The Innkeeping Blog

Last year I spent the better part of a week with Joyce Schulte at the Chambered Natulius B&B in Seattle, learning the ins and outs of the daily life of an innkeeper. She won the “Hire PAII’s CEO” contest, so I flew across the continent to learn from her. The second place finalist in that contest was the Australian Walkabout Inn, run by Lynne and Bob Griffin in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I promised Bob and Lynne I would come work at their inn that next August, which would have been the first anniversary of their innkeeping careers. I had to postpone the trip, due to my self-imposed travel restrictions in the late summer/early fall on account of the arrival of my new son.

So, here I am now in Dutch country with this hard-working couple learning how they run their 5-room B&B. I chose the Walkabout for my second stint, because I saw some worthy contrasts between this potential experience and what I did in Seattle. Joyce runs a very busy inn just off the campus of the University of Washington with high occupancy rates. She supervises some staff. And, Joyce has been doing it for many years. Bob and Lynne are relative newbies, who run a smaller inn that is part of a tourist destination (thus, the clientele are a bit different than an urban inn near a university). They have been working incredibly hard updating the physical plant of the inn during their first year and a half, and I wanted to see what it’s like trying to master all this do-it-yourself work, and run a successful B&B.

I arrived yesterday afternoon and got reacquainted with Bob and Lynne, whom I met last winter at the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference. Lynne showed me to my room, the Victorian Suite, which has a nice, warm feel to it (a good thing yesterday, considering the temperature outside). She quickly asked me what animal was on the bed, which was a creation from one or two towels. I guessed a pig, but was wrong – it was an elephant. Lynne is trying her hand at a bit of towel art. A Koala bear was also on the bed to greet me. I unpacked my bags and read about the inn, their services and policies in the notebook. I went down to the parlor and shared a bottle of wine with the couple, and learned a good deal more about the area, the B&B and their lives as innkeepers with a 10-year old daughter. We then departed for a lovely dinner with Bruce and Jan Garrabrandt, owners of the Artist’s Inn on the outskirts of Lancaster in Terre Hill. I was beginning to think this was going to be more R&R than work. So far…a bottle of wine, great conversation, a nice meal. I am thinking the life of a Lancaster-area innkeeper isn’t too bad! Of course, I know better than that.

The Garrabrandt’s, me, and the Griffins.

I learn what the innkeepers have in store for me tomorrow. Helping prepare breakfast for six guests, assiting with turning the rooms and peeling wallpaper in the Outback Cottage. I will be participating in the multi-tasking realities of innkeeping once again.