Has anyone ever been denied the opportunity to start a B&B soley determined by their zoning department?
Yes.
That said, it doesn't seem like you really have the makings of a B&B here. Why not just do it as a 'self catering' rental and let guests get their own meals? You could set the rentals for one week and have a cleaning service do the clean up, or do that part yourself. If you want the meet & greet part, that can be done when the guests show up and when they leave.
Then again, myabe this is a mistake on my part. Is this a BIG cabin where 3-4 different couples could stay at one time? How would you serve the breakfast in that case unless you live VERY close?
Also, because you have decorated this cabin for yourselves, you may want to think about removing some of the things you really treasure before renting the place out. Accidents happen.
Now, the other thing...these people who have approached you to rent your cabin...are they friends and family? Just asking because friends & family rarely want to pay the going rate....
Well Bree, thanks for all the great things to think about and we have actually thought a lot about whay you've mentioned. We were thinking that the "self catering" option would be best for us seeing that the cabin is actually located 25 minutes from home. We were thinking about offering our guests a "Breakfast Basket" which would include locally grown and produced organic fare from here in Mid-Missouri. We thought of including in our reservation packet a breakfast items check-list so that they could choose for themselves what they would like and that would provide them their own options for making breakfast since the cabin has a fully stocked kitchen with everything they would need to cook and clean up after themselves. Then any of the product that they do not use they can take home for themselves, as well as the basket, which will be made by the Amish community that lives in the area.
The cabin is large enough to host anywhere from two to six at this time and has two seperate bedrooms. So it could be rented to a single person, a couple or a small family or two small families. We would have to do the "meet and great" option when the guests come and go. My husband has a little more flexibility in his daily schedule which would allow him to drive out there to drop of keys, etc. I however, would not be available until after work at 5 p.m. or on the weekends.
We have already taken the precaution of moving the family heirlooms out of the cabin since it looks like we might have our first guests in July. We still have a few things that we need to take care of before we would feel comfortable to open it up to guests, like updating the 1950's pink toilet, sink and tub,
adding a whole house water filtration system, having the septic cleaned out and also finishing up some painting that we've conveniently put off.
And as for your last question, the people who have approached us about this are not family or friends, but the family of some of our neighbors who live by the cabin who visit from Florida a couple of times a year.
So....back to my original question. Since maybe it doesn't look like what I'm trying to start is a "real" B&B, do you think then that we would have any problems with the zoning issue? I guess, I'd really like to hear from anyone who did have those problems, but overcame them.....and how they did that. Just in case we hear bad news from the zoning department.
Thanks for your help!
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