The stories we will share with you are true situations. Some stories are heartwarming, some are not so heartwarming. But all are true!
The Grumpy Guests
Hasn't everyone watched Bob Newhart? If you're an aspiring innkeeper, you might think the lives of innkeepers are fun, exciting, and romantic. If you're a seasoned innkeeper, you know the truth.
As consultants, we are constantly warning our aspiring innkeeping clients that the lives of average innkeepers are far from exciting and romantic. With this in mind, we'd like to share a personal experience with you.
Our opening night arrived with much fanfare. A year and a half had been spent lovingly restoring our Victorian building into a bed and breakfast. Spirits and hope were high on opening night. Our first sets of guests arrived and were checked in successfully. We were getting the hang of this thing! More guests were arriving late and we left careful instructions with keys in a designated location so they could check themselves in on arrival.
The breakfast hour arrived the next morning and our first sets of guests were quite happy with everything. But when our late arriving guests showed up for breakfast, each had some type of complaint. We were crushed. After all our time dreaming, working, and hoping, we immediately thought we had chosen the wrong profession. Our hopes were completely dashed.
Survivors that we are, we immediately set out to address the complaints. As the day progressed, all the complaints were satisfactorily resolved. Our guests were not as irate and the rest of the day went reasonably well.
When breakfast arrived on the second morning, we sat down to chat with our "problem" guests. Imagine our surprise when we found out we were hosting two couples from the television show Miami Vice and one couple from Hill Street Blues! You can't imagine our level of relief. Our guests were celebrities accustomed to a high level of personal service. We had not chosen the wrong profession after all!
By the time our famous guests checked out, we had become friends. These guests returned three times before the first year was past. By the end of the second year, we had accepted an invitation to the set of the movie Sweet Hearts Dance in Islamorada, Florida.
As years progressed, we added Brooke Shields, Flo from the show Alice, Safari Sam, and other celebrities to our guest list. We were frequently asked, "Who were your favorite guests?" Although we've met a number of celebrities, we've always found our most fascinating guests to be ordinary people.
What are the odds of hosting celebrities on your first night in business? The one thing we've learned throughout the years is old Murphy's Law. If it can happen, it will happen -- to us!
The Kovaciks run Commerce Team, a "no commission" consulting team specializing in bed and breakfasts.
