B and B owner’s day – Now comes the rest
The b and b owner’s day starts early but after breakfast the harder work will come. If you do things right breakfast is easy and you have some time to relax. If you have guests leaving your relaxation will be short lived. But if you have guests that are staying and you don’t have to clean and do laundry you can get some things done that help you our cause. So here is part 2 of the narrative.
Our table can seat 10 guests comfortably during our b and b breakfast.
After the guests leave the table, we will finish up our cleaning and straightening up the kitchen and table. We will update our menu for tomorrow and get any cooking dishes we need to have ready for tomorrows breakfast prep. As the guest leave we will tidy rooms, take out the trash, check for any dishes that we need to put in the dishwasher and check for any shortages of tissues and such that may need to be replaced. We will clean the rooms if guests check out. We try to run a quick spot check of the rooms for anything left behind before they get out the gate. We start the laundry and the dishwasher and hang the clothes on the line as they are done. In between we check the emails and telephone for messages.
Once we finish laundry, cleaning the rooms and putting the laundry away, we get the paperwork out for the incoming guests; start the prep for the next morning breakfast and other household chores that we need to get done that day. We check ingredients as we make breakfast and write down items which will need to be replenished. A running list keeps you from forgetting things when you have a long drive to the store. Wasted trips don’t help efficiencies and time is precious. We field phone calls as needed and many are from solicitors that want to sell us the cheapest insurance, best credit card set up, advertizing. While we do have online reservations, we get the call from potential guests who have questions and want to make a reservation. There are many balls to juggle but with two people working at it we usually aren’t overburdened. We get the morning meal into the refrigerator to sit overnight. In amongst all of this we try to fit in lunch.
In the afternoon, I am back onto the computer to check emails again and update our TODO list to make sure we have done that is needed or add items. As the new guests arrive, we give them the tour and let them know what to expect and how to get us. We show them to their rooms. They ask questions and we learn a little about them and what they want to do in the area on their visit. That way we can offer suggestions or insights on their plans. They may do dinner here by preparing their own or they may want to know where to go in Benson. We finally can sit down for dinner and start to wind down. We might even get to photograph a sunset and share the time with guests that haven’t ever seen one.
There are many opportunities to photograph sunrises and sunsets from the patios at Dwon By The River B and B.
However we have just a few more things to do before we can totally relax. Get on the computer again and check the email; it is essential to see if we have online reservations show up or a query from a potential guest. Lastly go to the guest side do spot clean up, set the table and get the rest of the kitchen read for use in the morning. Set the timers on the oven and get the coffee ready. Somewhere around 9 PM we go over to the guest side and lock it up. Then we can head off to bed.
If you have no guest coming in or leaving then the day for a b and b owner is less hectic, since you obviously have less work to do. If you have all the rooms to clean and all will be rented that night you won’t have time for lunch so you grab a snack and you don’t check the computer as much. Much of the work is offset though by the interesting guests that show up at your door and tell you about their hometown and what they do. As I have heard before, a b and b innkeepers have the world come to them since they don’t have the time to go visit the world. You do learn about places that you want to visit when you have the chance and you meet some of the most interesting and funny people that you would never meet in a hotel. So now you know a typical day for a b and b owner