As a sole female proprietor, I was curious if there were others SF Innkeepers on this forum....

I am a solo innkeeper/owner  and work full time at the local College. My 2 unites are like cottages but with lots of B&B amenities. There is not a sign out front so no problem with walk ins. I work 8-4 Mon to Sat at the College . Flipped both unites last night, thats 3 King beds, 2 baths, 2 kitchens etc and went to the grocery store. Glad one couple arrived at 10:30 as planned. Couldnt have done it otherwise.I hid the key for them, as planned. I was probably snoooring with mouth open...pretty sight for sure !Sleeping, Mary in Bridgewater, Va.

I am SF in rural area; guess my dogs don't count because the only thing they might do is lick someone to death.  I don't like anyone coming after dark because about half the time they get lost trying to get to my location if it's dark, and I have to hop in the car and go find them.  I've only ever had a couple of people show up unexpectedly very late, once at 12:30 am.  I did open the door because other people were here and still up; but I didn't give them a room even though I had one.  I would like to have an intercom system so I could talk to people at the door without going to the door; also a camera to see who's there.  Such a system is on the top of my list of improvements I would like to make in my operation, but so far haven't found equipment that will work for me.  It has to be wireless and be operable in fairly extreme cold. 

The answer to the question asked is: I've never had any trouble with anyone at any time of day or night, but there's always a first time and I definitely do feel somewhat vulnerable.  I've also given considerable thought to getting a gun, again; I use to have one but it was stolen.  The chance that a gun would be handy if or when possibly needed seem slim to me - are we suppose to answer the door with a gun in our hand?  I don't think so, even though that might go over better in Wyoming than where most of you live - maybe in Texas it would be O.K. too, especially if you also had cowboy boots on.  If you get someone at your door who has violence on their mind I'm not sure it even matter if you open the door to them - they could easily break in to my house.  I have an alarm system, but I usually don't set it, and I never set it when I have guests in the house.  If a guest decided to go for an early morning walk and opened a door loud sirens would go off and the Police would be automatically called. 

My general policy is that I won't take a last minute reservation from a new guest if they can't arrive before dark, which is 4:30 in the winter.  Most people call before coming here, even if they are looking for accommodations immediately. Mostly I think it's a risk that goes with the job, as with any job that deals with people you don't know.  There's almost as much chance of getting someone you don't want in your home if they come with advance reservation and at proper check time.  Criminals can make reservations and look perfectly presentable.  But, I certainly agree that anyone looking for a bed at a late hour should be finding a hotel or motel not a B&B. 

Bottom line, I don't think we are at much grater risk of having someone who might do us harm come into our home, by any means,  than any other SF would be who lives in a similar location, be it urban or rural, and who is not running a B&B.   
 

I am a SP with a DH who has a full-time job.  This is basically my business and he pitches in...not how I thought it would play out.  So....

I don't take walk-ins at any time.  Reservations booked in advance only.

The guests have my cell phone number once they get here & I have changed the room book instructions as well as the tour to let them know to call my cell phone if they need anything 24 hours a day.  We now do not answer the reservation line after 9 PM, unless there is a late arrival out there (usually recognizable by the area code on the caller ID).  

I am learning....

I am SP even though I have a dh but he is in  our house, not the B&B.

The B&B has no sign, only the address is listed on directories.  If I have guests, I am there but the door is always locked. If I have no guests, I am not there and if someone looked up the address and showed up, no one would answer the door.

I have had late phone calls.  I answer calls up to 1030pm, but not later.

Had a call this week about 9:15pm from a business traveler wanting to come in at 12midnight.  I told him he needed to go to a hotel.  He was on the road but evidently hadn't planned ahead.

Have had a number of calls during the night before we got rid of the house phone and occassionally after they called dh phone.

I'm not in fear of late drive ins, I'm just annoyed. Last night's 10:30 surprise drive in got the "sorry, no rooms" speech, even though we had rooms available, but it's my experience that someone driving up that late doesn't want to pay our rates and I'm not haggling. It's the GPS that brings them here sometimes and since our business name doesn't have B&B in the title, it's not clear to them that we're so small when they see our location on their GPS.

We do have our "protection" here, but since we live in the country, it's good to have in case of bear or other threatening animal.

I run my B&B solo.  I run the "out on the water" charter aspect of the business with a captain who lives on this same dock in the boat across the pier.  After what happened to the crew of "Joe Cool" in Miami Beach, we don't take walk-ups under any circumstances at any hour of the day or night (not even if you're waiving several thousand dollar bills - cash - in my face), and advance reservations require a deposit via credit card. 

FYI...the crew of "Joe Cool" (a fishing charter boat out of Miami Beach) took a couple of guys who walked up and were paying something like $4,000 cash for a deep sea fishing charter in the Atlantic...a little high, but not so expensive that it was unrealistic.  All four crew members were executed at sea and dumped overboard, their bodies never to be found.  Two of this crew members were husband/wife and left behind an infant child.  They tried to motor the boat to Cuba, but ran out of fuel and were found drifting in the Atlantic.

We don't take late walk-ins unless the military base has called for rooms which happens once in a blue moon.... 10:30 was the latest they called and it was appropriate to take in the soldiers at that time.  The local hotel has also called us but never past 9pm.    We did have someone come to the door at 2:30 am asking if we had a room since the hotel was closed for the night.  Geesh!!  Sent them on their way.

I feel very safe here in this town... the street is well lit and so is our property.  Our police force is up and down this road frequently both day and night

We have sometimes late walk ins due to that they are traveling and there is no  cell coverage for 100's of miles ( us cellphones don't seem to work trough Canada for some reason ) for them to call us.

I too have a DH, but am the sole proprietor of the B&B.

I understand where everyone is coming from, but we feel very safe in our little community......and we also have more then 1......

However, if I were all by myself I don't think I would feel comfortable taking late walk ins. You just never know.

for me, it wasn't so much a gender issue or a strength issue but a vulnerability issue or the appearance of vulnerability.  where i was, at the end of a dark  road (literally) it could easily be that someone found himself/herself/themselves at the end of the road and not wanting to treck back, looked for a place to stay. totally understandable.

if there were guests in the library and/or on the porch, and someone arrived, i was likely to accommodate them.  but if the place was quiet, the guests up in their rooms, no one in the common areas, probably i'd just lock up and not be answering the door. 

there was another thread about security a while back ... not sure what the title was ... and i mentioned that i did have a tiny pepper spray and also a baseball bat ready to hand.  not sure these items would be helpful but i like to think so.

years back, i was working someplace else (not a b&b, but a clothing store) and we were robbed by someone who was very agitated. he became angry that there wasn't much cash to be taken. smashed a few things, but not me, thank goodness.  that is the type of scenario i was concerned about when running the inn alone. not much cash around but possibly someone would THINK there was. 

all innkeepers, regardless of their gender or whether or not they work alone, should take a moment to evaluate their own security and that of their guests.  we each have to do what is comfortable for us.  but i wouldn't recommend that anyone open their door at all hours of the night for unexpected guests. 

If you are a country girl you should have more than "a" gun.   Locked and loaded. 

I'm not a SF and I don't take walk-ins after 9 PM. It's no darker at 11 PM, but it's later. It's a general feeling I have that if you haven't found your accommodations by then, you really need to be at a hotel, because you'll probably be trouble.

I have a dh... and he didn't get laid off, but they moved him to second shift so I'm on my own (with the ds5x2) from about 2:30 til 11:20 p.m. 

I'm not in the country, but it's a lovely, safe, small town so I feel pretty safe.  Plus, I grew up baling hay on a farm, and I've never, ever been remotely petite.  So, I don't think much about it, and would probably open the door.  For that matter, when dh worked days I would open the door to all kinds of contractors and other callers.

I might have a different attitude if I were more feminine and/or petite.... but I can't imagine why anyone would want to bother with me, and they'd have to be fairly strong to budge me.  And if they threatened my kids, well, mama-bear-and-her-cub rules apply.

And if they're truly crazy/violent/dangerous, then having a dh here (and I've got a keeper!) wouldn't help that much, would it?

=)
Kk.

 unless i was waiting for someone's arrival, no ... i did not open the door.  usually 9 pm was the limit.  after that, sorry ......

I do not live alone but am the sole proprietor/host here. DH shows his face mostly when not wanted - oh well.

I would not feel comfortable with a walk-in at 11PM (and DH is even less comfortable about that). HE is more likely to lock out side of the house than I am. Of course he is from the burbs of Chicago where they have to lock everything. The Chief told me this morning that we have not had ANY B & E this year.