My guest house update

[JBloggs]

We do, Josh in Seattle. He has not been on here for a while, he has a couple guest houses. He DOES indeed operate differently to most of us. I hope he can pop in here some time and share his experiences thus far.

 

[Arks]

I love the idea of a guest house. See although I am an innkeeper I am more into doing my own thang, and that is more my idea of a fun weekend away.
I had a room who wanted an early check in today to close on some property near here so I left them a note and went for a lake swim. They called Dh's cell phone upset as they just could not work out how to get in. The email last night and the note gave them the four digit code. For some reason people think you push the buttons in and then the 115 year old door just automatically opens. So the "unmanned" part of your venture will indeed be interesting. People are used to being baby sat me thinks, apron strings (ie cell phones) and all that.
I asked DH how many times did they try it before they phoned? Did you have them try it while you were on the other end of the line? Yes, and of course they opened it then just fine..

I love the idea of a guest house.

Me too...wish we had a 'keeper of a true guesthouse on the forum, it would be nice to have that persepective.
.

I came up with the term "guest house" for my place based on the definitions at
http://www.jedburgh-online.org.uk/accommodation.asp
It's the Scottish Tourist Board Grading System definitions, but they're the best I could find in a quick search. They define a guest house as "usually a commercial business with a minimum of 4 letting bedrooms, of which some will have en-suite or private facilities. Breakfast will be available and evening meals may be provided."
That definition matches my place better than any of the others they list.

 

[birdwatcher]

How exciting...I remember when we bought and started the renovations on our Inn- your forum I didn't know about-wish I did.
Good luck...

 

[Copperhead]

Sounds very exciting and it is fun turning something into your dream place.
As long as you have the correct permits to run it without 24/7 staff, I see no problems with not having staff overnight. This is said with the exception of having an emergency contact for such times and that people are made aware of this when they book.
I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where we live - thinking we live elsewhere. And although WE were told that it was required to live on premise in this state, we since have learned that if it is the law, there are many side skirting this in other areas of the state.
We stayed in a B&B in my home town, no staff except during lunch time (they had a lunch cafe) and if someone was checking in (which was by appt. only). We were walk-ins and I guess just happened to come at a time when they were there. Felt strange to be in that old home alone and they had only pointed to the fridge saying what was in there for breakfast. The next morning upon opening the fridge, I found that it also served as their cafe fridge. That to me was a health code alert.

 

[gillumhouse]

WOW! All I can say is good luck! You have some mighty big plans there and I sure hope it all works out for you. I still think you should have some kind of staff person on duty during the night. It just makes good sense and could avoid problems. Doesn't have to be a live in innkeeper but just someone there to "mind the store" so to speak. They could be the ones to prep the continental breakfast for the morning.
Yes I too am wondering about sprinker system. Can't believe that you wouldn't have to have that in such a commercial operation..

I'll certainly mention the sprinkler system to the architect. He's handling the code requirements. I've never seen a hotel around here without a sprinkler system and since we're basically starting from scratch inside with a near-total rebuild, putting in sprinklers makes good sense.
I've just stayed at so many guest houses around the world, and agriturismos in Italy, that leave the place just to the guests at night, that I don't see the problem. As some have mentioned, this is in many ways more of a vacation rental than a B&B. People stay in vacation rentals all the time and don't seem to require the hand-holding of a night manager.
But still, if it's ever a problem I can have the convenience store open 24/7. They'd have a long, boring night in this little town of 7000, though! The only things open after 11 p.m. are the hospital and the police station (and I suspect those police are sleeping).
.

There are different people all in your building...you may say vacation rental..but I don't see it like that..I see it as a small boutique hotel. Hotels always have some sort of staff present. It is different if you are renting say a cabin or a cottage. Then yes, I agree know one has to be on site. Just doesn't seem right to me.
We stayed at a small B & B in my hometown. No one was there...and I wandered around the place thinking about all kinds of things...I was not comfortable. Was the former funeral home where they laid out "Pretty Boy FLoyd"
There was a fully stocked kitchen and anyone could go in and help themselves and make their own breakfast. All sorts of frozen goodies, juices, pastries, cereal etc etc. It just didn't feel like a B & B to me and we never went back.
Several years ago in Charlottesville there was a terrible fire at an inn. 2 people died and several injured. No one was on duty and the fire alarms did not work. That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.
.

That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.

I'll definitely have a sprinkler system and smoke detectors set to dial the fire department automatically. People will be safer than they are in their own bedroom at home, sleeping away at night with just a battery-powered smoke detector and no sprinkler system.
Also, I'll need an burglar alarm system that dials the police if there's a break-in on a night when the place is sitting empty.
All this, even with higher insurance cost, will surely still be cheaper than paying someone to sit there and read a book 7 nights a week.
Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)
.

Re the fire CatLady alluded to - the alarms did not go off because it was during a storm that had knocked out the power. The fire started with candles being used for light if I remember correctly.
Best of luck to you.

 

[muirford]

WOW! All I can say is good luck! You have some mighty big plans there and I sure hope it all works out for you. I still think you should have some kind of staff person on duty during the night. It just makes good sense and could avoid problems. Doesn't have to be a live in innkeeper but just someone there to "mind the store" so to speak. They could be the ones to prep the continental breakfast for the morning.
Yes I too am wondering about sprinker system. Can't believe that you wouldn't have to have that in such a commercial operation..

I'll certainly mention the sprinkler system to the architect. He's handling the code requirements. I've never seen a hotel around here without a sprinkler system and since we're basically starting from scratch inside with a near-total rebuild, putting in sprinklers makes good sense.
I've just stayed at so many guest houses around the world, and agriturismos in Italy, that leave the place just to the guests at night, that I don't see the problem. As some have mentioned, this is in many ways more of a vacation rental than a B&B. People stay in vacation rentals all the time and don't seem to require the hand-holding of a night manager.
But still, if it's ever a problem I can have the convenience store open 24/7. They'd have a long, boring night in this little town of 7000, though! The only things open after 11 p.m. are the hospital and the police station (and I suspect those police are sleeping).
.

There are different people all in your building...you may say vacation rental..but I don't see it like that..I see it as a small boutique hotel. Hotels always have some sort of staff present. It is different if you are renting say a cabin or a cottage. Then yes, I agree know one has to be on site. Just doesn't seem right to me.
We stayed at a small B & B in my hometown. No one was there...and I wandered around the place thinking about all kinds of things...I was not comfortable. Was the former funeral home where they laid out "Pretty Boy FLoyd"
There was a fully stocked kitchen and anyone could go in and help themselves and make their own breakfast. All sorts of frozen goodies, juices, pastries, cereal etc etc. It just didn't feel like a B & B to me and we never went back.
Several years ago in Charlottesville there was a terrible fire at an inn. 2 people died and several injured. No one was on duty and the fire alarms did not work. That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.
.

That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.

I'll definitely have a sprinkler system and smoke detectors set to dial the fire department automatically. People will be safer than they are in their own bedroom at home, sleeping away at night with just a battery-powered smoke detector and no sprinkler system.
Also, I'll need an burglar alarm system that dials the police if there's a break-in on a night when the place is sitting empty.
All this, even with higher insurance cost, will surely still be cheaper than paying someone to sit there and read a book 7 nights a week.
Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)
.

Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)

If you have room in the renovation, consider adding a small studio apartment setup, maybe on the first floor or above the guest rooms. Being able to offer a place to live as part of the setup for having someone on 24/7 might be the way to go. Our firestation here built some dorm rooms on the firehouse and offered them to adult students who would go to school at our local university but in exchange for the room would be trained as firemen and respond to calls. You could either a) find a better class of convenience store clerk by having one who lived on site (you'd probably still need another part-timer) and would be on call at night or b) have someone on call at night for very little cost once the renovation is done.

 

[Arks]

WOW! All I can say is good luck! You have some mighty big plans there and I sure hope it all works out for you. I still think you should have some kind of staff person on duty during the night. It just makes good sense and could avoid problems. Doesn't have to be a live in innkeeper but just someone there to "mind the store" so to speak. They could be the ones to prep the continental breakfast for the morning.
Yes I too am wondering about sprinker system. Can't believe that you wouldn't have to have that in such a commercial operation..

I'll certainly mention the sprinkler system to the architect. He's handling the code requirements. I've never seen a hotel around here without a sprinkler system and since we're basically starting from scratch inside with a near-total rebuild, putting in sprinklers makes good sense.
I've just stayed at so many guest houses around the world, and agriturismos in Italy, that leave the place just to the guests at night, that I don't see the problem. As some have mentioned, this is in many ways more of a vacation rental than a B&B. People stay in vacation rentals all the time and don't seem to require the hand-holding of a night manager.
But still, if it's ever a problem I can have the convenience store open 24/7. They'd have a long, boring night in this little town of 7000, though! The only things open after 11 p.m. are the hospital and the police station (and I suspect those police are sleeping).
.

There are different people all in your building...you may say vacation rental..but I don't see it like that..I see it as a small boutique hotel. Hotels always have some sort of staff present. It is different if you are renting say a cabin or a cottage. Then yes, I agree know one has to be on site. Just doesn't seem right to me.
We stayed at a small B & B in my hometown. No one was there...and I wandered around the place thinking about all kinds of things...I was not comfortable. Was the former funeral home where they laid out "Pretty Boy FLoyd"
There was a fully stocked kitchen and anyone could go in and help themselves and make their own breakfast. All sorts of frozen goodies, juices, pastries, cereal etc etc. It just didn't feel like a B & B to me and we never went back.
Several years ago in Charlottesville there was a terrible fire at an inn. 2 people died and several injured. No one was on duty and the fire alarms did not work. That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.
.

That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.

I'll definitely have a sprinkler system and smoke detectors set to dial the fire department automatically. People will be safer than they are in their own bedroom at home, sleeping away at night with just a battery-powered smoke detector and no sprinkler system.
Also, I'll need an burglar alarm system that dials the police if there's a break-in on a night when the place is sitting empty.
All this, even with higher insurance cost, will surely still be cheaper than paying someone to sit there and read a book 7 nights a week.
Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)
.

Re the fire CatLady alluded to - the alarms did not go off because it was during a storm that had knocked out the power. The fire started with candles being used for light if I remember correctly.
Best of luck to you.
.

Can't imagine an alarm system without battery backup. The type system we use at my office even detects if the backup battery is getting weak, and phones the central station to report it. It's pretty much fool-proof, but of course nothing will every be perfect.
Unfortunately, fires happen and people are victims, but it's much more common in people's homes than in their inns.
But of course, we're dealing with human nature. You hear of a house fire and think, oh the poor things. You hear of a B&B fire and think, I'm not staying at any more B&Bs!

 

[Arks]

WOW! All I can say is good luck! You have some mighty big plans there and I sure hope it all works out for you. I still think you should have some kind of staff person on duty during the night. It just makes good sense and could avoid problems. Doesn't have to be a live in innkeeper but just someone there to "mind the store" so to speak. They could be the ones to prep the continental breakfast for the morning.
Yes I too am wondering about sprinker system. Can't believe that you wouldn't have to have that in such a commercial operation..

I'll certainly mention the sprinkler system to the architect. He's handling the code requirements. I've never seen a hotel around here without a sprinkler system and since we're basically starting from scratch inside with a near-total rebuild, putting in sprinklers makes good sense.
I've just stayed at so many guest houses around the world, and agriturismos in Italy, that leave the place just to the guests at night, that I don't see the problem. As some have mentioned, this is in many ways more of a vacation rental than a B&B. People stay in vacation rentals all the time and don't seem to require the hand-holding of a night manager.
But still, if it's ever a problem I can have the convenience store open 24/7. They'd have a long, boring night in this little town of 7000, though! The only things open after 11 p.m. are the hospital and the police station (and I suspect those police are sleeping).
.

There are different people all in your building...you may say vacation rental..but I don't see it like that..I see it as a small boutique hotel. Hotels always have some sort of staff present. It is different if you are renting say a cabin or a cottage. Then yes, I agree know one has to be on site. Just doesn't seem right to me.
We stayed at a small B & B in my hometown. No one was there...and I wandered around the place thinking about all kinds of things...I was not comfortable. Was the former funeral home where they laid out "Pretty Boy FLoyd"
There was a fully stocked kitchen and anyone could go in and help themselves and make their own breakfast. All sorts of frozen goodies, juices, pastries, cereal etc etc. It just didn't feel like a B & B to me and we never went back.
Several years ago in Charlottesville there was a terrible fire at an inn. 2 people died and several injured. No one was on duty and the fire alarms did not work. That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.
.

That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.

I'll definitely have a sprinkler system and smoke detectors set to dial the fire department automatically. People will be safer than they are in their own bedroom at home, sleeping away at night with just a battery-powered smoke detector and no sprinkler system.
Also, I'll need an burglar alarm system that dials the police if there's a break-in on a night when the place is sitting empty.
All this, even with higher insurance cost, will surely still be cheaper than paying someone to sit there and read a book 7 nights a week.
Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)
.

Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)

If you have room in the renovation, consider adding a small studio apartment setup, maybe on the first floor or above the guest rooms. Being able to offer a place to live as part of the setup for having someone on 24/7 might be the way to go. Our firestation here built some dorm rooms on the firehouse and offered them to adult students who would go to school at our local university but in exchange for the room would be trained as firemen and respond to calls. You could either a) find a better class of convenience store clerk by having one who lived on site (you'd probably still need another part-timer) and would be on call at night or b) have someone on call at night for very little cost once the renovation is done.
.

...find a better class of convenience store clerk by having one who lived on site...

Yes, I've been thinking about this...that your average convenience store staffer won't do as the person who greets and makes that important first impression with the guests. I need people with maturity and good sense.
To man the store 16 hours a day, that's two 8-hour shifts a day times 7 days a week = 14 shifts a week.
A regular 40-hour work week is five 8-hour shifts. So to cover 14 shifts I'll need 3 people, minimum, to run the store. Three competent people who can make a good impression, answer questions about the area, make decisions and handle problems. Oh my. Where will I find them.
Are any of you looking for extra work?

 

[Arks]

Sounds very exciting and it is fun turning something into your dream place.
As long as you have the correct permits to run it without 24/7 staff, I see no problems with not having staff overnight. This is said with the exception of having an emergency contact for such times and that people are made aware of this when they book.
I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where we live - thinking we live elsewhere. And although WE were told that it was required to live on premise in this state, we since have learned that if it is the law, there are many side skirting this in other areas of the state.
We stayed in a B&B in my home town, no staff except during lunch time (they had a lunch cafe) and if someone was checking in (which was by appt. only). We were walk-ins and I guess just happened to come at a time when they were there. Felt strange to be in that old home alone and they had only pointed to the fridge saying what was in there for breakfast. The next morning upon opening the fridge, I found that it also served as their cafe fridge. That to me was a health code alert..

Thanks for the words of encouragement. On my family's recent trip to England/Ireland, we stayed in lots of homes and, after they showed us our rooms where/when to go for breakfast, we never bothered the owners again. They gave us keys to the front door so we could come and go as we pleased and we just took care of ourselves. Wouldn't have considered bothering them in the night.
So reading here on the forum, I get the feeling that American B&B owners, God bless 'em, are catering to the most demanding, helpless people on earth! Granted, it's a profession I know very little about, but it almost seems that all the pampering given to the American B&B guests has created a whole class of PITAs who could ONLY survive at an American B&B.
I'm thinking I need to stay away from giving potential guests any notion that mine is an American-style B&B. I need to aim toward more self-sufficient sorts of folks.

 

[EmptyNest]

Sounds very exciting and it is fun turning something into your dream place.
As long as you have the correct permits to run it without 24/7 staff, I see no problems with not having staff overnight. This is said with the exception of having an emergency contact for such times and that people are made aware of this when they book.
I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where we live - thinking we live elsewhere. And although WE were told that it was required to live on premise in this state, we since have learned that if it is the law, there are many side skirting this in other areas of the state.
We stayed in a B&B in my home town, no staff except during lunch time (they had a lunch cafe) and if someone was checking in (which was by appt. only). We were walk-ins and I guess just happened to come at a time when they were there. Felt strange to be in that old home alone and they had only pointed to the fridge saying what was in there for breakfast. The next morning upon opening the fridge, I found that it also served as their cafe fridge. That to me was a health code alert..

Thanks for the words of encouragement. On my family's recent trip to England/Ireland, we stayed in lots of homes and, after they showed us our rooms where/when to go for breakfast, we never bothered the owners again. They gave us keys to the front door so we could come and go as we pleased and we just took care of ourselves. Wouldn't have considered bothering them in the night.
So reading here on the forum, I get the feeling that American B&B owners, God bless 'em, are catering to the most demanding, helpless people on earth! Granted, it's a profession I know very little about, but it almost seems that all the pampering given to the American B&B guests has created a whole class of PITAs who could ONLY survive at an American B&B.
I'm thinking I need to stay away from giving potential guests any notion that mine is an American-style B&B. I need to aim toward more self-sufficient sorts of folks.
.

Yes you are right. You are not going to be a B & B..so don't give that impression. Have you stayed in American B & B's...you should ...just to experience it. You are doing us an injustice by comparing American ones to European ones....very different for most cases.

 

[Arks]

Sounds very exciting and it is fun turning something into your dream place.
As long as you have the correct permits to run it without 24/7 staff, I see no problems with not having staff overnight. This is said with the exception of having an emergency contact for such times and that people are made aware of this when they book.
I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where we live - thinking we live elsewhere. And although WE were told that it was required to live on premise in this state, we since have learned that if it is the law, there are many side skirting this in other areas of the state.
We stayed in a B&B in my home town, no staff except during lunch time (they had a lunch cafe) and if someone was checking in (which was by appt. only). We were walk-ins and I guess just happened to come at a time when they were there. Felt strange to be in that old home alone and they had only pointed to the fridge saying what was in there for breakfast. The next morning upon opening the fridge, I found that it also served as their cafe fridge. That to me was a health code alert..

Thanks for the words of encouragement. On my family's recent trip to England/Ireland, we stayed in lots of homes and, after they showed us our rooms where/when to go for breakfast, we never bothered the owners again. They gave us keys to the front door so we could come and go as we pleased and we just took care of ourselves. Wouldn't have considered bothering them in the night.
So reading here on the forum, I get the feeling that American B&B owners, God bless 'em, are catering to the most demanding, helpless people on earth! Granted, it's a profession I know very little about, but it almost seems that all the pampering given to the American B&B guests has created a whole class of PITAs who could ONLY survive at an American B&B.
I'm thinking I need to stay away from giving potential guests any notion that mine is an American-style B&B. I need to aim toward more self-sufficient sorts of folks.
.

Yes you are right. You are not going to be a B & B..so don't give that impression. Have you stayed in American B & B's...you should ...just to experience it. You are doing us an injustice by comparing American ones to European ones....very different for most cases.
.

Yes, I've stayed in American B&Bs. I think you're WAY underpaid for the experience you're giving people! As I say, you're spoiling them. You know it and they know it...which is fine, but they should be paying more for it.
Maybe I'll market this as an 1895-era inn with 1895-era service. People can come to the frontier and see what staying at a small town hotel was like 115 years ago! (but with free wifi, cable TV, and a jacuzzi)

 

[muirford]

WOW! All I can say is good luck! You have some mighty big plans there and I sure hope it all works out for you. I still think you should have some kind of staff person on duty during the night. It just makes good sense and could avoid problems. Doesn't have to be a live in innkeeper but just someone there to "mind the store" so to speak. They could be the ones to prep the continental breakfast for the morning.
Yes I too am wondering about sprinker system. Can't believe that you wouldn't have to have that in such a commercial operation..

I'll certainly mention the sprinkler system to the architect. He's handling the code requirements. I've never seen a hotel around here without a sprinkler system and since we're basically starting from scratch inside with a near-total rebuild, putting in sprinklers makes good sense.
I've just stayed at so many guest houses around the world, and agriturismos in Italy, that leave the place just to the guests at night, that I don't see the problem. As some have mentioned, this is in many ways more of a vacation rental than a B&B. People stay in vacation rentals all the time and don't seem to require the hand-holding of a night manager.
But still, if it's ever a problem I can have the convenience store open 24/7. They'd have a long, boring night in this little town of 7000, though! The only things open after 11 p.m. are the hospital and the police station (and I suspect those police are sleeping).
.

There are different people all in your building...you may say vacation rental..but I don't see it like that..I see it as a small boutique hotel. Hotels always have some sort of staff present. It is different if you are renting say a cabin or a cottage. Then yes, I agree know one has to be on site. Just doesn't seem right to me.
We stayed at a small B & B in my hometown. No one was there...and I wandered around the place thinking about all kinds of things...I was not comfortable. Was the former funeral home where they laid out "Pretty Boy FLoyd"
There was a fully stocked kitchen and anyone could go in and help themselves and make their own breakfast. All sorts of frozen goodies, juices, pastries, cereal etc etc. It just didn't feel like a B & B to me and we never went back.
Several years ago in Charlottesville there was a terrible fire at an inn. 2 people died and several injured. No one was on duty and the fire alarms did not work. That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.
.

That was enough for our association to require members to live on site, or have wired in smoke detector systems.

I'll definitely have a sprinkler system and smoke detectors set to dial the fire department automatically. People will be safer than they are in their own bedroom at home, sleeping away at night with just a battery-powered smoke detector and no sprinkler system.
Also, I'll need an burglar alarm system that dials the police if there's a break-in on a night when the place is sitting empty.
All this, even with higher insurance cost, will surely still be cheaper than paying someone to sit there and read a book 7 nights a week.
Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)
.

Now, if someone can think of something that person could be doing all night that won't disturb the guests' sleeping and will pay the salary of the night watchman, I'd love to hear it. Stuffing envelopes or other piece work? (I'm not being a smarty. I'm serious. I'd love to have someone there 24/7, just need to make the extra staff payroll-neutral.)

If you have room in the renovation, consider adding a small studio apartment setup, maybe on the first floor or above the guest rooms. Being able to offer a place to live as part of the setup for having someone on 24/7 might be the way to go. Our firestation here built some dorm rooms on the firehouse and offered them to adult students who would go to school at our local university but in exchange for the room would be trained as firemen and respond to calls. You could either a) find a better class of convenience store clerk by having one who lived on site (you'd probably still need another part-timer) and would be on call at night or b) have someone on call at night for very little cost once the renovation is done.
.

...find a better class of convenience store clerk by having one who lived on site...

Yes, I've been thinking about this...that your average convenience store staffer won't do as the person who greets and makes that important first impression with the guests. I need people with maturity and good sense.
To man the store 16 hours a day, that's two 8-hour shifts a day times 7 days a week = 14 shifts a week.
A regular 40-hour work week is five 8-hour shifts. So to cover 14 shifts I'll need 3 people, minimum, to run the store. Three competent people who can make a good impression, answer questions about the area, make decisions and handle problems. Oh my. Where will I find them.
Are any of you looking for extra work?

.

Three competent people who can make a good impression, answer questions about the area, make decisions and handle problems. Oh my. Where will I find them.

We recently lost our long-time housekeeper who moved away for family reasons, and were in the position to hire a second person for the summer season. She left without much notice, unfortunately, so we decided to run an ad in the local paper and post it on our university's job board. I included our hourly rate (more than twice the minimum wage) to make it clear this wasn't a run-of-the-mill housekeeping job. We had more than 100 phone calls and over 25 people who showed up for interviews. At least six of those were well-qualified for the job. In comparison, about five years ago we ran an ad for a weekend housekeeper and received 5 responses.

 

[JBloggs]

Arkie unfortunately when we need to vent, it is the forum. Other people NEVER hear our horror stories. If we tell even one story to a non innkeeper we will get in reply "I don't know how you can do that!" Or "Why do you run an inn if you hate the guests" to this, we get even more irritated. Because we vent from a very difficult person doesn't mean we hate running an inn.
So for the 99% of the non-pita guests, you will hear of the one that really got under our skin. The warnings are always there as the pitas are always around the next corner. I have had a week of excellent guests, meanwhile another innmate has had some bad apples who are needy up the wazzoo.
If we post only glowing guest stories - well let's face it, no one would want to read that. It sounds like bragging or just not that exciting. Like any good novel you need a bit of intrigue.

 

[JBloggs]

Sheesh you better have battery back ups on your fire alarms!
This is my thing, this is why I get all out of sorts when I hear of B&B's opening in locales without proper inspections. This stuff IS LIFE OR DEATH. Knowing proper holding temps for FOOD is life or death! Yes, it is. I am against overregulation, but I am for common sense. As evidenced on this forum from time to time, not everyone has common sense. People with zero background in hospitality or business management think it is just lemonade and muffins.
So for those we respond to in this fashion, it is because we don't know you and we want to warn you there is a lot more to owning and operating an inn that meets the eye.

 

[Arks]

Arkie unfortunately when we need to vent, it is the forum. Other people NEVER hear our horror stories. If we tell even one story to a non innkeeper we will get in reply "I don't know how you can do that!" Or "Why do you run an inn if you hate the guests" to this, we get even more irritated. Because we vent from a very difficult person doesn't mean we hate running an inn.
So for the 99% of the non-pita guests, you will hear of the one that really got under our skin. The warnings are always there as the pitas are always around the next corner. I have had a week of excellent guests, meanwhile another innmate has had some bad apples who are needy up the wazzoo.
If we post only glowing guest stories - well let's face it, no one would want to read that. It sounds like bragging or just not that exciting. Like any good novel you need a bit of intrigue..

Yes, the PITA stories make EXCELLENT reading. Keep 'em coming!
Maybe I'll just be a PITA back to the bad ones, by not catering to them. Maybe they'll go away.
I'm just pre-venting there, too. I know you can't afford to offend even the difficult ones. It's the adage: You please a person and they'll tell 5 friends about it. You displease a person and they'll tell 50!

 

[muirford]

Sounds very exciting and it is fun turning something into your dream place.
As long as you have the correct permits to run it without 24/7 staff, I see no problems with not having staff overnight. This is said with the exception of having an emergency contact for such times and that people are made aware of this when they book.
I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where we live - thinking we live elsewhere. And although WE were told that it was required to live on premise in this state, we since have learned that if it is the law, there are many side skirting this in other areas of the state.
We stayed in a B&B in my home town, no staff except during lunch time (they had a lunch cafe) and if someone was checking in (which was by appt. only). We were walk-ins and I guess just happened to come at a time when they were there. Felt strange to be in that old home alone and they had only pointed to the fridge saying what was in there for breakfast. The next morning upon opening the fridge, I found that it also served as their cafe fridge. That to me was a health code alert..

Thanks for the words of encouragement. On my family's recent trip to England/Ireland, we stayed in lots of homes and, after they showed us our rooms where/when to go for breakfast, we never bothered the owners again. They gave us keys to the front door so we could come and go as we pleased and we just took care of ourselves. Wouldn't have considered bothering them in the night.
So reading here on the forum, I get the feeling that American B&B owners, God bless 'em, are catering to the most demanding, helpless people on earth! Granted, it's a profession I know very little about, but it almost seems that all the pampering given to the American B&B guests has created a whole class of PITAs who could ONLY survive at an American B&B.
I'm thinking I need to stay away from giving potential guests any notion that mine is an American-style B&B. I need to aim toward more self-sufficient sorts of folks.
.

So reading here on the forum, I get the feeling that American B&B owners, God bless 'em, are catering to the most demanding, helpless people on earth! Granted, it's a profession I know very little about, but it almost seems that all the pampering given to the American B&B guests has created a whole class of PITAs who could ONLY survive at an American B&B.

We get them, but I don't actually think we created them. I don't think we really want to discuss the reasons that a whole section of society has an acute sense of entitlement, because it is beyond the bounds of innkeeping, but almost all of the PITAs I have had are folks for whom I am their first B&B, and the expectation is that I will provide an unlimited menu of food catering to the special diet of the day, concierge service like the Four Seasons, and a Disney-type experience of a small town (all of the charm, none of the litter or noise).

 

[JBloggs]

You can visit our 1895 inn. Come on out!

 

[JBloggs]

Arkie unfortunately when we need to vent, it is the forum. Other people NEVER hear our horror stories. If we tell even one story to a non innkeeper we will get in reply "I don't know how you can do that!" Or "Why do you run an inn if you hate the guests" to this, we get even more irritated. Because we vent from a very difficult person doesn't mean we hate running an inn.
So for the 99% of the non-pita guests, you will hear of the one that really got under our skin. The warnings are always there as the pitas are always around the next corner. I have had a week of excellent guests, meanwhile another innmate has had some bad apples who are needy up the wazzoo.
If we post only glowing guest stories - well let's face it, no one would want to read that. It sounds like bragging or just not that exciting. Like any good novel you need a bit of intrigue..

Yes, the PITA stories make EXCELLENT reading. Keep 'em coming!
Maybe I'll just be a PITA back to the bad ones, by not catering to them. Maybe they'll go away.
I'm just pre-venting there, too. I know you can't afford to offend even the difficult ones. It's the adage: You please a person and they'll tell 5 friends about it. You displease a person and they'll tell 50!
.

Yes, the PITA stories make EXCELLENT reading. Keep 'em coming!
Maybe I'll just be a PITA back to the bad ones, by not catering to them. Maybe they'll go away.
I'm just pre-venting there, too. I know you can't afford to offend even the difficult ones. It's the adage: You please a person and they'll tell 5 friends about it. You displease a person and they'll tell 50!

Please a person and they tell 500,000 and displease and they tell 5 million. The old adage has changed in this age of the internet.

 

[Joey Camb]

I would also have if possible some way for when the fire alarm goes off it rings you as well on your mobile. As from previously found from years in hotels when the alarms go off during the day people just sit there and carry on. During the night they get up and simply mill about like sheep. Also be aware that whatever you tell them to do in an emergency they won't do it. One of the things we are trialing which is something we did at the last hotel I worked at is if a person has a disability that would affect they ability to get out during a fire they have a orange door hanger on their door so they are easily identifiable to fire and rescue people. Also they have to fill in a form on check in in the larger hotels so that if there is a fire they can hand the list over to the fire brigade so they know who needs extra help. Also make sure they know to stay in their rooms as we had told them to stay till they were rescued but they didn't and were trapped on the landing instead of behind their fire doors. DUH!!!

 

[Arks]

I would also have if possible some way for when the fire alarm goes off it rings you as well on your mobile. As from previously found from years in hotels when the alarms go off during the day people just sit there and carry on. During the night they get up and simply mill about like sheep. Also be aware that whatever you tell them to do in an emergency they won't do it. One of the things we are trialing which is something we did at the last hotel I worked at is if a person has a disability that would affect they ability to get out during a fire they have a orange door hanger on their door so they are easily identifiable to fire and rescue people. Also they have to fill in a form on check in in the larger hotels so that if there is a fire they can hand the list over to the fire brigade so they know who needs extra help. Also make sure they know to stay in their rooms as we had told them to stay till they were rescued but they didn't and were trapped on the landing instead of behind their fire doors. DUH!!!.

I would also have if possible some way for when the fire alarm goes off it rings you as well on your mobile.

With the system we have, if it's a fire alarm they call the fire department first, then call me on my mobile.
If it's any other sort of alarm (low backup battery, motion detector, door being opened, etc.) they call me first, verify my password, then let me decide if the police should be notified. If I don't answer, or don't give the correct password, they call the police.
It has worked well for us. Of course, most of the notices turn out to be false alarms so the police never get bothered.