Location, Location, Location

Location is important. Especially in a business like Bed & Breakfasts.

One of the things I’m still exploring is where I want to have my B&B – near Acadia National Park in Maine is high on my list, and the place I often tell people I am planning to open shop.

But, I’m open to other options. Especially if they come with an offer like this:

My boss: “You know, I’ve been thinking. I think a real bed & breakfast could do really well here in Ketchikan.” 

Me: “Yeah?” 

My boss: “Maybe I’ll just finance your bed & breakfast – I think you could really make a go of it.”

Me: “That could be really cool, we should definitely talk about this more!”

My boss: (after a short pause working on other things) “Or, if that doesn’t work out, you should talk to the people who used to run a B&B here – see if they are interested in getting it back up and running and you could manage it.” 

Both ideas worth pursuing!

It never ceases to amaze me what happens when you put a goal out in the universe and start working towards it :)

Things to Consider

Working for a vacation rental company has been very eye opening. 

Questions I didn’t even think about have come to the forefront. (yay! My goal to move to Alaska and learn and get a feel for what running a B&B would really be like is working!)

One thing I remember talking to my dad about when I was first exploring this idea of running a Bed & Breakfast was my concern over not being able to do all the things I would need to. The finance side came up very specifically. I don’t have the background or passion for bookkeeping needed to take care of all that side of running a business. My dad reminded me that there are plenty of people I could hire to do that for me. 

The host I stayed with outside of Minneapolis told me the same thing about cleaning: You don’t get into the business of running a B&B to clean toilets. Hire someone else to do that, but know there will be days when you will need to clean the toilets for one reason or another.

One aspect I didn’t even consider before working for a vacation rental company is the marketing and booking side.

Questions to consider:

•  Do I want to have my own website? Or use existing companies/ platforms? Or both?
• What percentage of my time do I want to devote to marketing and booking?
• How much control do I want over my calendar and marketing?
• How much profit am I willing to share for marketing/ booking services?

Speaking of the finances, here are a few things that have come up in discussions with my boss:

• Postage to send confirmation and trip information to guests and hosts adds up quickly
• Fees for processing credit card payments are high – and most deposits are run during the slow time of year = significant expense during a time of little revenue
• How often you eat the cost of mistakes such as double bookings; unhappy customers; cleaning and damage expenses
• Planning for the “unexpected” expenses of replacing broken beds or appliances blown out in electrical surges

Baking - and Getting Paid for It!!

A former colleague told me once I should open a cookie cart, that he would buy them all and I would make so much money.

It wasn't cookies I made, but this might be the first time I was paid to bake! (unless you count them times I baked while babysitting...)

I brought all the supplies down to the rental and baked there - this way the guest came to a yummy smelling home and had the baked goods to go with it!

My grandma taught me by example to clean up while your goodies are baking - she always said she wanted the warm bread to be the only way someone could tell she had baked by the time it came out of the oven. Instead of bread, it was cranberry muffins for me, but the sparkling kitchen was the same :)

 There were guests staying in all 5 suites, so I got to play delivery man as well. Everyone was very appreciative.

Another great day in the "office"!

Cleaning with a View

After staying in the Orca Suite, I had a chance to clean it.

This was a chance to learn how Mary wants things done, which was very helpful. It was also nice that the first place I cleaned for Mary was a place I had stayed - I knew where things were because I'd been using them for days.

Mary also asked me if I had suggestions for the place. That was fun! And it gave me a chance to think about how I would want to have things set up, the things I liked, and the things that I might do differently.

Things I liked include:

• A good variety/ supply of cooking and baking items
• The themed artwork
• Nice towels and sheets
• The beautiful view!

Things I might do differently include:

• Having the guest book for people to sign out in the open
• Having doorstops behind the doors to protect the wall
• New blinds (which I happen to know are in the process of being ordered :)

Back to the beautiful view: Even with water on the outside windows, that view just can't be beat! I just had to capture the beauty of the blue sky and puffy white clouds and water and grass reflecting through the drips!

Perks of the Job: A Temporary Stay

Before I officially started working, I had a chance to stay in one of the suites I'll be cleaning and helping rent this summer.

The Anchor Inn by the Sea has three suites, with an additional room connecting two of the suites. I stayed in the Orca Suite while my boss was out of town -  a double benefit: I got to see first hand what our guests experience, and I was able to keep an eye on the place and check in one guest who came while I was there.

This cute, cozy space was a great place to start my vacation rental adventure in Ketchikan!

Here are pictures of the inside (directly from the website, photo credit goes to Mary!)

Kitchen in Orca Suite

Bedroom in Orca Suite

But I do claim the photos below - all taken from the deck of the Orca Suite:

Dusk from the deck - about 11pm :)

Watched the tide come in....

...and go back out :)

Eagle flying over the ocean

Worth The Wait

After a hiatus, I'm back! And with good news :)

I pulled up stakes in New York and spent two months saying goodbye to the east coast (at least for now!) and driving all my stuff to North Dakota and Utah (thanks to the family members hosting some of my stuff, I really appreciate it!).

After that whirlwind, I packed everything I thought I'd need into my new (to me) car and drove up to Alaska. I'm grateful to my best friend for making the trip up with me - turning it into a vacation and adventure!

Once we rolled into town, I set up an appointment with the woman I'd been talking to on and off for several months. The risk to just show up paid off - she and her daughter-in-law decided I was a good fit and offered me a part-time job.

So, here I am, in Alaska. Working for Alaska Travelers Accommodations. Living the dream!

I've already learned a lot, and have some fun posts in the works (including pictures of washing windows with the beautiful narrows reflecting behind me) - so stay tuned, more coming soon!

Just so you have an idea of how beautiful this place is, here's a view from our office window:

Cold Call Connection

Stepping up my game from emails to phone calls, I reached out to even more B&B's in Alaska.

The first woman I spoke to directly was in Ketchikan (who makes celebrated homemade muffins for her guests, according to several reviews :)

When I asked if she was hiring summer help, her response was: "Oh, I'm just a one woman show! I do everything myself these days."

As I was about to launch into my, "Thanks for your time, how long have you been running your B&B," primer to gather some additional information, she continued:

"You know, you should call my friend Mary, she might be hiring at her place."

I was so grateful that this woman would point me to her contacts, especially since all she knew about me was that I called her out of the blue asking for a job.

After chatting awhile longer, and thanking her sincerely, I hung up to give Mary a call.

Mary also proved very helpful!

After chatting for awhile about my plans in Alaska, plans for the future, and my previous experience, she said she was very interested in talking more about job opportunities. She told me she wants to meet me in person (and that she won't hire without an in person interview, but is very excited to talk to me more once I'm in town). She also connected me with one of her friends who is renting rooms for a reasonable price.

Whether this pans out or not, I am very grateful to have both housing and job prospects popping up in very fortuitous ways :)

Concrete Steps

After months of deliberating, and email drafting, and Googling, I finally took the plunge and sent off one email to an Alaskan B&B.

It came back undeliverable.

Not deterred so easily, I decided to broaden the net – this time I emailed 10 places. In each email, I expressed interest in learning more about their experience in the field, and wanted to know if their would be opportunities to work with them in Summer 2017, when I would be in Alaska and planning to find a job working for a B&B.

Immediately I got a form response from one place stating they were busy and would get back to me soon (I’m still waiting…).

But over the next few days I heard back from five more places. One told me they were family owned and run and didn’t need help, but the other four expressed interest in speaking further.

While I didn’t know what to expect, I certainly didn’t expect a 50% response rate, and for it all to be so positive!

As my brother told me (not the one in North Dakota) – “Luck favors the bold!”

Stay tuned for more updates on this front!

In-Person/ On the Ground Research

Getting more serious about this goal, I started talking to my family.

Turns out that my mom has some interest in joining in on the adventure.

I was planning a visit to see my brother and sister-in-law in North Dakota and we wanted to take a quick trip to Minneapolis area while I was in town. Since we were going to stay overnight anyway, I floated the idea of all of us staying in a B&B to do some on the ground research.

This ended up being more difficult than I initially imagined.

Did I mention that there were two small children in tow as well? Ah. I guess not.

Most places I talked to have a policy against having young children stay at their B&B, it turns out. There were to main reasons for this:

• First, many places catered to a more romantic atmosphere, and as one owner put it, “Having children around tends to make the couples feel guilty they are not with their own children, and ruins the getaway.” Fair enough.
• Second, there are regulations/ limitations on how many people can be in a room.

At least one place was open to working with us, but we would have needed three rooms – and that would put one adult with one child in two rooms and one adult alone in the third room. Not ideal.

Eventually I did find a place that worked. In large part because they had no other guests booked that night, and because they have a little family suite (that used to be the inn keepers suite).

Being the only guests ended up being the biggest benefit (for a research perspective) of this visit.

Our host told us we could pick the suit, or any two rooms at no extra charge. So, we got to wander around the whole house checking out the various elements each room had to offer.

It also meant we were the only people at breakfast the next morning, and our host was kind enough to answer a lot of questions about his experience entering the world of owning and running a B&B.

Hearing his experience and answers to questions was very helpful – he asked me questions as well. At the end, his statement was, “I think you’d make a good B&B owner candidate.” Talk about confidence building!