Our Members Speak Out

Question for our next issue: Have you started a blog, or do you plan to start one? Why or why not? Are you happy with the results of having one?

Email your responses to Sandy@BedandBreakfast.com. If we publish your comments, we’ll thank you with a $25 credit in our Featured Properties Auction program!
 

You were asked: What are some of your favorite holiday memories at your inn?

“I hosted an open house for our community. We baked cookies and desserts had the local church choir come and sing carols. We put a tree in every room and lit the whole inn inside and out, burned the Christmas scents, and it was magical. We also sold luminaries for $1 and lit them that evening. The money was donated to the church that sang for their school.

“We had a wonderful turnout. There was a Swedish couple that happened to be driving by and saw the cars and police officer asked what was going on and stopped and toured the inn. They later booked and stayed with us. We now do the open house every year as our gift to the community and call it Home for the Holidays.” – Cathy, The Mellon Patch Inn, Fort Pierce, FL

“One Christmas, my husband Clark was up late working on a present for our daughter (a handmade dollhouse) when he accidentally cut himself with the Exacto knife. This required a late-night emergency room visit on Christmas Eve resulting in several stitches and him not prepping breakfast, doing dishes, cleaning, etc. I told him that I knew he did that just to get out of work on a holiday week! (I am just kidding though, because he handles breakfast prep, dishes and cleaning better than stitches any day!)” – Lauren, Butler House on Grand B&B, Des Moines, IA




“Two Christmases ago we had a call from four French women who were attending University of Delaware on an exchange program. They wanted to experience a real American Christmas, including Christmas dinner.

“In the meantime, a very good friend told me she was going to be away for Christmas and her elderly (in their 90s) parents were going to be alone the first Christmas in the extended living home. I told her they should come here and help us entertain four French girls.

“My husband and one of the French women went to pick up my friend’s parents and brought them back here. This 90-year-old man put on the charm, and the 23-year-olds were so sweet to him and his wife. It was wonderful to see how lovely young people can be to the elderly.

“We all had a delicious dinner, and the girls helped (at their request). They wanted to cook all the American traditional food. Dessert was served around the tree with Christmas carols playing and everyone singing.

“When it was time to take the couple home, the girls had to draw straws as to which would accompany my husband back to the assisted living home. They all wanted to be with their 'new grandpa and grandma' for as long as they could.” – Wendy and Richard Duvall, Country Life B&B, Greenwich, NY

“There is a couple who have stayed here for New Year’s seven out of the nine years I’ve been in business. A couple of years ago, at breakfast, the conversation turned to Holocaust survivors. Danny told the story of his mother, who had been a young teenager in a camp. Another woman, a historian from Austria, was writing a book on survivors. When she heard the story, she said, ‘I know the woman who took care of your mother in the camp!’ She had just interviewed her for her book. After confirming that this was the case, he gave her his mother’s phone number, and she went to Los Angeles to meet her. ‘Coincidences’ like that often happen around the breakfast table…as an innkeeper, I just keep out of the way and let the coffee flow!” – Greta Zeit, Backyard Garden Oasis B&B, Middletown, CA
 

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