The B and B Lady

Reservation Calendar for a Bed and Breakfast

2011-06-28T16:22:06Z

A client recently emailed me a question about a "reservation calendar" for an eleven room inn. This is really a two-pronged question. There are reservation systems, and there are reservation calendars. I'm answering the reservation calendar question in this article.

Creating The Habitat For Hospitality

2011-05-18T21:50:44Z

Inns have been the venue of hospitality for generations, for thousands of years even. But it seems to me that in the past decade or two, hospitality has gotten lost in the business of innkeeping. Can you re-insert it into your bed and breakfast business? Can you make this part of your marketing plan?

Bed and Breakfast Change

2011-03-09T20:54:20Z

Change is a fact of life. Managing change is how you face it, for better or worse. The change agent, or source of the change, can make a difference in how you handle the change process. A bed and breakfast is constantly faced with change from all directions. Successful innkeepers are leading change in their industry, and have been for decades and centuries. Imagine the change that's happened in bed and breakfast inns!

Mortgages For Greening Your B&B

2011-02-08T01:18:41Z

As a B&B innkeeper, what do you do to help protect the environment? What green actions do you take? Recycling, reducing consumption, composting, energy and water conservation, CFLs and natural daylighting, and avoiding pesticides are among the things innkeepers undertake. However, steps like home renovations or utility upgrades to be more environmentally conscious may seem financially out of reach to the average bed and breakfast. Ah, that's where green mortgages come into your life.

Your Reservation Process

2011-01-09T13:00:00Z

Your reservation procedure is vital to your business success. It's part of your marketing plan too. We've all had reservation experiences; some have been great, and some are outstandingly bad. You can learn more from a bad experience than a good one (though I prefer good ones). Let the personal touch that's the hallmark of B&Bs lead the way to your business success, starting with your reservation tactics.

Green Certification: Focus Area 8 -- Air Quality Issues

2010-12-19T22:23:49Z

Air quality is a critical but often overlooked element for a green hotel. It has the most immediate impact on guests and staff alike. There is so much an innkeeper can do to improve the indoor air. From striving to use products with low volatile organic compounds to using air purifiers or cleaners, innkeepers can provide the best experience for their guests and save money too. Being an environmentally friendly hotel and working toward green certification is about being good to your cash flow, your guests, and the environment.

Green Certification: Focus Area 7 -- Locally Grown, Organic Healthy Food

2010-12-15T13:00:00Z

Buying organic food is one step in greening your inn. What you'll find as you start researching this is healthy food is easier to find when locally grown than store bought, unless of course the store is buying locally grown foods. Compost the waste of that food and you add to an eco-friendly cycle of growth that promotes healthy eating. Leading by example encourages people adopt eat better, and to avoid fast food. B&B innkeepers can be that leader as they pursue green certification.

Green Certification: Focus Area 6 -- Buying Practices for Waste Reduction

2010-12-03T13:00:00Z

Do your consumer buying patterns cost you more money than you think? Go green by reducing how much you buy, and how much packaging that stuff has. Resource conservation is probably the bottom line for what greener purchasing habits are aiming for, but those resources take on many shapes. Recycling is the last-ditch effort in waste management, but reducing your purchases is a better sustainability habit. Cutting back on your purchases is a great first step to being a sustainable bed and breakfast.

Green Certification: Focus Area 5 -- Waste

2010-11-22T01:04:33Z

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. That's the simple key to reducing your waste and saving money. Talk to your waste hauler about smaller waste disposal containers as part of your waste reduction plan. Find a farmer or service for your yard waste removal or get directly into composting. Waste management is important for a green certification.

Green Certification: Focus Area 4 -- The Building

2010-10-15T23:11:09Z

Energy management is one important aspect of having a green building and running an energy efficient business. The pay back is worth initial up-front costs. Insulation is the easiest and most affordable place to start. Water conservation is another important aspect of running a green bed and breakfast. A well designed and built house is the best way to conserve natural resources, and thus money. Your B&B success is bolstered through careful environmental planning and operations.

Green Certification: Focus Area 3 -- Water

2010-09-05T20:14:11Z

Water conservation is an important part of running an environmentally sound bed and breakfast. This article shares some water conservation tips to help you see the money savings possible and water conservation facts to help you develop your water conservation program. Drinking water isn't the only concern, but it's the most important for life.

Green Certification: Focus Area 2 - Energy

2010-07-01T03:53:52Z

Energy conservation is one of the most popular "green" activities people and businesses like to participate in. It's possibly the most visible green actions you can take. And it's relatively easy to do, at least most of the time.

Green Certification: Focus Area 1 - Chemicals

2010-05-14T12:00:00Z

Cleaning chemicals from your daily operations is one step in becoming a green-certified bed and breakfast. You improve not only your health, but also air quality and your budget, by reducing your use of chemicals, or becoming a chemical-free bed and breakfast inn.

Eight Areas of Focus for Green Certification

2010-04-24T00:13:56Z

Paying attention to eight areas of operation in your bed and breakfast will allow you to green your business. And you might, with enough effort and time, be green enough to earn green certification from any number of certification programs.

How Do You Green-Certify Your B&B?

2010-04-07T12:00:00Z

The first steps you take toward green operations and green certification go together.

start with expanding our attitude and knowledge

baseline your existing usage of energy, water, waste and chemicals

get staff, vendors and guests involved

write your green/sustainability plan and policy

track usage in action areas

plan your marketing program, including not raising your rates just because you are "green"

develop education programs for staff, vendor, guests and public