Why Do You Want to Be an Innkeeper?

Even looking back, it is hard to pinpoint exactly why I originally wanted to be an innkeeper. I love people. Ok, most people. I love being creative and I love decorating. I love a challenge. But back then, when I was soaking in the tub with pencil and paper in hand, I can't imagine that I could put my finger on any of those. I just knew that I wanted to have a bed and breakfast.

Now you might be under the impression from my original post that I would never go back to operating a B&B. Not so. I currently am the general manager of a 21 unit condotel property on a barrier island in SE North Carolina that the staff and I strive to operate with the hospitality of a B&B.
And even though, one day last week, I ended up cleaning guest rooms because we were short staffed and yesterday I had to load my car with every dirty sheet and towel that we had and head to the laundromat because the linen service dropped the ball and today the power was out for 2 hours during prime coffee drinking time and I had to go to the other side of the island to buy coffee, I still love it.

I love guests like the gal originally from Venezuela that I stood talking with while watching the lightning play in the sky over the marsh. The next day she told me that us talking really distracted her from the storm which she was scared of. I love talking to a beautiful couple of gals, that are regular guests, about their holistic health style and their plans to start a holistic healing hotel. I love the families with small kids that help me feed Horatio, our resident 8" long cichlid, and the other fish. I love having winter guests there for a month or more that give the hotel a vibrant, active feel even in the dead of winter. I love seeing brides and grooms. I love seeing older couples still as in love as when they first married. At DBI, we had regulars that became friends. Still are friends. One of my favorite things at DBI was chatting with B&B guests sitting on the wraparound porch. Yes, I love all people. Although for some people, it is when they go away. Fortunately those are rare.

I have been very fortunate at both DBI and my current position that to have been able to use my creative drive. At DBI, I decorated guest rooms, planned menus and helped develop recipes, and brought in local artisans to create a gallery. A couple of amazing friends, who were much more coffee snobs than I, helped to develop our own blend of coffee with a local coffee guru. That coffee blend has moved from Journey's End Blend at DBI to the South End Blend at my current hotel. While I am on the subject of coffee, let me give John at Dark Hollow Roasters a shout out. They do an amazing job. Shipped USPS, the postman has to take a last sniff of the box when he brings it in after riding around with it all day. It smells that amazing.

I probably could have been an interior designer with a little training. Or an architect. Designs and house plans are some of the other things that I have drawn off and on for years. So to satisfy those predispositions, I have remodeled and redecorated as often as given the chance. Among others, we remodeled the, built in the late 70s and slightly updated in the 80s, home that we left in FL in hopes of getting top dollar as advised by multiple realtors. We added our touches to DBI to start with and then one room at a time, started completely repairing and remodeling. My goal was to honor Maddie's design of the four seasons of the rooms on the first floor (more on Garnett and Maddie in a future post) by decorating the 4 main bedrooms each as a season. D spent one month repairing major plaster issues, caulking windows and painting. Then, with a little wallpaper and special paint touches later, the Davis room took on a "fall" theme.  At my current position, previous management had allowed many of the condos to deteriorate cosmetically so I collaborated with the individual owners to redecorate and update their units.

I believe that I would be bored if I were to take a position of a well functioning property. Yes, the day to day operation of a hotel is challenging in it's own right but I need to see dramatic improvements on multiple levels. I don't need to change something that is working or is in good repair for the sake of putting my signature on it but I need to make a difference. In addition to improving a property physically, I need to see increased revenues. Improved guest satisfaction and, in turn, improved reviews. As I write this, our little 21 unit hotel is ranked #1 out of 9 on TripAdvisor. Upon my arrival, it was ranked 7 out of 9. We have 4.7 out of 5 stars on Facebook ratings. Our Yelp reviews average 4.5 out of 5. I love being an innkeeper.

So, why do you want to be an Innkeeper?

Davis Room in the turret of the Davis Bourne Inn

All rooms at DBI had private baths