The B and B Lady

Balancing Your Life With Goals

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:54:39 -0700

Innkeeping is fraught with the potential of getting out of balance in life. One clue to not letting that happen is to block your time off away from the inn and not let anything interfere with that break. You owe it to yourself and your guests to be dedicated to refreshing yourself and refueling your soul. Another way is to set goals, in all areas of your life.

The Hospitality Promise

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:00:00 -0700

Sitting in my Nanjing hotel on a rainy day, during my third visit to China, I'm struck again by the realization that hospitality is not just the purview of "the hospitality industry" -- bed and breakfasts, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, or restaurants. It's also not culturally dependent, though culture plays a role in making others feel welcome, comfortable and at home. This is the third hotel in which I've stayed in as many months, and I have had a wide range of hospitality experiences.

Reservation Calendar for a Bed and Breakfast

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:22:06 -0700

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

Wed, 18 May 2011 15:50:44 -0700

Hospitality is the key to successful B&B innkeeping. And by hospitality I am referring to the art of making your guests feel happy, welcome and taken care of. Employees benefit from this same attitude. And your marketing is real with this habit of hospitality.

Bed and Breakfast Change

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:54:20 -0700

You know, the B&B industry is old - in Europe. And it's been around for awhile in the US too, though the B&B industry we know today is very different than it was even 25 years ago. It's powerful to look back at the changes so you can appreciate just to see how far it has come so you can appreciate what you are doing today.

Mortgages For Greening Your B&B

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:18:41 -0700

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

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 06:00:00 -0700

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

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:23:49 -0700

What you don't see won't hurt you, right? Well, not necessarily. Air quality is one such situation where what you don't see can definitely hurt you. Indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air!

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

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:00:00 -0700

Food is half of what your bed and breakfast promises. It seems to me it should be an excellent offering, with you providing the best food you can. That means fresh, local, organic ingredients cooked into delicious, nutritious recipes. Your food, simple or elaborate, should make people yearn for more.

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

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:00:00 -0700

Consumption Patterns
To simplify the question of how one greens their life and business, maybe it can be reduced to the simple concept of how you buy -- your buying patterns. The less you buy the fewer resources you consume, or throw away. But what does that really mean, and how can you do that throughout the B&B?

Green Certification: Focus Area 5 -- Waste

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 18:04:33 -0700

Disposing of waste is like throwing money away. The price of the products you buy includes the cost of packaging. The excess packaging so many products have today is a big source of waste, and an easy waste reduction step to take.

Green Certification: Focus Area 4 -- The Building

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:11:09 -0700

The building(s) you house your bed and breakfast operations in is the foundation of your environmental program. Though making an existing building more environmentally friendly can be expensive and feel like a daunting task, if it's done bit at a time it's doable. And the payoffs are generally commensurate with the effort and expense.

Green Certification: Focus Area 3 -- Water

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:14:11 -0700

Water conservation is possibly one of the least addressed conservation matters I see. To me, water is our biggest environmental and life issue. Without accessible, clean water we have nothing. Clean drinking water is vital to life. Clean water is important in many other areas of life.

Green Certification: Focus Area 2 - Energy

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:53:52 -0700

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

Fri, 14 May 2010 06:00:00 -0700

Better living through chemistry is an advertising rhyme, and social statement. It's gone too far.