Interest in Pinterest?

10 Thursday May 2012

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Have you caught Pinterest Fever? It you haven’t already been sucked into the world of pins, repins and boards on the newest, most novel of all social media networks, you likely have at least heard buzz about this new Internet fascination.

With more than 10 million users worldwide, Pinterest is a growing social media marketing tool, a tool that innkeepers can use not only for their own inspiration — recipe ideas, decorating tips, landscaping hints and much, much more — but also for their guests.

Pinterest allows users to create virtual vision boards from images that inspire them on the web. Rather than creating hundreds of browser bookmarks or printing out a ream of paper, a quick mouse click, or “pin,” can save a photo and corresponding link to a tempting recipe or a gorgeous garden patio to a gardening or recipe board for later reference. Those boards are then shared among followers and friends. When you pin something to your board, your followers will see it, like it, comment or even repin it to their own board.

If you haven’t already been immersed in the highly addictive world of Pinterest, we want to help (but don’t blame us when you become addicted, please). Following are some practical tips and innovative ideas for getting started — ideas that will not only add to your addiction, but ideas that can also boost business. Continue reading »

Sea Parrot Ocean View Manor — Lonnie De Filippis Innkeeper Story

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Innkeeper Stories

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The Sea Parrot Ocean View Manor was built completely from scratch, says Innkeeper Lonnie De Filippis. It was just over 10 years ago when the coastal beauty of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island first attracted Lonnie and her husband Roy when they discovered the island while on vacation traveling all the way from their Florida home up to the northern Canadian coastal islands.

“We absolutely fell in love,” Lonnie said. While on that trip they found their ideal property and began a new adventure. “It’s retirement for us.”

Building the main house, Lonnie and Roy have expanded their B&B by including cottages and a truly unique boathouse that is popular with newlyweds. Most of the stunning wildlife sightings happen near the boathouse, she said.

Q: How long have you been in business?
A: This is our seventh year in business.

Q: Why did you decide to into innkeeping?
A: It was just a fluke. My father-in-law said, “You ought to open a B&B.” I said, “Are you crazy?!” Later we thought, OK we’ll give it a shot and see what happens. I’ve raised two daughters, how hard could this be? Continue reading »

Disastrous Anniversary Rewritten Thanks to Johnson Mill Bed and Breakfast

03 Thursday May 2012

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It was one of those weekends where nothing went quite right. But it was supposed to! It was, afterall, our very first wedding anniversary and anticipated to be a perfectly romantic renewal of our love. A series of follies is actually what ensued.

Our wintry two-night stay in beautiful Park City, Utah, had been planned months in advance. We would be staying in a one-bedroom condo that boasted a comfy queen bed, fireplace, sofa-sleeper, flatscreen TV, hot tub in the complex, and large kitchenette.

A picturesque 40-foot waterfall off the back porch of Johnson Mill Bed & Breakfast provides amazing vistas.

What the owner neglected to tell us was the bed was actually a very small queen that was bouncier than a trampoline (nicknamed the bucking bed), the mattress on the sofa-sleeper had been flattened after years of use, and that the walls of the 3-story condo complex were paper thin! Needless to say, our 1-year anniversary weekend was spent with each of us sleeping, very poorly, in separate beds and waking before dawn as the upstairs neighbors decided to slam every door and play video games with their stereo at max volume.

My husband Steve and I had the chance to rewrite that anniversary weekend recently. Instead of wintry, snow-filled streets of Park City, we were treated to the green lawns and budding trees of a springtime weekend at the incredibly romantic Johnson Mill Bed & Breakfast in Midway, Utah.

The romance began as soon as I pushed open the huge, perfectly creeky door of the main house, instantly treating us to the Mill’s history. Dating back to 1893, photographs and implements of the flour mill trade decorate the foyer and sliding, barn-like door to the office. After collecting our key to the Honeymoon Suite we unpacked the car and headed to our room. We would have to explore the main house later, I was too excited to see our accommodations for the next two nights. Continue reading »

How to successfully refute chargebacks as an innkeeper

27 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Hot Topics, Operations

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In this day and age where all of us use credit cards, savvy guests know they can either log on or call their credit card company and request a refund through a chargeback. While chargebacks are rare, this article highlights several strategies for handling unwarranted chargebacks.

What is a chargeback?

A chargeback is when a guest contacts their credit card company and requests a charge to their card be reversed. For inns, chargebacks occur most often when guests don’t show or when guests aren’t satisfied with their stay. Below are four of the most common reasons guests may chargeback.

It’s all about making it easy for the credit card worker to rule in your favor.

  • The guest is a no-show or doesn’t cancel within the cancellation policy window. For no-shows where you have collected a non-refundable deposit or charge a cancellation fee per your policy, guests might still refute those charges because they are unable to empathize with you as far as lost opportunity or inconvenience.
  • The guest disagrees with the amount they were charged. Guests can dispute what was charged and the amount. There is nothing more embarrassing than fighting a chargeback only to realize the guest was right and you were wrong, so double, even triple, check the billing for the correct amount.
  • There was damaged property. This is rare but from time to time a guest will damage or steal property and when you charge their card they will deny the theft or damage. “I didn’t do it!” To help you resolve the dispute, take a picture of the damage and include it with the chargeback response. Continue reading »

What’s Your Cup of Tea?

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Product Reviews

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While spending several months living in Japan in 2006, I had to take an unfortunate break from my daily sightseeing. Struck down with a pesky Asian chest cold of some sort, I was relegated to the couch watching TV instead of exploring sites like the gardens surrounding the Imperial Palace or the bustling skyscraper-lined streets of Shinjuku.

Enjoying a lotus garden on one of those sweltering days in Tokyo’s Ueno Park.

Telling a Japanese friend of my illness, she instantly began extolling the healing powers of green tea, saying no matter what bug I’d contracted the tea would kick it out of my system, pronto. After her suggestion, I began to realize just how many Japanese people I had seen drinking green tea. Yes, the Starbucks location near my home in Tokyo was always busy, but I realized that so very, very many people also enjoyed the icy-cold version, carrying it with them wherever they went. Since it was the middle of a sweltering, humid August, I also opted for a bottle of iced green tea rather than a steaming mug.

Since that bottle of green tea, I’ve read more and more studies proclaiming how green tea, and even black and white tea, can help fight cancer and heart disease, and also aid in lowering cholesterol, burn fat, prevent diabetes and stroke, and even stave off dementia (See WebMD).

There have only been a few dissenting articles written about the ill effects of green tea. It seems in large quantities, more than 10 small cups a day, the tea can damage the kidneys or liver (See NewScientist.com). I don’t think it’s too likely the average person would indulge to that extreme, so the benefits proclaimed have truly become a welcome, tasty remedy.

I’d love to say that the green tea was the magic cure for my pesky illness, but sadly it wasn’t. I think I’ll chalk it up to my inferior American immune system not willing to adapt to my temporary Asian lifestyle.

Take time to savor the tea

These days I’m more privy to chai tea for it’s cinnamon and ginger flavors, but I recently had the opportunity to indulge in a variety of teas from The Cozy Tea Cart, a company that prides itself on providing bed and breakfasts with its line of specialty teas. Continue reading »

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