The stories we're sharing with you are true situations. Some stories are heartwarming, some are not so heartwarming. But all are true! Our innkeeping career was more rewarding than we could have ever imagined. It was terribly hard work, but worth every minute. We avoided the major pitfalls and lived to tell the tale. Looking back, we could write a book on good times and odd times through the years at the inns.
There are stories we would love to share here, but are unable to due to the nature of the stories. To tastefully put them in words is just not possible -- at least we're not going to risk it! However, we are going to tell you just one of the fun stories from our past lives.
The Opera Singer
One of the things innkeepers do to gain market share is to offer special things their competitors don't offer. Many innkeepers offer flowers, beverages, special tickets, and other extras. At one of our inns we used to offer a "Honeymoon Breakfast in Bed." It was a fabulous success, and guests simply loved it. Many guests would pay extra for breakfast in bed in lieu of coming downstairs to our usual free fare.
When serving Honeymoon Breakfast in Bed, we'd knock on the guests' door at the designated hour and wait for the call to enter the room. Unlocking the door, we'd enter with wicker bed trays all decked out with crystal, flowers, and fancy fare for the guests and proceed to serve them in bed. After breakfast was in place, we'd leave the room, locking the guests inside to enjoy their special time.
Honeymoon Breakfast in Bed took an unexpected twist one day. A newlywed couple came to stay with us for their honeymoon. The bride was a fairly petite lady while the husband was quite a massive man. They thought it would be delightful to have breakfast in bed in the morning. We, in turn, were delighted to serve them.
The following morning, we knocked on their door and waited for them to signal us to serve breakfast. When they replied, "Come in," we unlocked the door and entered the room. Breakfast takes two to serve -- one tray per person. Each of us took our respective places on opposite sides of the bed.
We served the wife's tray first. When it was in place, the husband was approached to deliver his tray. Since he was too large to place the tray over him, we asked him to shift up in bed just a bit so we might get the tray in place.
As he shifted, the bed crashed to the floor with him, his wife, and his wife's tray! Not knowing what to do, we placed his tray on top of him and beat a hasty retreat.
Visualize these two on their first morning together as husband and wife in bed, on the floor, with their food on top of them. To top it off, there was no real way for us to help them. After all, they were undressed in bed!
Upon closing the door and running downstairs, we burst out laughing. Horrors upon horrors! How embarrassing for us. Can you imagine how it embarrassed the husband?
Later in the day as the staff serviced the room, we repaired the bed. When they returned that day, all was well. Needless to say, we all acted as if the event never happened.
(They didn't order breakfast in bed the second morning. Instead, they ate downstairs in the dining room, and the husband sang opera to his new wife for all to hear.)
As we wrote this article, we struggled with all the funny stories we could tell you. Our only regret is we could not find appropriate language to tell you even a small fraction of our hilarious stories. You either have to wait for our book or call and ask us "point blank" about our escapades.
Many of you will ask, "Is this an unusual event?" Our reply would be, "Not at all." Things like this happen all the time. In our careers as innkeepers, we found each week held another surprise.
After all, life as an innkeeper is like a "string of surprises."
The Kovaciks run Commerce Team, a "no commission" consulting team specializing in bed and breakfasts.
