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Bed & Breakfasts
Bed & Breakfasts
Imagine inviting a group of strangers to come and stay for the night! For some, it is their worst nightmare. For others, it is a delightful opportunity to reach out to others, share experiences with people, and make a little extra money. Either way, such is the prospect of designing a Bed and Breakfast. And now that Airbnb is becoming an alternative for people to rent rooms in their log homes to travelers, it’s perhaps fitting to explore how you might consider this in your home.
The process of designing a Bed and Breakfast (I will use the term B&B from here on), or converting part of your home for tourist use, is not so different from designing your home. The starting point is asking a lot of questions. What is our lifestyle and family dynamics? How much do we wish to spend? How might our needs change over the years? In designing a B&B you simply need to ask a lot of additional and different questions. Firstly, is a B&B is allowed under the current zoning of our property? While many residential zonings support B&Bs of a limited number of bedrooms, clarify this before you start out on your design journey. A host of other questions then follow. The first relate to your overall purpose in opening a B&B, what customers you are trying to attract, and what image you are trying to convey. While, in the eyes of most customers, the individual rooms take precedence over your overall property, it is really you that will make the difference in the guests’ experience. Being very clear on how you are perceived by others is crucial. Then do everything to make your B&B a reflection of you. Your log home should be the ultimate place you would like to visit. The ambience you will be creating is a combination of character, mood and atmosphere. Communicate that clearly and simply. The typical B&B guest is seeking gracious, quiet elegance and character, whether rustic or formal. They tend to be middle-aged, leisure-oriented and spend more than the typical traveler. Above all, they seek attention to detail and relish personal touches.
Zoning issues aside, how many guest bedrooms do you want? To answer this clearly, you will need to ask a few more questions. How many guests do you feel you can adequately service? Will extra rooms mean other services and requirements within your home? What are the financial implications? If you want more bedrooms than current zoning allows, what is the procedure and likelihood of rezoning your property? I know someone who designed and built a B&B with eight guestrooms. Only it turned out, he was legally allowed less than half of that. Fortunately for him, though not without considerable debate, he was able to have the zoning changed in order to accommodate him. Otherwise, it could have been a very costly venture. If you want to have planning officials sympathetic to your rezoning application it is generally better to bring them into the picture before the fact rather than after.
Include in your initial review a look at the local health regulations. There may be specific requirements for kitchens including a separate washroom. Do you plan to be barrier-free, accessible by those with handicaps?
Once these overall questions have been addressed, ask questions that will address floor-planning issues. Privacy is perhaps the most important of these. Do you have children or teenagers? How will your existing family dynamics influence the guests’ experience, or conversely, how will your kids’ feel about strangers traipsing through their living room. How can you separate the public guest areas from your private family areas? While you may be able to locate all the guest rooms on one wing, what about social and eating areas? Do you want the guests to socialize in your living room and dine in your dining room, or do you want to design a separate lounge and dining room. What would the additional cost be? If you are primarily going to be entertaining guests on weekends only, then maybe you do not need to have separate rooms, perhaps only a small eating nook for yourself. In addition to a couple of old log cabins, a favorite log B&B of mine has guestrooms, each with their own bathroom, occupying one wing of the main log home. The owners’ living room is used for socializing. However, this B&B sees mostly weekend use. Otherwise, I suspect the owners may have provided separate socializing space for guests or private space for themselves within their master bedroom wing. In another that sees continuous use throughout the week, the owner has set aside the entire top floor for his private suite.
While the average stay of a B&B user is two and three nights, your specific location will influence your actual use patterns. Is your B&B itself going to be the focus of your guests’ visits? Or is it primarily going to be a place to sleep and have breakfast before or after exploring the region where you live? While the most common interests of the average B&B user are antiquing, golf, spas, visiting historic sites and biking, your location will likely govern your specific market. Your community will have its own unique personality and geography. The intentions of your guests will influence your amenities and the extent of common rooms you provide.
Log homes, by their very nature are likely going to inspire visitors to hang around and enjoy the ambience. Therefore you may consider your private area as a separate suite with its own small living and dining space. When there are no guests you can have the run of the your home but while you have visitors, you have the option of privacy.
Separate log cabins for guests are wonderful but would be more expensive than guestrooms within your house. You would likely have to charge a higher rate to make this economical. It must also be consistent with the demographics of your potential visitors.
Amenities are also a function of what type of service you want to provide your guests. A perennial favorite at rural B&Bs is the outdoor hot tub or spa. Set on a comfortable deck, guests can really have a relaxing getaway. Another favorite is the fireplace. There is nothing like curling up in a log home by the fireplace with a good book, or sipping a glass of wine while getting to know the owners or other guests. The more rustic the experience the better. Create lots of nooks as well as more generous spaces.
As first impressions are always crucial, carefully consider all details, for example, outdoor signage, landscaping, exterior lighting, parking and entrance path. You entry should be welcoming and set a tone for the visit. This includes not only its relationship to the interior spaces but its flooring, color, lighting, furniture and so on. Throughout your home, wood flooring is beautiful but also noisy. You can use area rugs in all rooms and runners in the hallways. While your décor should be an expression of you, consider your own idiosyncrasies and avoid inappropriate décor.
For your kitchen, in general it is likely you will need to do little. Remember, you are only serving breakfast. You may want some space for additional food storage. Decide how meals are going to be served and where—in a common dining room or in the guests’ rooms. If you will be serving part of your breakfast buffet-style, a generous sideboard may be a good idea.
Bedrooms are the place in which you can really invoke creative design. Before you consider the details, you need to decide how many guestrooms will have their own bathroom. If the bathroom is going to be shared with other rooms, at least consider putting a small sink and wash stand in the bedrooms. I suggest using freestanding armoires instead of closets. They feel more personal and augment the rustic décor. Use queen-sized or king-sized beds with large headboards. In some rooms provide a sitting area with a day bed. You may even consider a small fireplace. Log furniture is usually a hit, but make sure it is also very comfortable. Window seats are popular. Include a large over-the-dresser tilting mirror and a small tabletop mirror. Add softness with drapes and tablecloths. You can choose different color carpets and wall colors for different rooms. You may be able to use a common accent color that runs through all rooms so you can use one color for towels and tissues. Use natural colors, fabrics and textures for all furnishings and window coverings. Carefully review all your mechanical and electrical needs. Pay attention to both sound and energy conservation. Will guests be able to control the temperature of their room or evoke different moods through carefully planned lighting? Soundproof your floors and walls.
In bathrooms, I suggest using a pedestal sink instead of a full vanity, or install the sink in an antique dresser. Place a small washstand beside the sink for toiletry items. While most adults prefer to shower, remember the romance of the large whirlpool tub is a favorite of B&Bs. Use low flush toilets. Provide task, general and accent lighting. Provide ample ventilation. Consider the amount of bathroom cleaning that will be required and choose your finishes and fixtures carefully, right down to the shower doors. If your bathrooms are far from the hot water tank, install a recirculating pump and insulate the hot water lines.
Decide whether you want to put phones in the guest rooms, or have a pay phone or common phone for guests. You will need expanded laundry facilities with a heavy-duty washing machine and an extra dryer, as well as extra storage, preferably close to the kitchen and office. Choose appliances for their energy efficiency.
Review your overall landscaping intentions. Do you wish to stress expansiveness or do wish to create nooks and opportunities for intimacy? Keep your landscaping low-maintenance.
To assist your planning process and help make sure you ask the right questions and find the right answers, there are many books on the subject. There are also numerous regional and national B&B Associations, periodicals and newsletters. In addition, there are numerous Internet resources such as Lodging Resources Workshops and the B&B Channel, as well as seminars and apprenticeship programs. Designing and operating a log Bed and Breakfast or opening up a room or two in your home can be both exciting and challenging. Thorough planning and innovative design will go a long way in ensuring the success of your venture.
© Murray Arnott
Saturday, November 1, 2014
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