Bed & Breakfasts

The picture above is a foley fork. I'd never heard of one until I surveyed some of the hardest-working innkeepers in the business and asked them about their favorite kitchen tools, but I sure want to get one now! According to Mary Ellen Cox at the Phipps Inn B&B, it's a great device for hand mixing practically anything. After struggling with a particularly thick batch of coconut flour cookies this weekend that kept clogging my whisk, I can see its benefits.

I had a great time compiling these two lists of kitchen tools, although the gadget-lover in me has had a hard time not surfing over to Amazon to buy them all!

For me, my favorite tool as an innkeeper wasn't used much in the kitchen. Read More...

As an innkeeper, I always had mixed feelings about spring. On the one hand, it was the time when we could open the windows, let fresh air in, enjoy our patio and gardens without parkas and watch the garden get more and more colorful every week. It was also the time business picked up. On the other hand, it was also tax time; someone had to plant those flowers and mulch around them; it was time for spring cleaning both indoors and out; and the warmer days were reminders of the fact that I'd soon have to put 12 air conditioners in windows around the house. Plus it was the time when business picked up.

One of the best parts of springtime at our inn was that Read More...

This week, I have news for you from the "inn"side of the B&B business.

If you're an innkeeper, you already know about the debate raging regarding AirBnB. If you're a B&B frequenter, you might never have even heard of AirBnB. For those who don't know, AirBnB is an online service that allows people to rent out space in their homes to visiting guests -- everything from a bedroom to full apartments and cottages. AirBnB properties, however, are often unregulated and not inspected (unlike most official B&Bs), and this has led the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII) to release this statement.

As with all your choices in life, my advice is that you pick those that will keep you and your family safe. So regardless of where you are staying, Read More...

With Easter just about upon us, I thought I'd take this opportunity to honor an innkeeper's best friend. No, we're not talking about the Magic Eraser stain stick (although we will next week), we're talking eggs. I've compiled a dozen interesting facts about the humble little protein powerhouse that keeps hundreds of inns and their guests clucking along happily day after day.

Easter also always puts me in mind of family and so this week, Read More...

There are very few hard and fast rules when it comes to innkeeping -- and that's what makes the industry so appealing to guests and innkeepers alike. Each inn is a manifestation of its innkeeper's sense of style, fun, propriety, passions, musical tastes, ability in the kitchen and overall nature. Some inns are casual cabins, where you're encouraged to kick off your shoes and put your feet up on the table and others are grand mansions where you'd feel more comfortable in a button-down oxford than a zip-up sweatshirt.

When we owned our inn, my wife and I were pretty much on the same page about hosting weddings. And that page had a big N-O printed atop it. Read More...

Before my wife and I bought our bed and breakfast, we were living in Stamford, Connecticut, a smallish city from which we made regular forays into a much bigger city: New York. So when we landed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the heart of Amish Country, we felt that we had made a true switch to rural life.

In fact, on our very first night there, Anna, our Mennonite neighbor came over and invited us to her farmhouse for soup and sandwiches. Halfway through the meal, she heard on her police scanner (yes, we were surprised too!) that a farm down the road was on fire. Read More...

I had the great good fortune to spend Valentine's Day in Beaune, France. I know, I know ... tough job and all that. If you've never been to this amazingly charming small town in the Burgundy wine-growing region, I can really say that it's worth putting on your bucket list -- especially if you enjoy food and wine in that bucket. There are over 800 restaurants in the town, and most of them are intimate affairs where you get warm, friendly service and food that seems like it was conjured instead of cooked.

The town is built above a network of cellars that houses the stunning bottles of pinot noir and chardonnay that make the region famous. You can tour the cellars of many vintners in town, but my favorite tour was Read More...

When my wife and I took our first "How To Be An Innkeeper" workshop in Cape May, New Jersey, there were a lot of lectures given over the course of three days. But the one that always sticks out was the innkeeper who described needing to go and sit in her car with her husband when the two of them needed to have a fight. Her point was that innkeeping as a couple certainly has its challenges and the concepts of private time and personal space are nearly non-existent.

We were always grateful to this innkeeper for sharing this very honest part of the profession because forewarned is forearmed. Read More...

Everyone seems to be in a romantic mood this week--especially the folks over at BedandBreakfast.com where their list of the most romantic inns has been posted. Not to be outdone, Trip Advisor has also named their picks for the top hotels for romance. They're not all B&Bs in the Trip Advisor list, but there are definitely some spectacular ones tucked in there, so be sure to check them out. Just because Valentine's Day will have soon come and gone doesn't mean you can't get romantic all year long!

As you know, we've been having our own little Valentine's celebration this month Read More...

Bed and breakfasts make good destinations for nearly any special occassion, but they seem particularly suited to helping couples celebrate Valentine's Day. Here are a few tips to help make your getaway to a B&B extra romantic. (You've already made your reservations, right?) Read More...