Do you have a plan in place?

[Copperhead]

Family emergencies happen, do you have a plan in place for your business if an emergency would take you away from your B&B for a few days or longer? None of us want to think of those things but it is a part of life and we all must be prepared to provide the least disruption for your guests.
Have a plan & a back up plan and hope you never have to use them.

 

[JBloggs]

No.
That is my honest answer. My plan would come when the need arises. Perhaps I can work out the details at that time, but not now, not in anticipation as I never know what would or could happen.
If I lived closer to any of you I would jump in when you needed me. I am not that close to anyone.

 

[Don Draper]

We had no plan at all and when my M-I-L got sick last year we were so blessed to have two gals here who are normally housekeepers but who know enough to jump in for us. They were simply incredible. I don't know what we would have done without them. Family can only do so much, they were part of the emergency and my family doesn't know much about what we do.

 

[Copperhead]

My plan would come when the need arises.
This is sometimes very difficult to do as emotions and sometimes ergency takes over your normal thought process.
Family can only do so much, they were part of the emergency ...
Right! And this is when you can't get thoughts together quickly as their is lots to put in place in a small amount of time.
Work on a plan and an alternate; you never know when you may need to put it in place. If things change, make a new plan. I hope you never need to use it.

 

[One Day]

It's one thing when the emergency is other than yourself.
What if it is yourself ?
You/re rushed off to the hospital......and you are a solo operator ?
Could there possibly be a neighbor ?.......someone in town ?
This scenario concerns me....when I take the leap after my current career

 

[gillumhouse]

No, I do not have a plan either. I have had to take his royal highness to the ER too many times already. So far I have just handed the guests a 3x5 card and asked them to write breakfst time on it and leave it on the stairs for me. So far it has all worked out for me to handle it. I think there are a couple people in town who would pitch in for me or would just send them to a place in town that serves breakfast and I would pick up the tab - worst case scenario as long as it was not Sunday when they are closed.
So far, I have been blessed to have the emergencies happen - for the most part - between guests. We had guest "dry spells" when my b-i-l had his worst times and when he died. Daddy came here and died the first month we were open so there were no guest problems then. I just have to deal with things as they happen because any plan I would make would blow up in my face when I tried to use it. Murphy guarantees it.

 

[agoodman]

I have a fabulous interim Innkeeper and would only hope that (1) she would be available and (2) that I could afford her long term if the need arose. My housekeeper would be able to manage the cleaning side of it if someone just told her which are checkouts and which are stayovers, but since she is not computer literate it's not like I can just have my system auto send her the reports.....
With the tough times I have had over the last 2 years, I had some local friends offer me their extra house ... not too many places I could go to with 3 dogs and a cat!!

 

[Joey Camb]

I have a selection of plans as my chamber maid can check people in and do the rooms, my mum can do rooms if there arn't too many and check people in and do bookings over the phone, DH can do everything except rooms, mum and dad can do breakfast for up to 26 on their own and my sister comes and helps when she can/needs to. My handy man has also done checking in before and computer stuff so between them they could probably manage without me. came home when I fell off a ladder about a month ago decorating and slammed hard into the floor and about two inches to the right would have slammed into the dressing table on my way down. As it was I wasn't seriously hurt (mainly my pride) but it made me think about what would happen if say I broke my leg. Ive been more carefull since mind.

 

[bbinnsitters]

As innkeepers -- especially busy innkeepers at peak season -- do you have a plan for how you would handle an emergency that required you to leave your B&B and your guests at a moment's notice? You can plan ahead for a surgery, but what about a heart attack? What if a close relative became ill and died unexpectedly? What if there was simply no choice but to lock the door and leave your business behind?
Owners and innkeepers of a B&B were recently recovering from a busy weekend when her father became very ill. Admitted to the hospital on Sunday, he died on Wednesday, On Saturday, she was doing a memorial service instead of playing hostess to a house full of guests.
On that first Sunday when she realized the seriousness of her father's illness, she looked ahead to the coming week and decided to give herself the gift of some extra time. She figured that whatever happened, she would have neither the time nor the energy to be a full-time innkeeper during the busy week ahead. So she called on Innsitters, whom she had trained in previously (thanks to another Inn-sitters recommendation).
"I always wondered what I would do if I had a real emergency come up" the owner said. "With elderly parents, the thought was never far from my mind".
"We have used a few innsitters over the nearly four years we've had the B&B. We've been comfortable enough leaving our 'baby' in other folks' hands to take time away for the infrequent weekend or vacation".
"I say 'comfortable enough', because I have to admit I'm never 'completely' comfortable. You pour your heart and soul into building the business and you know your success can be jeopardized by turning it over to someone else who is bound to do things differently. And then, I'm never sure I've told them everything they need to know for every last contingency."
The point is, they were prepared. They had already experimented with innsitters and had some they trusted who knew the inn and could step in at a moment's notice.
"We are so thankful they were available to take over during a crisis. It was incredibly helpful that they already knew our routines and expectations. They do their best to offer the same experience guests would have if we were here".
Do they do everything exactly as we would? Probably not, but they try very hard to do so. They take their role very seriously. Our guests always give them lots of compliments."
The moral of the story? Don't wait to hire an innsitter until you have to hire an innsitter. It's good for your mental and emotional well being -- and you can train and try out your temporary replacements when there's no pressure.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

This is one of the reasons why it's a good idea to have an interim innkeeper aquainted with your property. We now have 3 interims we can call on if needed.
Edited to add: Thank goodness we have 3 interims, because we now have to use our back-up plan! I'm scheduled for surgery on Tuesday at a hospital 1 1/2 hours away and I need DH for emotional and physical support to be with me. Out of the 3 interims, only 1 is available for the week we need her. Phew! I don't know what we would have done if didn't have her.
We are all so vulnerable if one of us gets sick.