Elements common to all quality inns and outstanding innkeepers:

1. Appreciation of the guest situation as shown by the innkeeper’s inspiration in problem solving before the problem appears (e.g., wastebaskets where needed, lights usefully located and bright enough for reading).
2. Hospitality by showing concern for the guest's personal environment and reducing guest trepidations with gestures of warmth and thoughtfulness.
3. Service to the guest by anticipating their needs and placing their comfort first.
4. Vulnerability of the innkeeper in creating their idea of comfort and sharing that with strangers, risking rejection or criticism, or even adoration and appreciation.

Elements common to all guests:
• Concern for their personal environment.
• Desire for a more personal experience.
• Willingness to risk an unknown situation and environment.

Architect Christopher Alexander wrote a marvelous book about his theories of design. He addresses making people comfortable starting from when they enter town all the way to where they enter your building. He addresses what characteristics make people feel welcome, "at home". Here is a bit of what he says about buildings, as I see his words relating to the B&B industry.

A person who stays the night in a strange place is still a member of the human community, and still needs company. At all times, the inn was a wonderful place, where strangers met for a night, to eat, and drink, play cards, tell stories, and experience extraordinary adventures. There is a deep need for company. It is the business of an inn to create an atmosphere where people can experience and satisfy this need. Make the inn a place where travelers can take rooms for the night, but where -- unlike most hotels and motels -- the inn draws all its energy from the community of travelers that are there any given evening. The scale is small -- 30 or 40 guests to an inn; meals are offered communally; there is even a large space ringed around with beds in alcoves.
            —Christopher Alexander in Pattern Language

The guest/Innkeeper dynamics are a give and take. You, as the innkeeper, must "receive" to balance your "give". Refuel your energy and soul to maintain your ability to give freely; "receiving" is one of the ways to accomplish that. You may find this another challenge and another part of your "balancing act". Maintaining this balance helps minimize your frustrations and burn out and encourages enjoyment of the haven you have created for the traveler -- your guest. Innkeeping success includes taking care of yourself.

Defining B&Bs

In typical "Yankee" fashion Americans have taken the British bed and breakfast concept and grown it into a widely diversified industry. You'll find every conceivable style of inn varying in size, architecture, business style, attitude, culture, cost, and location. There are bed and breakfasts that range from Manhattan apartments, Kansas farm houses and urban mansions, to boats (ocean, lake and river) and trains. I have seen churches, brothels, schools, jails, and firehouses used for B&Bs. House styles include Victorian and modern, log and adobe, and beehive. Bed and breakfasts have been found underground and underwater, as well as in trees. In addition to different styles of structure there are different styles of environment ranging from casual to elegant, eclectic to period furnishings, garage-sale to designer decor, shared baths to luxury private baths, and low to high touch. All of these characteristics influence the B&B classifications.

With this diversity you also find innkeepers and their associations defining establishments in different ways. Here are the best terminology and definitions I can offer, taken from a variety of resources. The classifications I see in various publications include host homes, B&Bs, B&B inns, inns, country inns, and boutique hotels; my classifications are simpler than most I see. These definitions are to serve as guidelines. I feel that service level and professionalism affect your classification more than anything.

* Bed and Breakfast Home/Home Stay

• non-commercial
• unlicensed
• 1­3 guestrooms
• owner occupied
• bookings through reservation services (commissions run up to 25%)
• word of mouth and return guests
• no signage or marketing

Typically B&Bs found in this group are less expensive than larger, more commercial lodgings, but not always and rarely as inexpensive as their counterparts in the United Kingdom or Europe (known by different names like zimmer frei and pension, for example).

* Bed and Breakfast Inn

• commercial
• licensed
• 3-plus guestrooms
• owner or manager occupied
• no public dining room or bar
• signage and marketing

This is a broad category of operation styles. There are so many possible names or descriptors for these properties that at times Bed and Breakfast Inn feels inadequate. To me, B&B Inn is another way of saying Special Place To Stay.

* Country Inn

• commercial
• licensed
• 6-plus guestrooms, though there isn’t a “rule” for this point
• 24-hour staff on premises
• signage and marketing
• full service, providing breakfast to their guests (occasionally to the public) but most importantly a restaurant is run as well as the inn.

Most of the country inns I know of are on the east coast, though by no means is that a criteria. Country inns are generally located in remote areas where there aren't good restaurants within easy driving distance for the guests so the inn attends to the guests' food needs. It’s rare to find a country inn located in an urban area because of the competition with restaurants.

As you can see there is no one way for a bed and breakfast to look or feel. The inn you decide on should be a reflection of who you are and what hospitality you will offer. The guest experience will be enhanced by the building you use and the style you create in it. The B&B business model is a way for you to think about how to create the best business you can, which include creating the most welcome for your guests.

This article is excerpted from the ebook Building a Good Foundation So You Don't Find Yourself in A Hole. This ebook is a valuable basic in your B&B education.