Did you do anything for your first guest?

[MTLLodge]

Did you do anything for your first guest?

Did they know they were the first?

 

[EmptyNest]

Yes the definitely knew they were the first! We just treated them the way we treated any guest.

 

[JBloggs]

You will never forget your first guests.
Unfortunately my first were on a tryst and showed up - barely for breakfast, I was heartbroken. I never told them they were the first, they were here for the bed and the bed only. boo hoo hoo... Talk about throwing in the towel day one. I thought, What have I gotten myself into?

 

[Don Draper]

I remember checking our first guests in and they asked "How long have you been here at the Inn?" and I looked at my watch and said "About 3 hours!". They loved being the first. I would thank them and maybe do fresh flowers from the garden or something nice for them, but nothing too over the top or they might feel weird.
Joe, that is such a sad little story! You poor thing. How lucky for your subsequent guests that you did NOT throw in the towel!

 

[JBloggs]

Yep imagine the first breakfast and the guests don't show...then here they are finally like 15 minutes late. Heartbroken I was. March 2004. I had such grandiose anticipation.
Then, of course, Dr Atkins was at it! I was up early baking breads, muffins, etc. No one would eat them. All they wanted was meat and protein. Wouldn't touch the fruit or breads. Yep that was year one...
As another innkeeper has on her siggie line - Rolling with the punches is making me fat!

 

[ginocat]

My first guests were also first time BB'ers. It was a time when accommodation was limited here and they arrived in town hoping for a hotel room but all were booked! They were frightened and so was I. I offered them wine after dinner but they also came back with a bottle of wine. We had a good laugh and a good time. I was too chicken to make the special breakfast I was going to make so ended up making bacon and eggs ... probably the only time I've ever made bacon and eggs in all my bb career!!

 

[seashanty]

haha! my first guests were the night i got our state license! they were 2 couples, overflow from the place across the street. and the nite they checked in one of the wives became so ill, she went to the hospital. turns out she had food poisoning!!! but not from me. she'd had mussels somewhere en route up the coast.
anyway, next day, she wasn't around at the beginning of breakfast and i was so worried. and then she came in the front door - had taken a walk to the lighthouse (a mile each way). said she was 'right as rain' and sat down to a hearty breakfast. was in her 70's. amazing! she sent me a christmas card that first year, saying 'remember me?!'
during their stay, i was terrified making breakfast for four people. what a riot. by the end of the month, i was able to make breakfast for 16+ .... and i made the messes to prove it. trial by fire!!

 

[Samster]

My first "guests" were fellow innkeepers. There was too much gabbing to do too many special things, I think. But I know that I did have their very own inn gnomes for them to take home (it was a joke at the time).
My first real guests were new to B&Bs and we did the whole nine yards for them. They ended up staying an extra night

 

[Proud Texan]

Our first guests were special and tolerated the over-attentive hovering we did to make sure that everything was perfect for them.

 

[Samster]

Our first guests were special and tolerated the over-attentive hovering we did to make sure that everything was perfect for them..

"New innkeeper helo-hovering"....you were not alone ;-)

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

Wow....I have to be honest here. I don't remember my first guests at all. Lost in the sands of time. We opened in 1997 and that first year was pretty much a blurr. The only thing I do remember is working full time during the day and hanging wall paper at 3 am in the morning to make our opening deadline. We bought the place in June. It was a big Victorian house and turned it into a B & B in 3 months time.
Since then its been renovated in 2 different stages, but that first year was quite a ride.

 

[muirford]

We had a horrible first weekend here with a full-house booking for a wedding party that the previous owner had taken. They believed they would have the whole inn to themselves - didn't know we lived here - and expected to use our kitchen to cook the food for their wedding reception. And they brought a dog. And a mother who kept sneaking smokes in her room. And a young man who came down to breakfast in just his boxer shorts (unless you count his multiple tattoos as clothing).
We walked down to the post office after our first breakfast and were sure we had made the biggest mistake of our lives. We wanted to get in the car and run away. Fortunately, that was our worst ever experience as innkeepers and things have only been better since then. We laugh about it now as a test of our commitment.

 

[JBloggs]

Pre-first guests ...the prev owners had a 48 hour cancellation period, and never took a cc to hold a room. (No online rez or anything like that, she had index cards which she took with her so we had no record of any guest every stayin ghere)
I had a whole house booking over graduation weekend, for a wedding. It was a small town pastor's daughter getting married and everyone knew them, so there was, as I was told by the PO's no need to get a cc, we can trust them.
They ended up with only one room in the end for grandparents and cancelled them all within the policy of 48 hours, and we had one room that weekend instead of 10+. We were going broke fast. Pouring money in and not getting any out.
I had to oblige those policies as the bookings were made before we bought the BnB. I still cringe at the thought of it. The PO's ran this BnB more for events than for the BnB, the BnB was a side job. They were numbskulls.
I also inherited a small wedding that grew and grew - the bride would call from Idaho nearly daily, the groom would stop in with his parent as he was blind. They decided the ultra incredible deal I was giving them wasn't good enough. I AM SO glad that happened, we were trying to be nice, we were new in town. I kept a deposit on them and they used it to stay here on their wedding night. This couple broke our brand new bed (not from...you know) but because they were both very overweight and the slats under the bed could not hold. Got a call at 2am after a loud crash.

 

[Innkeep]

One of the carpenters who worked on my remodelling was formerly married to the secretary at P a w s studio, where G a r f i e l d the comic strip originates. She heard such nice things about the remodel from her ex that she booked my first guests who were collaborating with the artists here. So, I had 3 very nice artists from Paris, France. So, my first night was spent alone with 3 Frenchmen, who were perfect gentlemen! They knew they were the first, they brought me a tin of candy from France, and all left wonderful notes in the room journals, one also with illustrations.

 

[gillumhouse]

Our first guests were here for an all-school reunion. Not enough room in the house for all the family coming in. Hid Mom went to our church. I think I gave them cider and goblets. We were extremely nervous. They came back a couple times. she was amazed on their second visit that I remembered she could not have a feather pillow near her face and had a fiber-fill for her.
Many guests have faded into the blur but there are many we will never forget - and most for good type reasons.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

We had lovely first guests. Our problems were getting rid of the POs. We had a 2 week training period and I wanted them out of here after a couple of days. I wanted to do things my way. Every time they were here they wanted to take something else that had not been on the exclusion list. They lived locally for several years afterward, so we were afraid to rock the boat because in a small community everyone knows everybody's business. If we had put a firm foot down, we were afraid they would start talking negatively about us.
The only positive thing about them living locally was we were able to have a longer transition time to replace some of the major pieces of furniture they were taking with them. You can bet we replaced those things as soon as we could.
Several years later, our first guests retured for a visit and we had a good laugh about how "green" we had been the first time.

 

[JBloggs]

I am finally over the hump where people say "Oh you are only new" and now say "Oh the seven year itch." I remember in my second year someone saying how new I was and my reply was something like "Yes, I have only made 854 breakfasts so far...ugh

 

[EmptyNest]

We had lovely first guests. Our problems were getting rid of the POs. We had a 2 week training period and I wanted them out of here after a couple of days. I wanted to do things my way. Every time they were here they wanted to take something else that had not been on the exclusion list. They lived locally for several years afterward, so we were afraid to rock the boat because in a small community everyone knows everybody's business. If we had put a firm foot down, we were afraid they would start talking negatively about us.
The only positive thing about them living locally was we were able to have a longer transition time to replace some of the major pieces of furniture they were taking with them. You can bet we replaced those things as soon as we could.
Several years later, our first guests retured for a visit and we had a good laugh about how "green" we had been the first time..

Our PO's became some of our closest friends. We can see their house from ours and they can see ours from theirs. We love them and would do anything for them! I am sure we are in the minority

 

[MTLLodge]

Thanks for sharing. It is reasuring to see all you "pros" have felt what I am feeling now.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

MTL When will ya'll open? Is it on the horizon, is that the reason for this question? I sure hope so!!! I want to go and visit so many on this forum, you are all a part of this venture for me.