Southern-We are a husband and wife team that owned a B & B for four years and circumstances some beyond our control and some of our control we had to close the business. We liked what we were doing so we diligently searched for Innkeeping positions and it took us many interviews and letters and e-mails but we did land one and out of kind of desperation because the job market was low and because we could do the job we took it. In retrospect we had no idea what kind of boss we would have because the boss was an absentee owner that micromanaged the staff that managed to stay here. In short, we decided two months into the job to start searching for another position-this was a year ago.
We do have another position that we are going to in November and it seems like a good partnership, although we really won't know until we get there; we asked questions and we are satisfied with the salary. There are many types of B & B's and most do include innkeeper's quarters which is included in your salary, but like Alibi mentioned there are too many variables to say that there is a salary that can be made at every Inn and it also depends on what you will be doing. I can tell you this-if you were to be hired as "management" instead of an "innkeeper" which will be jack and jill of all trades-that Inn would be making alot of revenue to pay the management, lawn service, housekeepers, cooks etc all year long. Keep in mind that being innkeepets is a 24/7 job, its not a 9-5 job and as someone else mentioned-you should consider going to some seminars and such. We were baptized by fire meaning we went and we owned one and actually learned alot, now being hired by an Inn we learned different things.
If you want more info dont hesitate to e-mail me. Good luck.
Thank you, Birdwatcher, for your kind reply and for the encouragement. We really want to do this. We have talked about it and been reading about it for years. We have done some homework around this, talked to people who know a little about the business. My husband has computer reservations systems experience from leisure and corporate travel. So - we feel like if someone is willing to give us an opportunity - we really would like to give it all we have and see if this is for us. And in fact, we are in the interviewing process with a wonderful couple who seem to be interested in taking some business savvy, customer service focused, aspiring innkeepers and teach them the ropes. I hope the situation is not as some of the others have suggested and that they simply want to take advantage of us. We hope not. But, I guess if we take no risks then we don't have the chance to experience the blessing that may be available to us in this. So we are stepping out in Faith.
The potentials have asked what we think would be a fair salary - hence the question to you all about salary. I so appreciate your warm invitation to email you for more information. Blessings!
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Treat this like any position and be sure that a lot of the details are spelled out:
- Get a job description in writing - including specifics about your responsibilites, owner responsibilites, contractor's responsibilities; also, vacation time, sick time, health insurance, back-up plan for sick or injured innkeepers, etc.
- Get the salary and hours in writing - I have known of innkeepers that have not been paid because business was slow; or their hours were cut; OR their hours were increased and they had to do more as other contractors were let go but they were not paid any additional wages.
- Make sure that the inn you're working for has some kind of procedures manual - there's nothing worse than to get to a position and find that everything has changed and you have to figure out what to do.
- Make sure that you know the "chain of command" for decision making - in other words, what exactly are you empowered to do? To hire? To buy?
- What about your innkeeper quarters? - what is included? Can you make any changes? Can you make it more like your own place
These are just a few things off the top of my head.
You asked such a broad brush question about salary that's really impossible to answer. It really does depend on region of the country, type of inn (does it have a restaurant, shop, do they do events/weddings?), inn size of actual property, number of rooms, occupancy, and scope of responsibilities. It could well be that you would be paid more if you supervise other employees, but maybe not if the owner still has the final word.
There's really nothing like an internship or OJT at a B&B/inn to see if this is really the job for you before you jump into a contract with an owner.
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I cannot even begin to tell you all how much Donald and I are appreciating your candor! We've not been around here long and weren't really sure how much info to provide in asking this question about salary. But clearly we also had not considered some of the variables you are mentioning in considering what a salary should/would be. You have provided a wealth of information. Thank you for the time you invested in answering the question.
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No problem.
Before I owned my own start-up B&B, I worked at a very large inn that also did weddings and events, as well as off-site catering. I went to work there to see if I really wanted to own an inn of my own. I was hired to be an assistant innkeeper. Never got a job description and was paid very little. Long story short, the inn provided no introduction to their particular place and had no procedures manual, no training whatsoever, and I was expected to do really any kind of job....from cleaning toilets and other housekeeping duties, to shopping and assisting with catering jobs for special events, to detailed computer work.
I worked there long enough to learn what I wanted to do (or not do) with my own place someday and how I would treat any employees, if I had them.
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Hey Samster,
Like you, I think we have settled in our minds in advance to this search that this first stint will be a a huge learning experience and that if we enter into it with that in mind we may not as put off by the whole experience.
We are watching out for the "this seems too good to be true" signs - which from past interviews we have learned that those signs can be very cunning. It is easy to fall over into, "Oh my gosh! This is exactly what we thought would be PERFECT for us!" This may possibly be one of the most difficult interviewing processes either of us has ever experienced! Really. We both have hired and fired, been hired and laid off, but this is a whole new ball game. I think part of it is that clearly both sides of the picture are interviewing the other. The prospective is deciding if we fit - we are deciding if they/it fit. Lots of posturing - which I HATE. It is both exhilarating and exhausting!
The place we are considering and who is considering us right now is not a big EVENTS venue - and if it was, I don't think we would consider it. We know we are not ready to be wedding arrangers - we need to care for guests who are simply vacationing first. It
can be used as a retreat for a church group or mens/womens group getaway weekend. Maybe a team summer vacation. But the grounds are not conducive to having a big wedding. No huge catering events could go on there for sure. So this is good for us.
We do have what I think is a healthy fear of getting in over our heads - although it seems this is where the cunning aspect of this interview can come in a fool us. We are trying to be as honest as we can be about our abilities.
Thanks again.
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