The Innkeeper's Resource

Vintage Ohio

From a quaint New England village to an island paradise in Hawaii, all of the inns in the small lodging industry have great locations to share with guests.  Some locations are well known to the world, while others are unique and extraordinary but have less world wide appeal.  

One destination that fits this definition has been described as follows; “…rolling vineyards, sparkling lakes, quaint country sides, unique gift shops, picnics in the sunshine, festivals, tours”.  You may think this is a narrative describing Lake Como, Italy or California’s Napa Valley.  No, these words are from a travel promo from the Ohio Wine Producers Association.  And yes, on the southern shores of Lake Erie there is an area that came to be known as the “Lake Erie Grape Belt” which can be traced back to 1820 when a domestic variety of grapes called Catawba was first planted.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow even wrote a poem titled “Ode to Catawba Wine”. In fact due to this poem, by 1860 Ohio supplied 1/3 of the nations wine and out produced California 2 to 1.  What great PR. It may have taken a bit longer to get the word out (decades before our tech driven social media craze) but it did the trick!

Time passes and the southern Ohio wine district hits hard times.  The Civil War creates a shortage of manpower to tend the vines and by the time Prohibition laws are passed (time to make the grape juice), the few wineries left struggle.  A new era emerges in the 1900’s and Geneva-on-the-Lake, known as ‘Ohio’s First Summer Resort’ becomes a fashionable destination with the likes of Rockefellers, Fords and Firestones. Today it remains as a fun summer resort getaway destination for all.

The wineries in this location produce excellent cool weather wines, such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris as well as award winning ice wines.  But you will find a much wider selection of wines to sample along the wine trails with twenty wineries in Northeast Ohio. You may already know or could surmise from the description of this destination location that there are bed and breakfasts and country inns that have grown up and thrived along with the vines.

 The Lakehouse Inn and Winery, located on the shores of Lake Erie on the west end of Geneva -on-the-Lake, not only provides fine lodging but has its own winery. Their spectacular shoreline scenery is the perfect spot to dine and experience local wines and then retire to your guest room, climb into bed and listen to the lapping of lake waters on their sand beach.  I’m in, when is the next flight to Cleveland?  They are a great example of a property that has taken full advantage of their location.

There is a quote that I like from a brand marketer Tom Traynor; “Every place has some distinction, some reason to live there, work there, VACATION there, rather than someplace else.”  We at The B&B Team work with inns in great locations, from sea to shining sea.  It is a great pleasure when we work with innkeepers that love where they live and develop their properties into places where guests can experience all their location has to offer. Travelers love to experience and discover new places, as well as return to familiar ones. That is what travel is all about.

Have you taken full advantage of your location, its history, its uniqueness, and its distinct pleasures?

Would love to hear from you.

Janet

Please Just Touch and Go ... and an Innkeeper Request

In my consulting and real estate travels around the Mid-Atlantic region, I often pass by Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.  Four times this week.  I am often amazed by the size of the C-5A transports coming in and out of the base and look forward to driving right under the approach as the monster planes either take off or land. The roar is awe-striking as the big shadow crosses the highway I'm on.

And then my thoughts ALWAYS turn to a short prayer.  I pray that each landing I see is followed by the roar of the engines and the behemoth plane taking right back off again.  It's called a touch and go...training for take-offs and landings. The reason for my prayer, you see, is that Dover AFB is where many of the cargo and personnel aircraft originate on their way to Baghdad or Kabul.  And, as the graves registration center on the East Coast, it is the destination of many young men and women returning to the States for the last time...on their way home to their families for the last time.

My prayer is for each plane to be a training mission and not a part of the heart-wrenching experience it must be for a family to come to grips with the loss of a son, or daughter, or dad, or mom.  "Please, Lord, let it just be a touch and go."

What does this have to do with innkeeping?  Probably nothing directly...it's more of a therapeutic outlet for me, my thoughts of my fellow West Pointers, my newer role as a Poppie, and, probably less seldom seen, the softer side of an old codger.

But I would like to make this offering to any innkeeper who feels similarly.  And I know the people in this hospitality and care-giving industry are GREAT at such feelings.  I am asking that innkeepers support our troops and their families.  If you offer:

• Military discounts
• Comp rooms for military families...as a surprise gift, not necessarily a published rack rate
• Other benefits, recognition, or gifts of value to military families

please let me know and I will list your name and inn, with link, and the benefit you provide, along with my heartfelt thanks, in my upcoming newsletters and blog postings.  We are a great industry of professionals who understand the impact an innkeeper can have on a guest...and with the ability to send an appreciative gift to those who deserve our thanksgiving.      Scott

Technology for Inns ... Tips for Making the Innkeeping Lifestyle a Bit Easier

I received a short message from Mary and Alan Duxbury at The Carlisle Housein Carlisle, PA., and Alan offers TEN time and effort-saving tips for innkeepers.  Mary makes the best quiche in the world and I opted for a picture of the quiche instead of Alan (sorry, Alan!)  Many of Alan's tips involve technology and how its use can be a time-saving and headache-solving alternative for some of the daily frustrations of running an inn.  Thank you, Alan...here's your list:

TECHNOLOGY TIP:  A web-based Property Management System allows you to enter reservations from anywhere you have internet access.

OPERATIONS TIP:  Alan recommends using a credit card machine instead of an internet credit card processing service if your inn is subject to frequent power outages.  Phone lines continue to work in outages and you will still be able to do business.

TECHNOLOGY TIP:  An iPhone or iPad-type device will give you that internet access capability.   You can take reservations from the grocery store or while away from the inn without worrying about losing a booking by not getting back to your voicemail or answering machine soon enough.

TECHNOLOGY TIP:  Google Calendar allows you to manage your daily schedule and appointments.  If you keep your calendar on Outlook, Google Calendar can be synced with your Outlook calendar.

SECURITY (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP:  Set your wireless network to log all MAC codes and connection times of every device that connects to your service from your account.  This will identify all users on your system and will protect you if any of your users are doing illegal activity on your network (such as downloading pornography or spamming).

TIME-SAVING (AND TECHNOLOGY) TIP:  If you use company credit cards and banks (and we all do!), set it up to have them download their monthly statements directly into your financial software package.  Saves a LOT of typing!  (Call Alan on how to do that...not me!)

MARKETING TIP:  If you want to get to the top of Google search results, when selecting important keywords, ask a friend with a similar inn that is distant from you for ideas.  Local competition may not be as friendly sharing their secrets.

TECHNOLOGY TIP:  On your wireless network, ensure it is secured with a password or phrase.  You can inform your guests of the password but it also prevents the neighbors from downloading movies on your network and slowing your network to a crawl.

TIME-SAVING TIP:  If you make a cash deposit to your bank, write the name and reservation number on the deposit slip.  you will be able to query it on the internet a year later when your accountant asks where the money came from.

MONEY-MANAGEMENT TIP:  Alan recommends having THREE bank accounts.  One is your personal account for all non-business transactions.  The second is for all deposits from sales...whether credit card deposits, cash deposits, gift shop sales, everything.  This is an INTEREST-BEARING account.  The third account is for expenditures.  Transfer money from the revenue account into the expenditure account on occasion to pay the bills.  This leaves the balance of the revenue earning interest.  A side-benefit of having these two business accounts is that you will have all deposits and all expenses on SEPARATE statements at the end of the month for easy reconciling.

Thank you, Alan.  I would be interested in other innkeepers' thoughts on any of Alan's ideas and feel free to send me YOUR tips for making the innkeeping lifestyle and business even more wonderful and manageable.  Scott

 

Track Hospitality Trends

Whatever business you are in, if you’re self employed there are two stages of work. We work “in” our business, and we work “on” it. There’s a big difference.

Most of us believe we are pretty good at what we do. We provide good service, good follow up, and a good customer (guest) experience. And sometimes it’s all we can do to keep up with all the things that have to get done today. The routine is essential to running the business, but the routine can also be a distraction from the big picture. So unless we are going to become slaves to our businesses, and unless we’re going to become victims of changing tastes, a tough economy, or things that are different (when did that happen?) we simply MUST make/take/schedule time to work on the higher level jobs that help a business thrive, not just survive, by going outside our daily bubble and seeing what is happening in the world that relates to our business.

Staying abreast of trends in hospitality is essential to staying on the leading edge, being relevant, knowing what consumers want and expect, and how we might deliver on or satisfy that expectation. How do you stay abreast of trends in hospitality? As we at The B&B Team® do, you can subscribe to newsletters that have relevant information and learn how to pick and choose what to read on any given day. To make life a little easier for you, here’s a partial list of some of the places where we get information and, on occasion, inspiration.

1.    www.hotelmarketing.com. A daily summary of hospitality-related articles with good headlines and synopses. You can go to the source story when you want. If you only subscribe to and look at one, this should be it.

2.    www.marketingprofs.com Marketing is an area that lots of innkeepers struggle with. Sign up for their “Get to the Po!nt” newsletter. It comes daily, is short and sweet, and is loaded with great ideas. One of the few that I try to read every day.

3.    www.brasstackthinking.com Amber Naslund is young, bright, and a great thinker. This blog is a good source for philosophical as well as practical approaches to conducting business in a social media world. If you want to understand what “it’s all about,” this is the place to go.

4.    www.ypartnership.com  Premier research. Go to “News” then “Market Intelligence” and sign up for the free monthly update. Be the first to read what everyone else quotes!

5.    www.socialmediaexaminer.com Some great articles about using facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools in practical, down to earth style. No mumbo-jumbo. You can do this!

6.    www.mediapost.com This is a source for all things media and marketing. Way too much to take it all in. Go to “Publications” and browse a bit. There are LOTS of areas, and you can subscribe to any of them. Try a few and drop them if they don’t work for you. Go outside the box here, and think like a marketing professional. How can other’s experiences help your inn? I like the Behavioral Insider and the Social Media Marketing Daily.

7.    www.htrends.com is a great place for a range of news topics from different sources including Smith Travel Research, HSMAI, Cornell, and others. A daily aggregation of news that you can pick and choose.

8.    www.innkeeping.org  Yes, by belonging to PAII, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, you’ll receive the weekly PAIIinnfo newsletter, which is an aggregation of Innkeeping and hospitality related articles, many drawn from the above sources. If you do nothing else, skim this for what’s relevant. It’s part of your membership dues and will keep you at least aware of some relevant topics.

“But how am I ever supposed to look at, much less read, all this info when I have guests to take care of that are more important?” First, understanding trends in the travel industry is the difference between good and great innkeepers, those that flame out and those that keep reinventing themselves and enjoying success. Second, don’t stress about it; you can’t possibly read all this stuff. We can’t either, but we can and do look briefly, and, frankly, if it’s a busy day, I use the delete key a lot and without hesitation. There will be something more tomorrow. Do NOT let these pile up! But please take five or ten minutes to skim and read even one article a day, and you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll start to absorb, the tips that you’ll be able integrate into your business plan. If you really can’t do it today, just delete. It’s not the end of the world. But to ignore trends altogether because “you are too busy” all the time (who isn’t?) is to spend too much time working “in” your business and neglecting to work “on” your business.

What great sources do you look at regularly and find inspiration in?

Peter