Crumbling......

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InnTheWoods

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Jul 18, 2017
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Gee I had forgotten about this website until today. I'm a summer only cottage rental business so am stressing tremendously about summer. Luckily I have mostly the same guests every year so if my state will get their act together and tell us what the regulations will be, I think I can swing it. Mostly though, my father started this place in 1956. I had a career for 20 years but always wanted to be here running it with him. I have been here now for 15 years but my father passed away suddenly three years ago, his first night back at his winter home, at 91. He had been here with me all summer working and doing carpentry just like he always did. Needless to say I have crumbled since I lost him. Doing it alone was getting better each year, last summer I found some joy again. Now comes this year. I am so exhausted mentally and financially I am losing all of my stamina to keep going. But keeping his legacy going is more important to me than anything. Just venting here in case anyone can offer any tiny little words of comfort. I'm turning 60 in October so, I think you can imagine my mindset right now. Thanks for listening.
 
You will get plenty of words of comfort here. Several of us have lost our other half or parents while being innkeepers. We have BTDT and understand the feelings.
My Dad & my brother-in-law were here at the end - and yes I was open for business but fortunately had no guests those days. His royal Highness decided it was time to go 3 years ago and I have been flying solo ever since. (the kids were kind and waited a month to come for the Memorial instead of right then) Guests who had talked with him missed him almost as much as me.
Right now, you are not the only one chewing fingernails trying to survive. I will be OK for a while, but it will not last forever - and the %$^&*() politicians seem to have forever in mind.
I do not mean to offend anyone with this next statement - my philosophy is Keep the FAITH, trust in GOD, and things WILL work out OK. So far, when I am in direst need, a guest appears.
 
I’m sorry. It’s so very hard to lose your dad and then struggle to keep his memory alive thru the business.
A lot of us are concerned this year that we’re going to be the ones turning the lights off for the last time in businesses we have run for years that we either bought from someone who started them or took over from a family member.
I wish I had a magic wand for all of us. No one here has ever lived thru anything like this before. We are all trying to find our way.
All I can advise is to do the best you can with the circumstances we’re living with. Best wishes. Take care of yourself!
 
InnTheWoods said:
Gee I had forgotten about this website until today.
Don't forget us, you have folks here that understand, walk the same paths. We're a tiny mom and pop motel, the original family lives nearby, but we are here nearing 30 years, an area where dad's family spent summers in the long past, my mom was with us in our first ten years. Today we are in that age between you and your dad and our daughter and husband, who are not that far behind you, arrived a few years ago to help the old folks and become the next generation of innkeepers, to me, sounds familiar to your story.
Last year was wonderful, this year is rather like hitting a wall at high speed. Our area required short term lodging to close in late March, at best a "maybe" we can have a partial reopening in June although many of the summer events won't happen. One sits on the fence wondering which way we will fall, sure don't want the virus, the down time is good to do all those things we didn't have time to do in the past, yet that fear of spending persists not knowing how much times passes before we can safely be busy again. At least take comfort that you're not alone.
 
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