Bed and Breakfast Associations - To Join or Not to Join

As a new bed and breakfast, we were initially unsure as to what organizations would give us the most value for our membership dollars. We joined the local reservation service at a cost of $200 and a 15 percent kickback for every booking that they sent our way. This proved to be a reasonably good decision as we recouped our membership costs within the first two weeks of operation. The only question still in our minds is whether we would have received the bookings anyway, as they came in May when it's virtually impossible to find accomodations here. The other bookings that have come through this organization have been few and far between.

Joining the local chamber of commerce ($35) was also a revenue-generating decision as we got a link through their web site and were allowed to put our brouchures in their tourist booths.

The 1999 season has us affiliated with Federation of Ontario Bed and Breakfast Association ($250), which gives us a listing in their guidebook. As this one is new and just published in February 1999, we will just have to wait and see how effective it is.

By and large, I would have to say that the organizations are somewhat helpful, but the majority of my bookings for the 1998 season were due to Internet searches and my Web site.

Roger Cole of Brookside Meadows in Middlebury, Vermont

Our experience with Heart of Vermont Lodging Association (HVLA) has been very good. Some of us felt that the local Chamber of Commerce and the State Department of Tourism and Marketing could not be expected to fully promote lodging and related businesses in our area. We are active members of HVLA.

Major benefits are a very nice brochure, developed totally by members volunteering time and talent (one is a very talented artist), and a Web site which is very well done.

The only drawbacks are two: First, if the association is to be vital, it requires either significant time or a money substitute. Second, there may be a perception of non-cooperation with other organizations, even though it may be unwarranted.

Merland and Barbara Clark of Plantation House in Elgin, Nebraska

Members of the Nebraska Association of Bed and Breakfast are offered the power of collective advertising through a printed brochure, which is nationally advertised, and a stand-alone Web site.

We also cooperate with several well-known bed and breakfast directories and take advantage of Web advertising at every opportunity. NABB also places ads in state and regional publications, and photos are placed at visitor centers in key locations throughout the state.

Our members are invited to take advantage of an annual meeting with several seminars relating to the bed and breakfast business. We also have regions which have their own separate get-togethers where the members can network with one another on a more personal basis.

Our dues structure is $100 per year plus $12 per room (the first two rooms are included in the base rate, giving the smaller operations a break). Prospective members must pay an initial $50 fee for an inspection/review process and are expected to use a comment card system for ongoing approval. There are no other fees unless some special project is approved. Currently, we have a cookbook for sale and gift certificates through the association. NABB makes a small profit on each cookbook and takes a 5 percent commission for handling the paperwork associated with the gift certificate.

Membership in NABB is the biggest bargain that a bed and breakfast can find in terms of advertising and promotion, but the greatest benefit may lie in the camraderie between members and the opportunity to learn and grow in the business of innkeeping.

BarbaraAnne of Britannia's Luxury B&B Cottages in Olinda, Melbourne, Australia

B&B associations are like any organisation -- there are folks there to learn all about the B&B concept and folks there for their own reasons (almost Watergate stuff)! Initially, the associations are essential for new chums, to learn and share ideas until the learning curve is done. Then, after the learning curve concentrating on running your own business is most important. The association cannot do that for you.

The following note was emailed to me by innkeepers in Hawaii. They asked me not to reveal their identity for fear of making a bad situation worse.

We believe in honesty in advertising... it is an absolute must on the Internet (and everywhere else) as far as we are concerned.

Hawaii can be a little different than other places. Some of our guests have been disappointed, sometimes horrified, at a place they booked on the Internet. Please don't tell us how wonderfully tropical, pristine and comfortable you are and then pop us into a coffee shack with centipedes and a cold shower outside! Oh, and those mildewed sheets!

Innkeepers should put truth in advertising right at the top of their list, along with being wonderful hosts, providing immaculate and comfortable accommodations and, in short, making sure they've educated themselves as much as possible.

We have not joined the Hawaii Island Association for many reasons. It's expensive and nothing educational is offered -- only another page on the Web. At one point, they were advertising that they were all "county inspected." Here we go again with truth in advertising. They must have had to remove that claim because our county has no provision for providing inspections.

The state association only meets the very minimum of standards for a listing as an Association at PAII, and there is a feeling from some that unless you belong, your inn is blacklisted. One person who called us to book a room had been in touch with HIBBA. When she asked if we were members, HIBBA said in a "huff" (as she put it) that, "No, they are not!" They also led them to believe that they weren't even sure we were still operating. (She booked with us anyway.)

This is not an organization we wish to be associated with. Perhaps one day they'll improve their standards, but until then we will not become members. Quite a few of the B&Bs here are not members at this time.

NOTE: This article was originally posted in 1999.