Hello Hard Workers

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

:welcome: !!
SS's kids are all grown up... I'm one of the crazy ones with little guys.
We're only 3 hours or so from Pittsburgh....
=)
Kk..

Hi there Yellow Socks,
I actually meant to add you in there too, but I ran out of time. I definately went on and checked out your site when I saw that you had little ones. I love it!! Your Inn is beautiful. I know you are exhausted though. Only one more year and your boys will off to kindergarten and you will have a whole 2 1/2 hours just for Inn work.

I am very excited for you. How long have you been open? Did you have a lot of renovations? I hope to meet you sometime.
Take care.
.

Hi there Yellow Socks,
I actually meant to add you in there too, but I ran out of time. I definately went on and checked out your site when I saw that you had little ones. I love it!! Your Inn is beautiful. I know you are exhausted though. Only one more year and your boys will off to kindergarten and you will have a whole 2 1/2 hours just for Inn work.

I am very excited for you. How long have you been open? Did you have a lot of renovations? I hope to meet you sometime.
Take care.

Homeschooling.

 

[user 26]

'tis true - my little ones aren't so little ... how someone as young as me got to have children as old as mine is one of those unsolved mysteries. but you are very welcome here and jbj and college house have little ones, and there is an aspiring (name escapes me, sorry) who recently posted ... who is wondering if she'd be able to do the b&b with a young family.
i was physically stronger with more stamina when i was younger, a big advantage for you as this job can be really strenuous - especially if you are doing most of the work yourself.
i hope i can still be helpful to you, even tho i use potions and lotions to hide my grays!

we all have our challenges ... i sometimes feel overwhelmed and want to ask 'why me?' i look at my older brothers and sisters, with so's all still there, and get a little weepy. but something i read, maybe the secret, said 'why not you?' life pushes and you push back.

 

[gillumhouse]

Lori, you already know you have a large population base to draw from. (Did not have time to really answer before.) Welcome to the Forum BTW.
Since you were innkeepers before, I assumed you know the zoning, etc and the basic how tos.
As for impact from the economy - I think it is more of a "created" crisis than a real one. The Market seems to be in the process of correcting itself as usual. The losses are for those who panic and sell. Those who sit it out will rebound. Even if people stop traveling distances, they are still going to have special occaisions needing a getaway or take trips to "The City". What part of Pittsburgh? Schenley Park? Squirrel Hill? West Mifflin? Downtown? Oakland? We both know each of these areas has its own special reasons to draw guests and all are near everything.
You will be able to put together packages with the Incline and the musuems - such a shame they took out the trolley tracks! There is always so much happening there - sports, plays, concerts.... You are close to Friendship Hill and Fort Necessity for day trip routings for people who want to see History and with the Blockhouse of Fort Pitt at the Point... You have enough of a draw that unless there is an out and out total Depression, you should be OK with proper marketing..

Hello Gillum House,
We already have the zoning in line. Oddly when we first moved back to PGH. We had a hearing to have them allow B&B's in R-2 and B-1. It was approved and they welcomed a B&B with open arms. Now (6 yrs later), the property that we are interested in is B-1. We know a lot of the basics yes. The one Inn that we ran in VA was run solely by us and our 2 yr old (now 9) while my husband also worked a full time job and I worked my photography career. The Inn ran at 55% occupancy and we rarely slept or ate.
We are actually 20 minutes west of the city, closer to the airport.
Thanks for the ideas. What types of guests do you get? Weekend getaways? Do you do weddings?
.

I know exactly where Imperial is. Being at the junction of Rt 22 & 30 (the old routes anyway) won't hurt. You may also be able to pick up some traffic of people wanting to be close to the airport for an early flight but not so close as to hear the planes all night. Is there a ramp to the new airport connector near you? (I grew up in the Weirton/Steubenville area and we went to Pittsburgh monthly for my brother's eye specialist - watched them build the Fort Pitt Tunnels!)
The way I would market Imperial would be near enough to visit Pittsburgh with the country atmosphere. What are you - 15 minutes from Greentree?

 

[swirt]

Hi Lori,
Welcome.
Hard to say whether it is a good idea or not as there just aren't enough details about your plan or your area or your financial situation. Sweat equity (your DH doing the construction work) is great, but only if he has the time to do it and the money for materials. If he is working a day job and only putting in the sweat on weekends and vacation time, then it may make things take a lot longer.
There is no spell checker built in here. One I recommend using is the one built into the Google toolbar. The Google toolbar is available for every major browser on every platform. I recommend it because it will be with you no matter where you browse..

Hi Swirt,
Thanks for the spell check advice.
My husband is a cyber teacher, so he works from home and has alot of flexibility. We will also be hiring a contractor that will be doing some of the work as well. We are working out all of the figures now for how much these renovations will be costing us. What would you say is a good amount to have set aside for working capital and what would you say are must haves as far as advertising??
.

Working from home and flexibility is simply code for "the B&B will consume more of his life than he can imagine"

Working capital....I'd say take what your rennovation estimates are and triple them. The rest is hard to state without knowing what it takes to run your home for a year. If you are keeping your photography job and your DH is keeping his job, then you need very little extra capital other than rennovation costs. If one of you is dropping an income...then that can be alot that the innkeeping job will have to fill in. It also depends on how much of a mortgage or otehr debt you are carrying.
Must haves for marketing..... a better than average website and listing on at least three of the major directories.

 

[EmptyNest]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.

 

[Morticia]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

I stayed there because of the caverns. I needed a 'mid-point' in my trip to Charlotte and picked your friends because I could go to the caverns. On the way back, I stopped in Harpers Ferry for the same reason...needed a mid-point but wanted to be able to 'see' something.

 

[gillumhouse]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

A lot of my guests come BECAUSE of the trail and the winery or BECAUSE of the covered bridges because I have marketed them as being something to see and do and have packaged them so it is - here I am, here is my check /credit card, where do i go. I have it all put together for them and market it as a put together package.

 

[sandynn]

Welcome from the Midwest. From the great state of Indiana.

 

[YellowSocks]

welcome to the forum, Lori!.

Thanks Greyswan,
My boys love seeing your posts, because of that cool pooch!!
.

Thanks Greyswan,
My boys love seeing your posts, because of that cool pooch!!

Yeah, mine too. ["Wait, mommy! Go back up!"]
=)
Kk.

 

[YellowSocks]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.

When we did the caverns we went, saw the caverns, and went home. It doesn't take two days to see them.
=)
Kk.

 

[YellowSocks]

:welcome: !!
SS's kids are all grown up... I'm one of the crazy ones with little guys.
We're only 3 hours or so from Pittsburgh....
=)
Kk..

Hi there Yellow Socks,
I actually meant to add you in there too, but I ran out of time. I definately went on and checked out your site when I saw that you had little ones. I love it!! Your Inn is beautiful. I know you are exhausted though. Only one more year and your boys will off to kindergarten and you will have a whole 2 1/2 hours just for Inn work.

I am very excited for you. How long have you been open? Did you have a lot of renovations? I hope to meet you sometime.
Take care.
.

Hi there Yellow Socks,
I actually meant to add you in there too, but I ran out of time. I definately went on and checked out your site when I saw that you had little ones. I love it!! Your Inn is beautiful. I know you are exhausted though. Only one more year and your boys will off to kindergarten and you will have a whole 2 1/2 hours just for Inn work.

I am very excited for you. How long have you been open? Did you have a lot of renovations? I hope to meet you sometime.
Take care.

Actually, I'm supposed to start homeschooling any day now.
One room opened July 2007. 2nd October 2007. The other two opened this past June (and our sign was installed). So, over a year, but it feels like just a few months.
New siding, roof, gutters, windows, insulation, furnace, heat pump. Added family room to basement. Painted every room in the house (except our own and our boys bedrooms, of course!). Refinished the floors. Closed a door and put a 7' spice rack there. Removed an odd window and replaced it with an opening. Add a door between my bedroom and my boys' room. Keypad locks all over the place. Add cabinets and countertop and custom laundry shelf (with pull out folding table/ironing board) to the laundry room (future kitchenette). Add landscaping walls in front and back (did that one myself). Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Garage got new siding, gutter, and roof, too.
Bathrooms: 1) 1st floor gutted and redone, including closing off a door and adding a new one. 2) Add 3rd floor bathroom and guest room (all new drywall). 3) Removed fixtures from 2nd floor and created a new bathroom in the basement (including framing, etc.). 4) Gutted remains of second floor bathroom and created two new bathrooms, including closing off a closet door and creating a new doorway for one of the two.
We easily spent as much on renovations and getting open as we did on buying the house. And third contractor's the charm... which is to say the first bathroom is not quite what I wanted, the second one had plumbing and electrical issues which are still not 100% fixed, but the last three are fabulous.
Still not done, but we're close. My contractor's been off building a pole barn, but needs to come back and fix the things that aren't quite right and finish a few details.
=)
Kk.

 

[Samster]

Hi Lori,
Welcome.
Hard to say whether it is a good idea or not as there just aren't enough details about your plan or your area or your financial situation. Sweat equity (your DH doing the construction work) is great, but only if he has the time to do it and the money for materials. If he is working a day job and only putting in the sweat on weekends and vacation time, then it may make things take a lot longer.
There is no spell checker built in here. One I recommend using is the one built into the Google toolbar. The Google toolbar is available for every major browser on every platform. I recommend it because it will be with you no matter where you browse..

Hi Swirt,
Thanks for the spell check advice.
My husband is a cyber teacher, so he works from home and has alot of flexibility. We will also be hiring a contractor that will be doing some of the work as well. We are working out all of the figures now for how much these renovations will be costing us. What would you say is a good amount to have set aside for working capital and what would you say are must haves as far as advertising??
.

Lori. We are newly opened (about 8 months). I'm not going to mince words. I think this is a challenging time to open a start-up business. We were going along great, occupancy was growing slowly, and then bookings dropped off like a rock. More than they should have for our seasonal downturn. Corporate travel is virtually non-existant here in the South. I do have one business guest here tonight from NYC who owns his own business. People are watching their discretionary travel spending dollars. October will be better than our last best month & November is better than October. But having said that, they should be much stronger. We have stellar reviews and our prices are between the other 2 existing B&Bs. I am considering lowering my rates. Have had several calls just today from folks who were rate shopping.
Renovations will take longer than you think and will cost more than you budget! This is my personal experience after renovating a house and making improvements to another one. We are tired of doing the work ourselves after several years...burn out.
Would I do it again?? Absolutely. But it will take us much longer to get our investment back than we thought. Much longer.
I wish you all the best. The folks here on this forum will help to keep you grounded. We are definitely straight shooters!

 

[greyswan]

the pooch avitar is a cute picture, isn't it!! I used to have a boxer when I was a little kid... I don't have one now, but I do have an elderly chocolate lab. A recent visiting innkeeper can attest to that. I just saw the picture and related to it... I was just thinking about changing it but I'll wait a little longer - don't want to disappoint the children, do I? (having a cantankerous
moment)

 

[JeannineIrish]

Hi Lori,
Welcome.
Hard to say whether it is a good idea or not as there just aren't enough details about your plan or your area or your financial situation. Sweat equity (your DH doing the construction work) is great, but only if he has the time to do it and the money for materials. If he is working a day job and only putting in the sweat on weekends and vacation time, then it may make things take a lot longer.
There is no spell checker built in here. One I recommend using is the one built into the Google toolbar. The Google toolbar is available for every major browser on every platform. I recommend it because it will be with you no matter where you browse..

Hi Swirt,
Thanks for the spell check advice.
My husband is a cyber teacher, so he works from home and has alot of flexibility. We will also be hiring a contractor that will be doing some of the work as well. We are working out all of the figures now for how much these renovations will be costing us. What would you say is a good amount to have set aside for working capital and what would you say are must haves as far as advertising??
.

Lori. We are newly opened (about 8 months). I'm not going to mince words. I think this is a challenging time to open a start-up business. We were going along great, occupancy was growing slowly, and then bookings dropped off like a rock. More than they should have for our seasonal downturn. Corporate travel is virtually non-existant here in the South. I do have one business guest here tonight from NYC who owns his own business. People are watching their discretionary travel spending dollars. October will be better than our last best month & November is better than October. But having said that, they should be much stronger. We have stellar reviews and our prices are between the other 2 existing B&Bs. I am considering lowering my rates. Have had several calls just today from folks who were rate shopping.
Renovations will take longer than you think and will cost more than you budget! This is my personal experience after renovating a house and making improvements to another one. We are tired of doing the work ourselves after several years...burn out.
Would I do it again?? Absolutely. But it will take us much longer to get our investment back than we thought. Much longer.
I wish you all the best. The folks here on this forum will help to keep you grounded. We are definitely straight shooters!

.

In regards to business travelers. Unless they own their own business their company may require them to stay in one of the chain hotels with which the company has a contract even though the stay at the B & B may be less expensive and the employee prefers to stay in a B & B. We have personally experienced this. One guest was in town Mon-Thurs. He stayed a week in the hotel, stayed with us for a week and then canceled the rest of his time with us because his company said that he had to stay at the hotel.

 

[EmptyNest]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.

When we did the caverns we went, saw the caverns, and went home. It doesn't take two days to see them.
=)
Kk.
.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.

When we did the caverns we went, saw the caverns, and went home. It doesn't take two days to see them.
=)
Kk.
.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(
.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(

look here for plenty to do and here (for those who do not know what there is to do)

 

[YellowSocks]

Welcome!!! Well you know i grew up about 45 min. West of Pittsburgh and lived most of my life there. I love Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.
And of course we already mentioned zoning. And since you have already run a B & B..you know what you are in for
Will one of you have a full time job to pay the bills and have health insurance? Lots ot consider but we wish you all the best..

Pittsburgh. Botanic Gardens...hmmm that sounds very interesting. If you can handle the payment and get financing now....it is a great time to take the plunge. Given that..do your homework. You will need more than a Botanic Garden to draw guests to your inn.

Lori if you were on the old forum you know these threads take on a life of their own. Sorry to side track - I am not really, but it might appear so.
I have a comment re Botanic Gardens - I want to say this to all aspirings.
There are many Sights of Interest that are huge draws for people/visitors. But MANY of them are DAY TRIPPERS. They are NOT overnight stays. This is something I think alot of people overestimate when they work on marketing and the draw for guests to a new B&B.
You might have the coolest place ever to visit in your town or near your town, but folks might 1) drive in see it and then drive past as part of a larger road trip holiday, or 2) make it a day trip from a large metropolis.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.
.

I too have to agree with you on this one. We have LURAY CAVERNS..it attracts 500,000 people a year! Do they stay at B & B's...NOT!!!! I would wager a guesstimate that about 10 percent actually stay at a B & B and that is pushing it. Most people just do day trips. The town is trying its best to get folks to stay longer and it is improving..but I wouldn't have bet the bank on it when we opened our B & B here. Almost all of our guests went to the Caverns..but that was NOT the reason they actually came here for. Most were D.C. folks wanting a getaway for the weekend.

When we did the caverns we went, saw the caverns, and went home. It doesn't take two days to see them.
=)
Kk.
.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(
.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(

look here for plenty to do and here (for those who do not know what there is to do)

.

No it doesn't take but an hour or two..but...there are so many other things to do here ..especially if you are into nature and hiking and biking...and it is a great place to kick back and relax...but most people don't know that:-(

look here for plenty to do and here (for those who do not know what there is to do)

Yeah, there's plenty to do here, too.... ironing, vacuuming, scrubbing, dusting, cooking. Sometimes I even check on my kids!

=)
Kk.

 

[Samster]

Hi Lori,
Welcome.
Hard to say whether it is a good idea or not as there just aren't enough details about your plan or your area or your financial situation. Sweat equity (your DH doing the construction work) is great, but only if he has the time to do it and the money for materials. If he is working a day job and only putting in the sweat on weekends and vacation time, then it may make things take a lot longer.
There is no spell checker built in here. One I recommend using is the one built into the Google toolbar. The Google toolbar is available for every major browser on every platform. I recommend it because it will be with you no matter where you browse..

Hi Swirt,
Thanks for the spell check advice.
My husband is a cyber teacher, so he works from home and has alot of flexibility. We will also be hiring a contractor that will be doing some of the work as well. We are working out all of the figures now for how much these renovations will be costing us. What would you say is a good amount to have set aside for working capital and what would you say are must haves as far as advertising??
.

Lori. We are newly opened (about 8 months). I'm not going to mince words. I think this is a challenging time to open a start-up business. We were going along great, occupancy was growing slowly, and then bookings dropped off like a rock. More than they should have for our seasonal downturn. Corporate travel is virtually non-existant here in the South. I do have one business guest here tonight from NYC who owns his own business. People are watching their discretionary travel spending dollars. October will be better than our last best month & November is better than October. But having said that, they should be much stronger. We have stellar reviews and our prices are between the other 2 existing B&Bs. I am considering lowering my rates. Have had several calls just today from folks who were rate shopping.
Renovations will take longer than you think and will cost more than you budget! This is my personal experience after renovating a house and making improvements to another one. We are tired of doing the work ourselves after several years...burn out.
Would I do it again?? Absolutely. But it will take us much longer to get our investment back than we thought. Much longer.
I wish you all the best. The folks here on this forum will help to keep you grounded. We are definitely straight shooters!

.

In regards to business travelers. Unless they own their own business their company may require them to stay in one of the chain hotels with which the company has a contract even though the stay at the B & B may be less expensive and the employee prefers to stay in a B & B. We have personally experienced this. One guest was in town Mon-Thurs. He stayed a week in the hotel, stayed with us for a week and then canceled the rest of his time with us because his company said that he had to stay at the hotel.
.

My dh was just on a rant about this. He said that B&Bs should file a lawsuit against the big players that mandate where their employees have to stay even if a B&B is less expensive.

 

[adabweeks]

Welcome

from PEI, Canada!
Sherry
www.adabenweeks.webs.com