There's more to running a bed and breakfast than just bed and breakfast
By Vicki Hillhouse
Almost no detail had been left unexamined when Alexa Palmer and her husband, chef Charles Maddrey, opened their Fat Duck Inn bed and breakfast last week.
Alexa Palmer and chef Charles Maddrey, innkeepers at Fat Duck Inn, hope the most recently opened bed and breakfast in Walla Walla fits
the bill for success in the city's continually growing and demanding business. U-B photo by Jeff Horner
Careful thought had been given to the position of each piece of furniture, the local art displays, the name on each suite in the craftsman-style inn at 527 Catherine Street. Palmer had even debated whether guests would prefer soap in liquid or bar form.
Such are the details of running a bed and breakfast, where guests typically pay more than an average hotel room in exchange for a first-class, personalized experience in a home, industry officials say.
Walla Walla's selection of bed-and-breakfast accommodations and guest houses has boomed as more tourists flock to Wine Country each year.
But experienced innkeepers and industry professionals say running a successful bed-and-breakfast establishment is a massive undertaking that involves much more than opening a home up to guests.
Innkeepers must be available around the clock and throughout the year.
That's why representatives from the Washington Bed and Breakfast Guild will present a workshop Tuesday to offer pointers to those in the industry.
First-time innkeeper Palmer hopes to use the event as a way to meet other industry professionals - maybe even form a local association that can leverage purchasing power and refer customers to each other.
"I'm interested in checking myself, too," said Palmer, a former restaurateur who came to Walla Walla from Ballard, Wash. "I want to see if there's anything missing. See if there's a notion of anything we're doing right or wrong."
Tourism Walla Walla President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Davidson said the focus of the presentation, including appearances from Guild members from across the state, will be "the nuts and bolts of what it means to operate a B&B and guest house."
Where visitors often have an idea of what to expect when they visit a Holiday Inn or a Best Western in most communities, each bed and breakfast comes with an individualized experience. For the most part, that's what guests love about them.
But as local lodging tax dollars are spent to market Walla Walla, Davidson said it's important that innkeepers and guest house operators recognize their role in tourism.
"Most of the people coming into the B&Bs and guest houses are, for the most part, new to the industry," Davidson said. "It's a change in lifestyle for them. At the same time, it's a business. And it's one of the first points of contact that the visitor has to the community."
Davidson estimates 60 or more rooms have been added through bed and breakfasts and guest houses over the last year and a half. The exposure to tourism has sparked the interest, he said.
Walla Walla County Senior Planner Steve Donovan said his office has received numerous inquiries this year from folks interested in learning more about starting such a business.
Margaret Buchan, who with her husband Jim owns Green Gables Inn, has also noticed a spike in other B&Bs. When they started their business in the 1909 home at 922 Bonsella St. in 1990, only one other bed and breakfast was operating in the city. It closed within a couple of years after that, she said.
But now the number of bed-and-breakfast establishments in Walla Walla has grown to nearly 10, not including at least four others in Waitsburg and Dayton. Another 10 or so guest/vacation houses have also become available over the last year.
Buchan said the most important thing a potential innkeeper can do is homework.
"There are a lot of different aspects to running a bed and breakfast," she said. "There's book work, finances, cleaning, customer service amenities."
She said B&B customers - who are largely characterized as being a well-traveled group of people - have specific expectations.
"They want their own bathrooms. They want their own features, to lock their stuff and know it's safe," she said.
She recommends those interested in the business get a crash course in the particulars from a book titled, "So you Want to be an Innkeeper."
That's one resource with which Palmer became acquainted as she prepared to open the Fat Duck Inn. Over time, she came to refer to it as the bible for innkeepers.
Palmer said she also attended a weeklong workshop in Arizona that helped equip her with a variety of informative tools.
"They talked about everything from how to package marmalade to where to put your lights," she said.
The information was more than she could have imagined. But as the business opened to the public Thursday, Palmer said the little things are what matter most.
"There's a trillion details," she said.
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