Is your whole B&B out of date?

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Morticia

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This was also in the same article:
have you replaced gramma's old furniture with clean lines and Pottery Barn-type styling? People want to visit museums, not stay in one.
As someone who lived thru the 60's (and remembers it), everything I see out there now for linens and bedding is from that era. So, I buy that TODAY and TOMORROW the target market has moved on to some other era. I can understand replacing broken, worn and shabby furnishings with clean, well-made furnishings, but tossing everything goes against the grain of this thrifty (not cheap) New Englander.
Guess what? People can see 'Pottery Barn' ANYWHERE. They go on vacation to see something they CAN'T see at home. If you wouldn't expect an adobe house in NM to be furnished by PB, don't expect it anywhere other than where it is at home!
Furnishings shouldn't be threadbare and hideous, but they should also not be from a kit that everyone buys so the whole country looks like a catalog.
Stepping off soapbox now...
 
Isn't it great we have this forum to bounce stuff off of, this is INNKEEPING IN REAL LIFE right here.
 
It also says
"If all the inns in your area still restrict children, [COLOR= #ff0000]think of the ADVANTAGE [/COLOR]you will have when they send all their family-travel referrals to you!"

I almost snorted my coffee. What a crock...sounds like one of those crap articles that are written as filler by someone who has no idea of the subject they're writing about, certainly never been an innkeeper.
 
I really like Pottery Barn. Lovely furniture.
Love how they sell clasics that look like they could have been around forever.
Same thing that B&B owners do, only they more often do it with the real classics. And they try to find something special and unique for each room, not catalogue pieces.
What kind of person thinks every B&B should have the same style of furniture? And that without that, you're not up-to-date?
Hogwash.
An article written for no reason but to fill space.
Pure hogwash.
 
My place is entirely fully of older furniture or reproduction of older furniture. We are a victorian building so filling it full of brand new stuff would look really odd! I think you need practical furniture suitable for what the guest is going to do in the room and that works with your building.
 
I really like Pottery Barn. Lovely furniture.
Love how they sell clasics that look like they could have been around forever.
Same thing that B&B owners do, only they more often do it with the real classics. And they try to find something special and unique for each room, not catalogue pieces.
What kind of person thinks every B&B should have the same style of furniture? And that without that, you're not up-to-date?
Hogwash.
An article written for no reason but to fill space.
Pure hogwash..
The exact statment was 'Pottery Barn-style' and that is a particular 'look'. Yes, you can get a variety of furnishings from PB, but 'you know it when you see it' comes to mind when describing PB 'style'. And I am sure that someday that 'look' will be classic and everyone will be saying, 'Oh, you have to update from that old granny furniture!'
 
My place is entirely fully of older furniture or reproduction of older furniture. We are a victorian building so filling it full of brand new stuff would look really odd! I think you need practical furniture suitable for what the guest is going to do in the room and that works with your building..
Well, according to the blog you should be scaring them away in droves! All that 'old' stuff!
 
This 1890's house contains period appropriate furnishings. Your breakfast will be served on early 20th century china, with sterling flatware. Everyone deserves to be spoiled on a holiday. We'll leave the homogenized look to the chain inns.
 
That kind of thinking is the reason why when driving through most of the U.S., you look out your window in any city and you can't tell where you are. Shopping malls, PB, Borders, BBBeyond, Olive Garden, etc. It's horrible! I don't want people to come to my place and it look just like their own interior design. Nope, if they want that, they can go to one of those sleek hotels.
It's ridiculous to think that we live in a homogonous society.
 
As long as I keep hearing things like I heard last night and this morning - I love the way this place feels so homey - I am not about to change it. The furniture is eclectic - a mix of old & new but modern it is not. This is a 1912 house and "modern" (which BTW means something different to each decade) just would not cut it!
In the 50s, modern was blond furniture, in the 60s it was back to the colonial, in the 70s it was "country". First everything was blues, then I think green took over, I do not remember because I have always been a decade or two behind. I remember how proud my cousin was of her expensive Swedish modern furniture - that was VERY uncomfortable to sit on!
 
Sorry had to dash off to guests but I may be wrong in saying that the whole point of B&B's is that we are away from the corporate norm? I don't think that I will have many people on here disagreeing with me. It is about putting together individual pieces to make a package each carefully thought out and chosen by the owner with love and care. Not a paid designer who doesn't give a monkeys. It is about caring and I don't want to see what I do in someone elses place I go there to see something different.
 
That kind of thinking is the reason why when driving through most of the U.S., you look out your window in any city and you can't tell where you are. Shopping malls, PB, Borders, BBBeyond, Olive Garden, etc. It's horrible! I don't want people to come to my place and it look just like their own interior design. Nope, if they want that, they can go to one of those sleek hotels.
It's ridiculous to think that we live in a homogonous society..
Breakfast Diva said:
It's ridiculous to think that we live in a homogonous society.
Even more ridiculous to think that anyone would suggest that B&Bs should all wear the same uniform.
 
I love that all B&B's are unique and their innkeepers are unique. For me that is the beauty of a B&B. FLAUNT WHATCHA GOT! If you are heavy into antiques, say it, if you are modern and new or have only white linens, say that!
I have an old house, so I do what I can here. I have one dining room with one table, so I do what I can with it. It is one of those things make the best and market whatever you have. Being right in town means walking to restaurants, being out in the woods means quiet and wildlife. We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
I never knew doilies were bad until the dozen or so articles telling everyone they were bad. DOH! I never gave it a second thought, so now i have a gnome in my foyer and doilies on the side board, and I am not a granny. People who aren't grannies can enjoy hand crocheted doilies too!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!
 
I love that all B&B's are unique and their innkeepers are unique. For me that is the beauty of a B&B. FLAUNT WHATCHA GOT! If you are heavy into antiques, say it, if you are modern and new or have only white linens, say that!
I have an old house, so I do what I can here. I have one dining room with one table, so I do what I can with it. It is one of those things make the best and market whatever you have. Being right in town means walking to restaurants, being out in the woods means quiet and wildlife. We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
I never knew doilies were bad until the dozen or so articles telling everyone they were bad. DOH! I never gave it a second thought, so now i have a gnome in my foyer and doilies on the side board, and I am not a granny. People who aren't grannies can enjoy hand crocheted doilies too!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!.
Another t-shirt quote!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!
 
I love that all B&B's are unique and their innkeepers are unique. For me that is the beauty of a B&B. FLAUNT WHATCHA GOT! If you are heavy into antiques, say it, if you are modern and new or have only white linens, say that!
I have an old house, so I do what I can here. I have one dining room with one table, so I do what I can with it. It is one of those things make the best and market whatever you have. Being right in town means walking to restaurants, being out in the woods means quiet and wildlife. We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
I never knew doilies were bad until the dozen or so articles telling everyone they were bad. DOH! I never gave it a second thought, so now i have a gnome in my foyer and doilies on the side board, and I am not a granny. People who aren't grannies can enjoy hand crocheted doilies too!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!.
Joey Bloggs said:
We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
Exactly.
 
I love that all B&B's are unique and their innkeepers are unique. For me that is the beauty of a B&B. FLAUNT WHATCHA GOT! If you are heavy into antiques, say it, if you are modern and new or have only white linens, say that!
I have an old house, so I do what I can here. I have one dining room with one table, so I do what I can with it. It is one of those things make the best and market whatever you have. Being right in town means walking to restaurants, being out in the woods means quiet and wildlife. We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
I never knew doilies were bad until the dozen or so articles telling everyone they were bad. DOH! I never gave it a second thought, so now i have a gnome in my foyer and doilies on the side board, and I am not a granny. People who aren't grannies can enjoy hand crocheted doilies too!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!.
Joey Bloggs said:
We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
Exactly.
.
Heck, that other article took aim at being true as well...'You can't believe the photos.'
If I have the choice of posting a blurry, out of focus pic of an unmade bed and a crisp photo of a pristine, plumped to an inch of its life bed, which one am I going to post? I leave it to the guests to post the pix of the rumpled bed and messy room after they've gotten into it.
It's true to life that your room looks picture-perfect when you arrive. What YOU do with it is your biz.
There's no way I'm going to copy a photo from a catalog and try to tell you that's your room when you arrive and see something completely diffferent. Yeesh!
 
ditto to all my inn-mates' comments.
when i went to my first innkeeping seminar years ago, we talked about how going to different b&b's is fun ... and different ... sometimes unexpected ... that's what we were told the average b&b guest wanted. and part of why they came.
not talking about broken or soiled furniture ... but comfortable and clean in ANY style seems to work for all the guests i see.
 
I love that all B&B's are unique and their innkeepers are unique. For me that is the beauty of a B&B. FLAUNT WHATCHA GOT! If you are heavy into antiques, say it, if you are modern and new or have only white linens, say that!
I have an old house, so I do what I can here. I have one dining room with one table, so I do what I can with it. It is one of those things make the best and market whatever you have. Being right in town means walking to restaurants, being out in the woods means quiet and wildlife. We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
I never knew doilies were bad until the dozen or so articles telling everyone they were bad. DOH! I never gave it a second thought, so now i have a gnome in my foyer and doilies on the side board, and I am not a granny. People who aren't grannies can enjoy hand crocheted doilies too!
BACK OFF MY DOILIES DUDE!.
Joey Bloggs said:
We all have so much to offer, we just have to market it so it sounds true to what it is.
Exactly.
.
Heck, that other article took aim at being true as well...'You can't believe the photos.'
If I have the choice of posting a blurry, out of focus pic of an unmade bed and a crisp photo of a pristine, plumped to an inch of its life bed, which one am I going to post? I leave it to the guests to post the pix of the rumpled bed and messy room after they've gotten into it.
It's true to life that your room looks picture-perfect when you arrive. What YOU do with it is your biz.
There's no way I'm going to copy a photo from a catalog and try to tell you that's your room when you arrive and see something completely diffferent. Yeesh!
.
Morticia said:
I leave it to the guests to post the pix of the rumpled bed and messy room after they've gotten into it.
And they're certainly not going to disappoint.
 
Pottery barn is fine when you are young and furnishing your first home.
I still have some PB stuff in my own apartment, but at the Inn? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
We have spent $$$$$$ keeping our Inn period appropriate. I even had my horseshoer (metal worker extraordinare) extend all the frames of my Victorian beds to accomodate larger matresses.
People comment constantly about the quality of our antiques. I am proud of that.
 
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