Maintenance

[happykeeper]

We are planning a serious kitchen remodel. Taking out a bar/small countertop cabinet and putting in a work table island. Replacing the oven with a double oven. More cabinets and storage space.
Updating the decor in several rooms.
Take up the carpet in the upstairs hallway and get the hardwood floors refinished. And the stairs as well.
Finish replacing the small round toilets with oval chair-height toilets.
I'm sure Shelley has more planned.
C.

We would have been lost over the years without at least two ovens.
Have you guys got a detailed plan for updating the decor? Does that mean new furniture? We're giving our rooms a refresh so we can raise our rates, but we are hoping to keep it to things that are less costly. Artwork? Boy that can get expensive if you let it.
.

I wish I was the kind of person that can come up with detailed plans. Shelley is better at that sort of thing, I am a fly by night kinda person and she is an analyzer and planner. I know she has her plan in mind. She isn't telling me the whole story because it will be a lot of work for me.
We have a general plan for the kitchen update. As for the rooms, there are several that we are going to put a fresh coat of paint and some new carpet. No new furniture, we put new (custom built) furniture in the parlor when we first moved in. The furniture in the rooms are fine. But we will replace some more mattresses.
Our signs need redone. Fortunately, our cleaning girl is a fantastic artist as well. There is a separate building that the PO's were using as a flea market. Now that it's cleaned out, we are letting her use it as an art studio. We're not charging her rent, but we'll take some artwork in trade.
I also want to put a mini-split air conditioning system in the 2 downstairs rooms as well as a couple of window units in 2 of the upstairs rooms. Then all of the bedrooms would have their own unit. We could set the main AC higher a little as our guests have a wide range of comfort.
Our biggest suite currently has a king bed and day bed in the sitting room and a queen bed with another bathroom in a separate room. We will put a mini-fridge in that room, add another set of doors so that suite can be rented as either king+day bed or as a 2 bed/2 bath suite.
Plus all the other stuff mentioned in the previous post. It's gonna be a busy winter. Blegh!
The PO's raised their rates a little every year. With the new (expensive) mattresses, nicer toilets, updated decor, AC's in every room, we will also raise our rates. Add to that Shelley's gourmet breakfasts. Everyone is looking for a discount these days, so we can raise our rates, then offer more discounts through packages, military/first responder discounts, teacher's week, mid-week discounts, etc.
That's our thinkin' anyway.
.

I loved reading about the ingenuity end of making it all work. Isn't it great to have multi-talented people around?
It's smart to raise a little every year. If you can build that gourmet brand, it will help add value and allow to charge a little more than the guy doing the standard. We are slipping away from discounts more and more. I know we will add a few before we reopen because we will be raising the rates, but we have been careful to build the increase into any discount. So the rate goes up but the discount goes down or stays the same. We have seen a big revenue jump with this approach.
.

Shelley's breakfast are different than the other B&B's because everything is handmade. Biscuits, pie crusts for quiches, plus we buy farm fresh eggs from the local farmers and really good bacon and sausage. Sometimes Shelley gets a little jealous because she could easily get the frozen biscuits and pie crusts and take some shortcuts, but we get so many compliments on our breakfasts it is hard to turn back now.
Plus Shelley would get bored.
.

I am assuming you are building this brand into a powerhouse.
"Breakfast from Scratch"
"Breakfast to the Last Scratch"
The Last Scratch Breakfast in Town"
.

We always point out, in person, which parts of that morning's breakfast are made at home from scratch or were purchased from local purveyors.
I'm continually amazed that no one comments on this. I think the assumption is that everything is made in house from scratch.
.

Is it a brand? We have seen a big difference since we incorporated the Locally Sourced brand into our product. When someone specifically chooses us because we are locally sourced and then we deliver locally sourced, guest satisfaction gets a big boost.
.

Not sure what you mean by is it a brand. It's food. It's local. It's made in house. If I say the blueberries are local and I made the jam I hear, "that's nice."
It's surprising that there isn't more interest. We get more excitement when we say we made the whipped cream.
We used to be able to get fresh eggs from a friend. Only foodies seemed interested to know the eggs were from free range chickens.
I mention the 18 year old balsamic we use for different dishes and I get 'hmmm'. Now I'm wondering if buying olive oil for $75 is worth it. It's great olive oil but if no one cares if it's 'real' olive oil or a blend off the grocery store shelf, then why spend so much?
This does all come under the maintenance list as we're redoing the menu next year. Same dishes just made differently.
.

Hmm.. well we use our "locally sourced" brand to sell our product. It brands us. If we brand ourselves as being locally sourced, it increases its importance for buyer if that brand made a difference in their decision to stay with us. Others may have more detailed ideas of what a brand is.
On the olive oil- If you became the only place in the US that had a particular olive oil and wanted to use that to sell a room, it might be worth it to you to spend $75 on it. Otherwise, maybe one that fits into the brands you are using to sell your rooms would be a good choice.
Mind you- this is armchair marketing. We have two unique brands- culturally appropriate and locally sourced. We have some other general branding like luxury and the name of our state and stuff like that.
One brand that we have struggled with seems to be "full service inn" Most guests still call us a bed and breakfast. Soooo.. that's something for us to work on.
Again, none of this may even be of interest to your business. I was just encouraging C&S to make a brand out something that sets them above and beyond what others might be doing in their area. If I was looking at two places that were similar and one made a big deal about their, "Scratch to the last drop" brand, and had pictures of steaming biscuits and gravy, I do know where wish one I would choose, even if the other place had a similar picture but didn't promote that it was from scratch because I would assume it wasn't.
.

I'm simply surprised that I'm the only one who is smitten with the idea that I made the jam! And I think it's because the average B&B guest assumes it is all made in house. I've had to explain that it's just the one jam as the other berries are long past and those jams are long used up. I make 10 pints. It's generally gone in a few months.
The bread is made by an excellent local baker and we probably cause a jump in their sales by mentioning where we get it. I know the coffee roaster sells a lot of coffee to our guests when we mention where to buy it. (Another side item I have to organize for next year - selling the coffee in house!)
I'm thinking a table-side menu that explains where we source the food might be a good idea for next year. Guests seem to like that at restaurants.
I know the olive oil store gets a lot of sales from us talking about what we use in the breakfast prep. (their marketing person has told me many times thank you!)
We sell about 6 dozen bottles of maple syrup each year after guests sample it with breakfast.
But none of that is branding. It's just breakfast.
Altho, I have heard, "I love that! I'm so happy you're still making it." And then telling other guests, "You'll love this! It's the best we've ever had!"
.

I am smitten with the fact that you make the jam, but if you want to have it just be breakfast, that's great. Nothin' wrong with that.

 

[gillumhouse]

I just replaced my hedges with bushes that will eventually produce fruit for the B & B and look nice also (just have to keep the poison ivy out of them).Time to replace one more A/C unit in the Spring. The big thing on the agenda is to save up for professional photography and new rack cards in 2016 - our 20th anniversary as a B & B..

20 years! --- and still going forward --- the professional photography is a great thing to save for. It made a big difference for us. How 'bout those Cubs!
.

We are a divided house. Himself (poor blighter) is a diehard Cubs/Bears) and I cheer my Pirates/Steelers. (When the Cubs/Bears are not involved, he DOES follow Pittsburgh teams now) Thanks to Sirius radio (and the kids that bought it and maintain it), he can listen to the Cubs.
.

Well Wednesday is going be quite the day around your house then! Those Pirates are going to have to scratch out a couple of runs against Cy Young Arietta and hope the Cubs bats fizzle.
.

He has had an exciting season. He is a Cub fan - he is used to disappointment. And whichever wins still has to face the Cardinals.Both have a rep for being spoilers so it will be nice (sorry Ice) if either one could do in the Cards. Not bloody likely, but a nice dream.

 

[gillumhouse]

We are planning a serious kitchen remodel. Taking out a bar/small countertop cabinet and putting in a work table island. Replacing the oven with a double oven. More cabinets and storage space.
Updating the decor in several rooms.
Take up the carpet in the upstairs hallway and get the hardwood floors refinished. And the stairs as well.
Finish replacing the small round toilets with oval chair-height toilets.
I'm sure Shelley has more planned.
C.

We would have been lost over the years without at least two ovens.
Have you guys got a detailed plan for updating the decor? Does that mean new furniture? We're giving our rooms a refresh so we can raise our rates, but we are hoping to keep it to things that are less costly. Artwork? Boy that can get expensive if you let it.
.

I wish I was the kind of person that can come up with detailed plans. Shelley is better at that sort of thing, I am a fly by night kinda person and she is an analyzer and planner. I know she has her plan in mind. She isn't telling me the whole story because it will be a lot of work for me.
We have a general plan for the kitchen update. As for the rooms, there are several that we are going to put a fresh coat of paint and some new carpet. No new furniture, we put new (custom built) furniture in the parlor when we first moved in. The furniture in the rooms are fine. But we will replace some more mattresses.
Our signs need redone. Fortunately, our cleaning girl is a fantastic artist as well. There is a separate building that the PO's were using as a flea market. Now that it's cleaned out, we are letting her use it as an art studio. We're not charging her rent, but we'll take some artwork in trade.
I also want to put a mini-split air conditioning system in the 2 downstairs rooms as well as a couple of window units in 2 of the upstairs rooms. Then all of the bedrooms would have their own unit. We could set the main AC higher a little as our guests have a wide range of comfort.
Our biggest suite currently has a king bed and day bed in the sitting room and a queen bed with another bathroom in a separate room. We will put a mini-fridge in that room, add another set of doors so that suite can be rented as either king+day bed or as a 2 bed/2 bath suite.
Plus all the other stuff mentioned in the previous post. It's gonna be a busy winter. Blegh!
The PO's raised their rates a little every year. With the new (expensive) mattresses, nicer toilets, updated decor, AC's in every room, we will also raise our rates. Add to that Shelley's gourmet breakfasts. Everyone is looking for a discount these days, so we can raise our rates, then offer more discounts through packages, military/first responder discounts, teacher's week, mid-week discounts, etc.
That's our thinkin' anyway.
.

I loved reading about the ingenuity end of making it all work. Isn't it great to have multi-talented people around?
It's smart to raise a little every year. If you can build that gourmet brand, it will help add value and allow to charge a little more than the guy doing the standard. We are slipping away from discounts more and more. I know we will add a few before we reopen because we will be raising the rates, but we have been careful to build the increase into any discount. So the rate goes up but the discount goes down or stays the same. We have seen a big revenue jump with this approach.
.

Shelley's breakfast are different than the other B&B's because everything is handmade. Biscuits, pie crusts for quiches, plus we buy farm fresh eggs from the local farmers and really good bacon and sausage. Sometimes Shelley gets a little jealous because she could easily get the frozen biscuits and pie crusts and take some shortcuts, but we get so many compliments on our breakfasts it is hard to turn back now.
Plus Shelley would get bored.
.

I am assuming you are building this brand into a powerhouse.
"Breakfast from Scratch"
"Breakfast to the Last Scratch"
The Last Scratch Breakfast in Town"
.

We always point out, in person, which parts of that morning's breakfast are made at home from scratch or were purchased from local purveyors.
I'm continually amazed that no one comments on this. I think the assumption is that everything is made in house from scratch.
.

Is it a brand? We have seen a big difference since we incorporated the Locally Sourced brand into our product. When someone specifically chooses us because we are locally sourced and then we deliver locally sourced, guest satisfaction gets a big boost.
.

Not sure what you mean by is it a brand. It's food. It's local. It's made in house. If I say the blueberries are local and I made the jam I hear, "that's nice."
It's surprising that there isn't more interest. We get more excitement when we say we made the whipped cream.
We used to be able to get fresh eggs from a friend. Only foodies seemed interested to know the eggs were from free range chickens.
I mention the 18 year old balsamic we use for different dishes and I get 'hmmm'. Now I'm wondering if buying olive oil for $75 is worth it. It's great olive oil but if no one cares if it's 'real' olive oil or a blend off the grocery store shelf, then why spend so much?
This does all come under the maintenance list as we're redoing the menu next year. Same dishes just made differently.
.

Hmm.. well we use our "locally sourced" brand to sell our product. It brands us. If we brand ourselves as being locally sourced, it increases its importance for buyer if that brand made a difference in their decision to stay with us. Others may have more detailed ideas of what a brand is.
On the olive oil- If you became the only place in the US that had a particular olive oil and wanted to use that to sell a room, it might be worth it to you to spend $75 on it. Otherwise, maybe one that fits into the brands you are using to sell your rooms would be a good choice.
Mind you- this is armchair marketing. We have two unique brands- culturally appropriate and locally sourced. We have some other general branding like luxury and the name of our state and stuff like that.
One brand that we have struggled with seems to be "full service inn" Most guests still call us a bed and breakfast. Soooo.. that's something for us to work on.
Again, none of this may even be of interest to your business. I was just encouraging C&S to make a brand out something that sets them above and beyond what others might be doing in their area. If I was looking at two places that were similar and one made a big deal about their, "Scratch to the last drop" brand, and had pictures of steaming biscuits and gravy, I do know where wish one I would choose, even if the other place had a similar picture but didn't promote that it was from scratch because I would assume it wasn't.
.

The roasting of the coffee beans and they guest getting to choose the country gets a lot of attention here - that and the 100 varieties of teas. Plus my homemade breads.

 

[happykeeper]

I just replaced my hedges with bushes that will eventually produce fruit for the B & B and look nice also (just have to keep the poison ivy out of them).Time to replace one more A/C unit in the Spring. The big thing on the agenda is to save up for professional photography and new rack cards in 2016 - our 20th anniversary as a B & B..

20 years! --- and still going forward --- the professional photography is a great thing to save for. It made a big difference for us. How 'bout those Cubs!
.

We are a divided house. Himself (poor blighter) is a diehard Cubs/Bears) and I cheer my Pirates/Steelers. (When the Cubs/Bears are not involved, he DOES follow Pittsburgh teams now) Thanks to Sirius radio (and the kids that bought it and maintain it), he can listen to the Cubs.
.

Well Wednesday is going be quite the day around your house then! Those Pirates are going to have to scratch out a couple of runs against Cy Young Arietta and hope the Cubs bats fizzle.
.

He has had an exciting season. He is a Cub fan - he is used to disappointment. And whichever wins still has to face the Cardinals.Both have a rep for being spoilers so it will be nice (sorry Ice) if either one could do in the Cards. Not bloody likely, but a nice dream.
.

I think the Cards may have peaked. Not sure about the Pirates, but the Cubs beat up St. Louis pretty good in the last few rounds. Since I am LL Cub Fan, I am not allowed to apologize to Ice if St. Louis is related.
Top three teams in baseball all in the same division - never happened before.

 

[ChrisandShelley]

We are planning a serious kitchen remodel. Taking out a bar/small countertop cabinet and putting in a work table island. Replacing the oven with a double oven. More cabinets and storage space.
Updating the decor in several rooms.
Take up the carpet in the upstairs hallway and get the hardwood floors refinished. And the stairs as well.
Finish replacing the small round toilets with oval chair-height toilets.
I'm sure Shelley has more planned.
C.

We would have been lost over the years without at least two ovens.
Have you guys got a detailed plan for updating the decor? Does that mean new furniture? We're giving our rooms a refresh so we can raise our rates, but we are hoping to keep it to things that are less costly. Artwork? Boy that can get expensive if you let it.
.

I wish I was the kind of person that can come up with detailed plans. Shelley is better at that sort of thing, I am a fly by night kinda person and she is an analyzer and planner. I know she has her plan in mind. She isn't telling me the whole story because it will be a lot of work for me.
We have a general plan for the kitchen update. As for the rooms, there are several that we are going to put a fresh coat of paint and some new carpet. No new furniture, we put new (custom built) furniture in the parlor when we first moved in. The furniture in the rooms are fine. But we will replace some more mattresses.
Our signs need redone. Fortunately, our cleaning girl is a fantastic artist as well. There is a separate building that the PO's were using as a flea market. Now that it's cleaned out, we are letting her use it as an art studio. We're not charging her rent, but we'll take some artwork in trade.
I also want to put a mini-split air conditioning system in the 2 downstairs rooms as well as a couple of window units in 2 of the upstairs rooms. Then all of the bedrooms would have their own unit. We could set the main AC higher a little as our guests have a wide range of comfort.
Our biggest suite currently has a king bed and day bed in the sitting room and a queen bed with another bathroom in a separate room. We will put a mini-fridge in that room, add another set of doors so that suite can be rented as either king+day bed or as a 2 bed/2 bath suite.
Plus all the other stuff mentioned in the previous post. It's gonna be a busy winter. Blegh!
The PO's raised their rates a little every year. With the new (expensive) mattresses, nicer toilets, updated decor, AC's in every room, we will also raise our rates. Add to that Shelley's gourmet breakfasts. Everyone is looking for a discount these days, so we can raise our rates, then offer more discounts through packages, military/first responder discounts, teacher's week, mid-week discounts, etc.
That's our thinkin' anyway.
.

I loved reading about the ingenuity end of making it all work. Isn't it great to have multi-talented people around?
It's smart to raise a little every year. If you can build that gourmet brand, it will help add value and allow to charge a little more than the guy doing the standard. We are slipping away from discounts more and more. I know we will add a few before we reopen because we will be raising the rates, but we have been careful to build the increase into any discount. So the rate goes up but the discount goes down or stays the same. We have seen a big revenue jump with this approach.
.

Shelley's breakfast are different than the other B&B's because everything is handmade. Biscuits, pie crusts for quiches, plus we buy farm fresh eggs from the local farmers and really good bacon and sausage. Sometimes Shelley gets a little jealous because she could easily get the frozen biscuits and pie crusts and take some shortcuts, but we get so many compliments on our breakfasts it is hard to turn back now.
Plus Shelley would get bored.
.

I am assuming you are building this brand into a powerhouse.
"Breakfast from Scratch"
"Breakfast to the Last Scratch"
The Last Scratch Breakfast in Town"
.

I see what you're saying, I just never thought about that. That's a pretty good marketing idea. When we do our winter planning, we will look into doing something like that. Shelley also makes bread, so we might incorporate that into our marketing strategy.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Copperhead]

The list really never ends, but here are the biggies
Re-glaze windows in antique house.
Hire painter for one-weeks worth of work in spring on the exterior.
Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.
Start converting cottage into vacation rental by adding induction burner and countertop convection oven along with the pans and utensils for cooking.
Tweek marketing to highlight the great opportunity guests in the cottage will have in 2016 for a weekly visit: as a full service B&B accommodation with hosts who help them plan their days, or as a unique, totally private, ocean view guest house accommodation.
Replace 27 year old, perfectly-working dishwasher ....because nothing lasts forever!.

Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.

SS, DH installed 5 of them here. They are very easy to install if either of you are handy. What we found when we were searching prices etc. is that it was a lot less expensive to order them via internet than to go through a local AC company. If you can't install them yourself, hire someone to just do the labor. At least price it out both ways to see!

 

[gillumhouse]

The list really never ends, but here are the biggies
Re-glaze windows in antique house.
Hire painter for one-weeks worth of work in spring on the exterior.
Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.
Start converting cottage into vacation rental by adding induction burner and countertop convection oven along with the pans and utensils for cooking.
Tweek marketing to highlight the great opportunity guests in the cottage will have in 2016 for a weekly visit: as a full service B&B accommodation with hosts who help them plan their days, or as a unique, totally private, ocean view guest house accommodation.
Replace 27 year old, perfectly-working dishwasher ....because nothing lasts forever!.

My dishwasher is from 1987. It's been fixed multiple times.
.

My dishwasher dates from 1940 and has been fixed too many times, including fixed.

 

[Silverspoon]

The list really never ends, but here are the biggies
Re-glaze windows in antique house.
Hire painter for one-weeks worth of work in spring on the exterior.
Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.
Start converting cottage into vacation rental by adding induction burner and countertop convection oven along with the pans and utensils for cooking.
Tweek marketing to highlight the great opportunity guests in the cottage will have in 2016 for a weekly visit: as a full service B&B accommodation with hosts who help them plan their days, or as a unique, totally private, ocean view guest house accommodation.
Replace 27 year old, perfectly-working dishwasher ....because nothing lasts forever!.

Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.

SS, DH installed 5 of them here. They are very easy to install if either of you are handy. What we found when we were searching prices etc. is that it was a lot less expensive to order them via internet than to go through a local AC company. If you can't install them yourself, hire someone to just do the labor. At least price it out both ways to see!
.

Thanks Copperhead. DH is beyond his going-up-a-ladder days so we definitely need some help on the installation. I'll run your suggestion by him. Where did you get yours and what kind did you get?

 

[Silverspoon]

The list really never ends, but here are the biggies
Re-glaze windows in antique house.
Hire painter for one-weeks worth of work in spring on the exterior.
Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.
Start converting cottage into vacation rental by adding induction burner and countertop convection oven along with the pans and utensils for cooking.
Tweek marketing to highlight the great opportunity guests in the cottage will have in 2016 for a weekly visit: as a full service B&B accommodation with hosts who help them plan their days, or as a unique, totally private, ocean view guest house accommodation.
Replace 27 year old, perfectly-working dishwasher ....because nothing lasts forever!.

My dishwasher is from 1987. It's been fixed multiple times.
.

My dishwasher dates from 1940 and has been fixed too many times, including fixed.
.

 

[ChrisandShelley]

The list really never ends, but here are the biggies
Re-glaze windows in antique house.
Hire painter for one-weeks worth of work in spring on the exterior.
Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.
Start converting cottage into vacation rental by adding induction burner and countertop convection oven along with the pans and utensils for cooking.
Tweek marketing to highlight the great opportunity guests in the cottage will have in 2016 for a weekly visit: as a full service B&B accommodation with hosts who help them plan their days, or as a unique, totally private, ocean view guest house accommodation.
Replace 27 year old, perfectly-working dishwasher ....because nothing lasts forever!.

Price out cost of having split AC installed in cottage...and our bedroom. Have installed if feasible.

SS, DH installed 5 of them here. They are very easy to install if either of you are handy. What we found when we were searching prices etc. is that it was a lot less expensive to order them via internet than to go through a local AC company. If you can't install them yourself, hire someone to just do the labor. At least price it out both ways to see!
.

Thanks Copperhead. DH is beyond his going-up-a-ladder days so we definitely need some help on the installation. I'll run your suggestion by him. Where did you get yours and what kind did you get?
.

We are looking at doing the same for our two downstairs, outside-entrance rooms this winter. I am looking a Pioneer brand. A good friend of mine bought his from Amazon and installed it himself with a friend's help. An Amazon search will show a ton of options.
One caveat on these mini-split systems. If you have one side run the air conditioner and one side run the heat, they will not work well together. One side will shut down. I am looking to install the AC only without the heat pump as Arkansas weather is so unpredictable, almost as unpredictable as guests.