I'm baaaack and may be an innkeeper soon!!!!

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springlady

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Hi guys! Wow, there's so much to catch up on!
But first the news...
I may be getting an inn. Actually it's a lovely vintage house on acreage with several cabins in a very seasonal tourist area. I'll need lots of help figuring out ways to make money in the off season if it happens but seasonal revenue should cover the mortgage, insurance, and taxes. I've taken a preliminary look at the utility, help, and maintenance numbers and it looks doable as well but I haven't inspected the books - that will happen when we get a little further along. I've based all my calculations on having full occupancy for 80 days out of the year which is what I understand to be standard in this area.
I will have a partner with deep pockets making the preliminary investment WHO WILL NOT REQUIRE REPAYMENT (Thanks, Mom) since I'm spending my kid's inheritance. Actually, I will be multiplying their inheritance and mine by building equity in this business, with a 7 - 10 year exit plan. The acreage and house alone with the existing deep water well are worth the asking price and will only appreciate as Boomers retire to this wonderful area.
I'll have a second imcome from selling my previous business (YEA!!!) that will be enough to cover my personal expenses so everything can be plowed back into the business.
I don't want to go into a lot of detail because it's not a done deal but if it works out I'll be joining the ranks, hopefully by this summer!
I know there have beens lots of posts in the past on the pros and cons of cabins vs. a "real" B&B but could you refresh my memory?
I'm thinking of providing uncooked breakfast casseroles (putting them in the refrigerators each day) along with juice, bread, and fruit. They cook them at their leisure. I think this will be a good extra draw because the nearest real grocery store is over 30 miles away and the only thing available for breakfast in the area are tacos from a couple of little taco joints in town.
Flip side of that is my weekly 34 mile jaunt into town for supplies... I will need help at least one day a week.
It seems like a wonderful opportunity if everything falls into place...my fingers are crossed!
 
That is wonderful!!! Congratulations! Keep us posted!!
teeth_smile.gif
 
Welcome back Springlady and congrats!
I would LOVE to have cabins vs inn-house rooms, I think there are greater variables for your marketing efforts.
We have to know, if you can tell us, REGION? Is it in the NW like you thought orig? Oregon? There is a new innkeeper (seasoned innkeeper) on this forum from OR who also teaches aspiring classes. All the best, keep us posted!
 
PS you know us by now to say CHECK THE ZONING - if it is a "turnkey" B&B then you prob have all that covered. Casseroles overnight are typically a no no from the health dept.
 
Welcome back Springlady and congrats!
I would LOVE to have cabins vs inn-house rooms, I think there are greater variables for your marketing efforts.
We have to know, if you can tell us, REGION? Is it in the NW like you thought orig? Oregon? There is a new innkeeper (seasoned innkeeper) on this forum from OR who also teaches aspiring classes. All the best, keep us posted!.
No, I'm staying in Texas. My Oregon kids came home!!!!!! I am the luckiest Mom in the world. They'll be settling in a town about an hour away. My youngest daughter, SIL, grandgirl, and new grandboy (due this week!!!) will live in the little town I'm moving to.
I plan to set daughter up in a cake decorating business (nearest cake is also 34 miles away!) and SIL in a lawn business with the equipment I get with the sale.
This is in the Hill Country of Texas. Closest big city is San Antonio.
 
PS you know us by now to say CHECK THE ZONING - if it is a "turnkey" B&B then you prob have all that covered. Casseroles overnight are typically a no no from the health dept..
I'll check on the casseroles but unless the B&B I stayed in (in Fredericksburg) was cheating it's allowable. I stayed in a great little guest house and loved the set up. She had a 7 day menu posted with directions. If it was Monday you got xyz casserole and the instructions were on the board. It was very cool and so convenient!
She stocked the freezer with frozen sausage patties and biscuits, the frig with juice, jam, and butter.
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
.
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
 
PS you know us by now to say CHECK THE ZONING - if it is a "turnkey" B&B then you prob have all that covered. Casseroles overnight are typically a no no from the health dept..
I'll check on the casseroles but unless the B&B I stayed in (in Fredericksburg) was cheating it's allowable. I stayed in a great little guest house and loved the set up. She had a 7 day menu posted with directions. If it was Monday you got xyz casserole and the instructions were on the board. It was very cool and so convenient!
She stocked the freezer with frozen sausage patties and biscuits, the frig with juice, jam, and butter.
.
springlady said:
I'll check on the casseroles but unless the B&B I stayed in (in Fredericksburg) was cheating it's allowable. I stayed in a great little guest house and loved the set up. She had a 7 day menu posted with directions. If it was Monday you got xyz casserole and the instructions were on the board. It was very cool and so convenient!
She stocked the freezer with frozen sausage patties and biscuits, the frig with juice, jam, and butter.
Yes check into that, as that is a cabin rental, not a B&B. There are so many B&B's in Texas I am sure you can find tons of info there! Not that a cabin rental is not great, like I said, there are a ton of ways to operate that, we have a few on the forum who do!
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
.
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
.
Bree said:
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
Yes I could...I could also do a little tea party business for the locals in the off season in the main house. Right now it's set up with a large downstairs master bedroom with fireplace, bath down the hall, big sunroom office, nice kitchen with place for TWO dining tables and a breakfast bar, living room with fireplace, and two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bath - one room with two queen size beds in it and a smaller room with a queen.
My original thought was to take the master downstairs and turn it into formal dining and make the upstairs rooms my owner's suite. That's still my first inclination. I could also leave it like it is and rent out the upstairs rooms as "real" B&B lodging but there's a shared bath, might not be worth the hassle.
There's no lady's place in town. Local dining consists of 2 taquerias, an Italian restaurant, a "lodge" restaurant that does burgers, and two barbecue joints and it ain't purty, my sister has a house nearby and she's eaten at all of them and also tried to plan a local wedding for her daughter and knows that picken's are slim. That's how we know about the cakes...
I figure I could do a private tea/bridal/baby shower business by reservation only. Add a commercial kitchen because there's room to do it. There's a laundry room with 6 washers and 2 driers plus an additional room now used for storing linens and cleaning supplies. Both rooms are huge and the 2nd storage room could be a kitchen, it has it's own door to the outside and it also has plumbing so I think it's possible.
Two car garage - one could become storage without much trouble. There's also a stand alone storage building that's permanent frame construction and could possibly be converted.
Commercial kitchen is necessary for cake business anyway...
All of this is speculative, I haven't checked any codes or regulations for this particular county so who knows. It's too early. I'm still at the brain storming stage!
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
.
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
.
Bree said:
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
Yes I could...I could also do a little tea party business for the locals in the off season in the main house. Right now it's set up with a large downstairs master bedroom with fireplace, bath down the hall, big sunroom office, nice kitchen with place for TWO dining tables and a breakfast bar, living room with fireplace, and two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bath - one room with two queen size beds in it and a smaller room with a queen.
My original thought was to take the master downstairs and turn it into formal dining and make the upstairs rooms my owner's suite. That's still my first inclination. I could also leave it like it is and rent out the upstairs rooms as "real" B&B lodging but there's a shared bath, might not be worth the hassle.
There's no lady's place in town. Local dining consists of 2 taquerias, an Italian restaurant, a "lodge" restaurant that does burgers, and two barbecue joints and it ain't purty, my sister has a house nearby and she's eaten at all of them and also tried to plan a local wedding for her daughter and knows that picken's are slim. That's how we know about the cakes...
I figure I could do a private tea/bridal/baby shower business by reservation only. Add a commercial kitchen because there's room to do it. There's a laundry room with 6 washers and 2 driers plus an additional room now used for storing linens and cleaning supplies. Both rooms are huge and the 2nd storage room could be a kitchen, it has it's own door to the outside and it also has plumbing so I think it's possible.
Two car garage - one could become storage without much trouble. There's also a stand alone storage building that's permanent frame construction and could possibly be converted.
Commercial kitchen is necessary for cake business anyway...
All of this is speculative, I haven't checked any codes or regulations for this particular county so who knows. It's too early. I'm still at the brain storming stage!
.
That is a HUGE amount of room! 6 washers? Holy cow!
 
PS you know us by now to say CHECK THE ZONING - if it is a "turnkey" B&B then you prob have all that covered. Casseroles overnight are typically a no no from the health dept..
I'll check on the casseroles but unless the B&B I stayed in (in Fredericksburg) was cheating it's allowable. I stayed in a great little guest house and loved the set up. She had a 7 day menu posted with directions. If it was Monday you got xyz casserole and the instructions were on the board. It was very cool and so convenient!
She stocked the freezer with frozen sausage patties and biscuits, the frig with juice, jam, and butter.
.
springlady said:
I'll check on the casseroles but unless the B&B I stayed in (in Fredericksburg) was cheating it's allowable. I stayed in a great little guest house and loved the set up. She had a 7 day menu posted with directions. If it was Monday you got xyz casserole and the instructions were on the board. It was very cool and so convenient!
She stocked the freezer with frozen sausage patties and biscuits, the frig with juice, jam, and butter.
Yes check into that, as that is a cabin rental, not a B&B. There are so many B&B's in Texas I am sure you can find tons of info there! Not that a cabin rental is not great, like I said, there are a ton of ways to operate that, we have a few on the forum who do!
.
Sounds great! Check the zoning is great advice. I would say that is particularly important for the future add-ons and conversions.
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
.
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
.
Bree said:
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
Yes I could...I could also do a little tea party business for the locals in the off season in the main house. Right now it's set up with a large downstairs master bedroom with fireplace, bath down the hall, big sunroom office, nice kitchen with place for TWO dining tables and a breakfast bar, living room with fireplace, and two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bath - one room with two queen size beds in it and a smaller room with a queen.
My original thought was to take the master downstairs and turn it into formal dining and make the upstairs rooms my owner's suite. That's still my first inclination. I could also leave it like it is and rent out the upstairs rooms as "real" B&B lodging but there's a shared bath, might not be worth the hassle.
There's no lady's place in town. Local dining consists of 2 taquerias, an Italian restaurant, a "lodge" restaurant that does burgers, and two barbecue joints and it ain't purty, my sister has a house nearby and she's eaten at all of them and also tried to plan a local wedding for her daughter and knows that picken's are slim. That's how we know about the cakes...
I figure I could do a private tea/bridal/baby shower business by reservation only. Add a commercial kitchen because there's room to do it. There's a laundry room with 6 washers and 2 driers plus an additional room now used for storing linens and cleaning supplies. Both rooms are huge and the 2nd storage room could be a kitchen, it has it's own door to the outside and it also has plumbing so I think it's possible.
Two car garage - one could become storage without much trouble. There's also a stand alone storage building that's permanent frame construction and could possibly be converted.
Commercial kitchen is necessary for cake business anyway...
All of this is speculative, I haven't checked any codes or regulations for this particular county so who knows. It's too early. I'm still at the brain storming stage!
.
That is a HUGE amount of room! 6 washers? Holy cow!
.
Bree said:
That is a HUGE amount of room! 6 washers? Holy cow!
Yeah, overkill for what it is but they just did a remodel and I guess they are thinking ahead.
 
Wow! What a lot going on!.
Bree said:
Wow! What a lot going on!
You don't know the half of it but it's the story of my life!
I have my house on the market at last, after a year long redo. It looks fantastic. Showings are picking up since it's already springtime here, highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's. Eat your hearts out but feel sorry for me in August and September, okay? Most of the clutter is packed up and in storage - if I get this place I'll pack up my china, knickknacks, occassional furniture and sell the rest in an estate sale because I don't need it! But meanwhile, it's staging and it looks great. If you want to see the finished product drop me a line and I'll send you the real estate link.
So I get up at dark:thirty and sweep, mop, and clean up after 3 Papillons. I have 5000 square feet of house. 6 cabins should be doable because I'm used to it at this point!
I also help with the books for my former store and will store-sit for them this weekend IF I'm not babysitting my 5 year old grandgirl while mommy is in the hospital having baby Gage.
Like I said, this is a heavy seasonal business and there's not a room to be had in town for 80 - 90 days, then it dies. I can dig it! Put up with tourists for a few months and then have the place to myself for the other 270!!!!
Kidding...first order of business is to update the website, add a blog, and try to build business around events in town - birding, motorcycle rallies, etc. There's a stable on the grounds - calling Kathleen!?! So I expect that I can add to those numbers - the former owners seem to live elsewhere.
I've worked so hard for the last 9 years - running a business by myself while taking care of my terminally ill husband for 3 of those years. Working hard is fine, stress not so much but God has been good and given me an income so this is more about building equity than making ends meet. I've been retired for 3 months (other than being housemaid to Papillons) and I'M BORED!!! I figure I have one more business venture in me before I'm ready to sit in a rocking chair.
.
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
.
Bree said:
Nothing like working like a dog for 80 days and then relaxing! You could 'help out' with the cake biz at that point.
Yes I could...I could also do a little tea party business for the locals in the off season in the main house. Right now it's set up with a large downstairs master bedroom with fireplace, bath down the hall, big sunroom office, nice kitchen with place for TWO dining tables and a breakfast bar, living room with fireplace, and two bedrooms upstairs with a shared bath - one room with two queen size beds in it and a smaller room with a queen.
My original thought was to take the master downstairs and turn it into formal dining and make the upstairs rooms my owner's suite. That's still my first inclination. I could also leave it like it is and rent out the upstairs rooms as "real" B&B lodging but there's a shared bath, might not be worth the hassle.
There's no lady's place in town. Local dining consists of 2 taquerias, an Italian restaurant, a "lodge" restaurant that does burgers, and two barbecue joints and it ain't purty, my sister has a house nearby and she's eaten at all of them and also tried to plan a local wedding for her daughter and knows that picken's are slim. That's how we know about the cakes...
I figure I could do a private tea/bridal/baby shower business by reservation only. Add a commercial kitchen because there's room to do it. There's a laundry room with 6 washers and 2 driers plus an additional room now used for storing linens and cleaning supplies. Both rooms are huge and the 2nd storage room could be a kitchen, it has it's own door to the outside and it also has plumbing so I think it's possible.
Two car garage - one could become storage without much trouble. There's also a stand alone storage building that's permanent frame construction and could possibly be converted.
Commercial kitchen is necessary for cake business anyway...
All of this is speculative, I haven't checked any codes or regulations for this particular county so who knows. It's too early. I'm still at the brain storming stage!
.
That is a HUGE amount of room! 6 washers? Holy cow!
.
I'm a dork and mispoke - there are 4 washers and 2 driers, total of 6 but there's also an additional washer and drier in the largest cabin. All of them convey.
 
I knew when the right thing came along, it would all work out. This looks great and you have an excellent and more inportantly REALISTIC plan on what to do to improve the revenue stream and more importantly HOW to do it.
 
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