New Inn design: Fireplaces, gas or real wood burning?

I'd rather have a gas and just be able to flick on the switch.   I stayed at a B & B that had a wood fireplace.  It was nice looking but I did have a hard time sleeping.  There was a smoke smell the entire night that made it difficult for me to sleep and I woke up numerious times.   Now as an innkeeper I would only want the guests dealing with flipping on a switch to light the fire and not building the fire themselves.   Some guests don't know how to build a fire and they might smoke the place up or they might go and get more wood than needed and stuff the fireplace full and cause a chimeny fire which I know happened here once before.   I have a wood burning in the common room which I take care of and it is a lot of work to clean it out and the ashes always get all over the furniture so I have to re-dust everything after I am done.

 Gas.  You'll still get the ambiance - without the pollution.

And at over $200 a night, I'm guessing your guests just want a fire that starts up right away - not one they need to build, worry about opening the damper, blah blah blah.  

Remote controlled fireplaces are great - or just a convenient location for the on/off near the bed.

And remember.  Guests are looking for the real thing but they're also looking for pampering and push-button ease.  At $200 a night, they probably want a wee bit less rustic and a bit more ease.

Go green.  And forget the wood fireplace.  We've got plenty of soot in the atmosphere already, thank you very much.

Go with gas over wood.  People who have no experience with wood often are STUPID with wood.. too much, not enough, wrong setting on the damper...want it burning but don't want to be there for the entire time it is burning ...the list is nearly endless.

Guests really think they want the whole cozy fire thing until they fill the room with smoke. Personally, I would like a real fireplace, but I know how to work a fireplace.

Go with the gas but get really nice looking fireplaces.

Speaking from experience....just get over the idea of wood. It sounds like a nice idea initially, but don't be fooled. When you consider the expense of seasoned hardwood, the mess and the fact that the great majority of guests are not fireplace saavy, you will be glad that you chose propane. All the ambiance without the mess. Plus you will find it adjustable and non smoking. The new inserts are quite convincing too. Most of my guests cant tell the difference. More peace of mind to me, anyway.

Go gas. Real wood and they will burn your house down. Few people have fireplaces at home. Wood for those fireplaces is expensive (we had a wood fireplace with a gas starter so our pyromaniac would have a safe place to play with fire when we were not camping. They had that thing so hot they melted the gas starter tube off AND melted a grate - and this was with us there sort of watching what was happening. Our pyro is now a law-abiding cop. She was fascinated by fire as a kid.). We were always on the look-out for dead trees and watched where the power company was trimming to get the wood. In the 1980s in the burbs of Chicago, wood was $50 a face cord.

If you do place a real fireplace in the common area be sure you have some way of protecting it from your guests ever helping hands.  I remember reading a post on this forum (hope I am remembering it correctly) where a guest decided to start a fire in the common area fireplace but did not check to make sure the flue was open. 

I stayed at an Inn in TN that had a real fireplace in the room.  While we didn't use it, the smell of smoke was in the room, I smelled it as soon as we walked in.

I personally don't like the idea of gas either, unless you can put some kind of timer on it, so they don't fall asleep and let it run all night.  If I were building a new Inn, I would go with even larger and fancier mantel electric fireplaces than the ones I have now.   This one is the one I want for my next living room....

Gas with a remote.

Aside from safety, wood is MESSY.  We had a wood stove at our last house and dh loved to open the door and look at the fire... soot and smoke on the ceiling.  And dirt and dust from the wood carried in.  And dirt and dust on the furniture.

Last year I stayed in a fabulous cabin with a real fireplace... the innkeepers had the fire already laid out, all you had to do was light it.  I went through a LOT of wood for just me, if my husband had been there it would have been even more!  (He's a pyro.)

So, aside from safety there's the work aspect:  hauling wood, setting up the fire, cleaning the grate, cleaning the dust, cleaning the soot... ugh.  You'll have plenty of work already, save yourself while you still can.

=)
Kk.

open flames and guests do not mix. 

Here's a screaming ebay deal for someone in West Virginia that could pick up this gorgeous fireplace!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pre-Owned-Beautiful-LARGE-Dimplex-Electric-Fireplace_W0QQitemZ260525215482QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca8834efa

Okay, I think you've convinced me.....its gonna be gas (at least in the suites).  I think I can still go for wood/gas combo in the common room.

We have stayed a couple of times at a place with wood fires in the rooms, not many other options here.  They are used for heat  but once they are out, you get the lovely smell of smoke all night and into the next day.  When you get into your car to drive home ... the smoke smell follows.  All your clothes smell like smoke.  It is the feature that lasts beyond your stay. 

We have no source of heating here.  Would love even electric but electricity here would cost you an arm and a leg.  Thank goodness our cold weather only lasts a couple of weeks.  More bedding is all we have.  Once gas has made it's way here that is what we will be looking at.  Warmth and ambiance. 

here's some food for thought. 

the power went out. the oil furnace is out. (ran out of oil, too!)  the electric came on briefly and went out again.  waiting for service from the oil and furnace people. we are heating the living room with a wood burning stove that hadn't been used in a long time (years) ... although the chimneys were recently cleaned.  the rest of the house is cold.  it almost feels warmer in the sun than in the cold rooms within the house. 

a backup heat source is great (although this wood burning stove in one common room would not help if this were a guest house because most of the house is too cold) 

We have a ventless propane gas fireplace.

Our "city" house has a wood burning.  At the lodge we have a have a fire pit oustside. As a guest I would want a wood burning but as an innkeeper NOT!