Staying Connected When You're at a B&B

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Samster

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OK...I just returned this weekend from a short getaway and stayed at a few B&Bs. All wonderful properties but they all had one little problem in common - plugging in chargers for electronic devices. Only one place (an inn-mate's) had an outlet adapter with additional plugs, but I still had a little trouble getting to it. (Sorry...) The other places required crawling around on the floor, unplugging other plugs to free up a plug that would allow my larger cellphone charger plug.
Even if you use your laptop on the battery, at some point it's probably going to need to be charged in. And what to do if both members in the party have laptops & cellphones, iPods, Blackberrys or whatever? I know how hard it is to anticipate where people are going to need a plug for all this stuff but think how comical it is when a fifty-something year old is crawling around on the floor searching for an electrical outlet!
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I also know that we don't think that folks coming to stay with us will have all these electronics, but we just had a couple here for their anniversary with 2 laptops & 2 cellphones. I'm checking all my rooms to see if the power strips are handy and if the lamps are plugged into a socket where a larger cell phone charger can fit in the same outlet.
This is why it's good to visit other places :)
Just something to think about....
 
yes ... i got power strips for all my guest rooms. it was an investment but well worth it!
i think i got the idea after staying at thurston house in florida.
because guests would come in with all their gadgets and start unplugging the lights and things. and they seem to have more and more gadgets even though they are trying to 'get away'
one issue was we had a few people who checked in with breathing things. like for sleep apnea. so i had a few extra of these strips stashed away and when i saw them bringing in their equipment, i went and got another strip and plugged it in for them so they wouldn't unplug the bedside lamp and radio, because they still had all the other gadgets.
 
That's where we are lucky since we built new. I think we have plugs every so many feet. Plus we have hotel radios that have the plug ins for music gadgets like ipods
Riki
 
wow ~ i am soooo behind the times! don't have an ipod! wait .... didn't i? yes, i had one, hmmmm ... wait ... i think it's a shuffle and it's in my storage unit!!!
 
There was one next to the wing back chair. The one behind the sofa was behind the sofa - I moved it back over there...I figured that was the reason it had moved. There was also one behind the old walnut chair next to the dresser. What you wanted it in the most comfortable spot in the room? ha ha
Funny thing is you had the room that actually HAS outlets. One for the electric fireplace and tv, one for the urn lamp with addtl adaptor and emergency light - which I took off so you could relocate that for your 'equipment', one behind the bed (forget reaching that one you would be in traction), behind the sofa, next to the wingback, and near the walnut chair. Seriousely that is our WIRED room, ha ha
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That's a good tip to know. This old house has has few outlets but now I will install power strips in all of the B&B rooms.
 
There was one next to the wing back chair. The one behind the sofa was behind the sofa - I moved it back over there...I figured that was the reason it had moved. There was also one behind the old walnut chair next to the dresser. What you wanted it in the most comfortable spot in the room? ha ha
Funny thing is you had the room that actually HAS outlets. One for the electric fireplace and tv, one for the urn lamp with addtl adaptor and emergency light - which I took off so you could relocate that for your 'equipment', one behind the bed (forget reaching that one you would be in traction), behind the sofa, next to the wingback, and near the walnut chair. Seriousely that is our WIRED room, ha ha
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What I discovered here with our guests (and I guess I'm no exception) is that even with a desk in the room and a comfortable chair, a lot of people use their lap tops in bed. I plugged my stuff there into the multiplug thing under the table near the bed. I didn't move anything...I KNOW better! haha!
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That's why the power strips are nice though, because they give you a little more leeway with your laptop cord. AND, you can plug the room electronics into them if they also have surge protectors. After our little run-in with the lightning strike close to one of the houses, we have all room electronics or things we want to protect (like tower fans) on surge protectors here.
Also, like a lot of people I use my cell phone as an alarm and need to plug it in near the bed. It's tough in a room that doesn't have nightstands or shelves right on either side of the bed. This is going to be a dilemma for us if we replace one of our queen beds with a king - one side won't have room for a nightstand. Maybe a shelf somehow & we'll have to put a lamp on the wall for the people that like to read in bed. There's always something.....
 
That's where we are lucky since we built new. I think we have plugs every so many feet. Plus we have hotel radios that have the plug ins for music gadgets like ipods
Riki.
Both our houses were totally renovated and all the rooms have plenty of power outlets per code. The problem is when furniture gets in the way!
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Darn, I thought this thread was about how to stay connected to the outside world if you're an innkeeper! I got all excited!
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We have one room that is limited with no room for nightstands near the bed. We have a floor lamp near a chair with long cord so it can be placed next to the bed. The configuration just doesn't work in that room very well at all. We never put surge protected power strips in the room as they are just ugly. I suppose we could leave one in a drawer and let the guest put it where they want to?
The bed is facing out toward the windows versus staring at the bathroom and a wall since we have a magnolia tree out that window and plenty of birds hang out there.
 
When we renovated the rooms in our building, I made sure to tell the electrician to place outlets several feet off the floor, to rest right on top of the desks I ordered.
You can sort of see an example here...(terrible picture, that's why it's not on my website.) Look right next to the lamp.
http://www.sonatainn.com/images/room111.JPG
These outets provide a great area to charge a laptop, or phone.
 
I have surge protector power strips in each room - the 2 most used rooms actually hav e2 of them, one under the bed (at the edge) near a night stand and one for A/C unit, TV, etc with extra outlets available in them also.
 
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