burdensome and his creativity is not near what professionals can do. In his view, this kind of thing is a no-brainer.
Another thing that warrants mentioning here before jumping into this: It goes without saying that the B&B industry has taken a huge hit from the Covid pandemic. B&B owners are not big corporate entities with deep pockets. The vast majority are truly small business owners whose livelihood is driven far more by a passion for serving and entertaining than for profits. So when the customer base dries up because everyone is either compelled to stay home or afraid to travel, most owners are left struggling to pay the bills and keep the operation afloat. If an effort to try to make customers more comfortable returning, we and a couple fellow B&B owners approached a UVC lighting company to learn about what we perceived as a new industry that might help keep our spaces safer from this nasty disease. We learned that UVC lighting has been around for a long time and that there were things we could do with some relatively inexpensive lighting options to protect ourselves and our customers. Another great site, among hundreds, is the UVC page on this interesting site.
We got some handheld UVC lights that we use when no people are around to disinfect surfaces in our B&Bs when customers have gone out. We do this several times per day, as often as possible. These lights can be dangerous if not used properly and we were given training and literature explaining their use by GermicidalUV, the company we got them from. They have added a level of comfort for us and our customers. This effort has been received well by everyone who has visited, and our friends have had the same experience at their B&B. We are sure looking forward to not needing this kind of protection, but in the mean time it is providing a safer environment for everyone.
Recently we were approached by a guy named Chris who is an expert in energy needs for buildings. In addition to installing solar panels and doing electrical contracting, Chris does energy audits. We were introduced to him when we were having some insulation installed in our B&B. Anyway turns out Chris does a free energy audit for anyone using our preferred insulation company. Chris is a veteran who started a full service energy company when he retired. He is an expert in solar panel technology and installation, and provided us with a ton of valuable information on getting panels for our B&B. We are deeply appreciative for his time, advice, and recommendations.
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