suellen222,
Ummm.... first, I'm thrilled that you and your sister have found a venture you find rewarding and valuable.
The tone and the asumptions you've made in your initial post to support your sales pitch are about as condescending and presumptive towards the intelligence of any veteran inn owner as I've seen here.
I'm in the camp of innkeeper that believes "we" as the owner or innkeeper of a small B&B are such a huge part of the experience for our guests that except for a health emergency or family death, nobody could ever "sit in" for us here.
I'm not sure how it is that hundreds of OUR guests per year can bring a laptop, cellphone, pda, etc. and for a few minutes per day, keep up on their business affairs AND still relate to us just how relaxing and enjoyable of a time they have while in our home, but they do.
While our B&B is only in its fifth year of operation, we already know with about 95% certainty what our busy and slow seasons are and when we could most easily expect to take a break and NOT miss much business.
Maybe for innkeepers who refuse to take vacations only in their slow season or are in it only to make maximium income, your service would be very appealing.
I'm not sure why you would encourage inexperienced, aspiring innkeepers to start competing with you, but I would expect that flooding a fairly small labor market niche with too many inexperienced, untested service providers could eventually work against the positive aspects and reputation of having highly trained, experienced innsitting services available for those that could use them..
Condescension is a show of disdain and superiority in which the condescending person patronizes, or considers himself superior and "descends" to the level of, the disdained person.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, TIM. I saw nothing condescending in suellen's posts, but see it loud and clear in about 75% of your own; how typical that your first post after a five-day suspension is green and nasty.
Suellen IS a professional Innsitter, has sat for Inns all over the country....how she got into it originally doesn't matter in the least. She was invited to this forum to get the opinions of an Innsitter. I'm embarassed now to see some the the nasty responses that have been posted. Sue was simply expressing her thoughts, and there was nothing I saw that was meant to be insulting, and certainly nothing she said insulted me. How can anyone attack her for encouraging aspiring innkeepers to consider inn-sitting, a profession she loves? I encourage aspiring innkeepers to become Inn owners every day, because it's a profession I love.
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Maybe you didn't but that doesn't negate anyone else's right to perceive or interpret her comments as we saw fit. I paid her a compliment and in no way was denigrating her own professionalism or skills. I was critiquing the way she phrased her comments and in my opinion not so subtly suggesting that anyone not using an innsitter is a hobbyist, or not very smart about how they were running their inn.
Yes, the physical tasks involved in operating a B&B aren't brain surgery, but its the nuances that count and are in my opinion are every bit as important. I've never stayed in a B&B whose "staff" fully grasped that and have only experienced the complete package of cleanliness, hospitality, and good service when staying in owner occupied B&Bs.
She started the thread and if you'll be kind enough to point me to the thread inviting her to weigh in on an innsitter's value to any of us, I'll go get some background on the original topic.
But point by point I found her comments to be condescending and spoke my mind, which I believe I'm entitled to do regardless of anything else. I know you don't like it when people here respond to people's comments point by point but in this case its somewhat important on both what she wrote and how she phrased it.
As an Inn-sitter I felt a need to speak up on this subject - maybe a little late for some of you, but better late than never!
So have we all been wandering around in the dark or something on how to manage our vacations, family emergencies, time off, etc.?
Was this initial statement of hers in response to specific questions?
Was her launching the thread to begin with in response to a request from others?
First - A B&B is a very personal business and if I, as a potential guest, call and get an answering machine (and possibly no reply for a day or so) I will go on to the next B&B where someone will talk to me and take my reservation!
With most of us reporting getting anywhere from 50-90% of our reservations online, this statement doesn't seem to jive with the fact or trend in travel that proves we musn't anchor ourselves to our phones at all time.
2nd - A vacation is not really a vacation if you are attached to your phone and computer.
I stand by earlier comment about our guests apparently being able to fully enjoy their vacations while still keeping tabs on their business affairs. The hollywood screenplay writer who just checked out today while having a deadline to deal with, phone calls, emails, etc... related to us that this was the singularly most relaxing three days in his memory.
3rd - If you close down/shut your doors, etc. you are losing all business that may come in while you are gone and if you don't return messages you are losing any future business.
There are innkeepers who don't return phone calls or emails even while in residence at their B&B, and there are those of us who while on vacation or off premise are very good about replying to inquiries or calls.
An Inn-sitter will be there to answer the phone, take care of any last minute guests while also taking care of guests who booked in advance. I have noticed last minute bookings are way up this year.
It isn't an 100% certainty that all B&Bs get lots of last minute bookings, walk in traffic or have been even with this year's trend.
I guess it depends on if you are trying to run a business or if owning a B&B is just a hobby for you.
This is the one that stuck in my craw. We take our business very seriously. This is our life's blood, sweat and tears and a way more than full time venture for us. Probably too seriously for our own good.
All you Aspiring Innkeepers out there - I highly recommend getting into the Inn-sitting business. It will give you a good taste of what running a B&B is like.
Easy to say, harder to do and to do well.
All the fun without all the responsibilities of owning!
Yes, I'm sure if all I had to worry about was the physical tasks of temporarily filling in for the rube who has his or her life's savings invested in starting, running and perpetuating a B&B business it would be kind of fun. This statement struck me as awfully unappreciative of the effort, financial investment and dedication it took for all of us who own our places to make it happen. Conidering anyone reading this would potentially be a client of suellen222's, it just felt funny. Just being honest.
Kinda like being a Grandparent, you spoil the kids and then you get to go home.
Same as above.
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