From “Ask Kit!”:
Q: Thanks for “pushing” me out of my comfort zone. You are right about me being unable to define the people I would like to have in my B&B, the reason is: I do not believe people have to be exactly like me to enjoy what I have to offer.
A: Absolutely they don’t have to be exactly like you to enjoy the guest experience you create and offer. My attempted point is that if they are a reflection of one of your many personality aspects (as your friends are) then you will be able to relate to them better and take better care of them. They will also relate to you. And, there will be those unlike you who will stop and enjoy your inn. But, you have to make a statement so that there is some identity for travelers to latch onto to help them decide if they want to stay or not.
A recent guest told me that she wants to start up a B&B. She specifically wanted to open a B&B that would only be open to people she liked. She proposed to interview prospective guests by drawing them out and getting them to talk about their interests. By doing this, she claimed that she’d be able to identify which guests were polite and which were rude. The rude guests would be excluded and the polite guests would be accepted.
When I suggested that B&B’s are operational businesses that derive revenue from the sale of rooms, she interrupted me. She insisted that since B&B’s operate at the behest and pleasure of the innkeeper/owner, the innkeeper/owner should enjoy what he or she does. She further maintained that the deliberate exclusion of rude, untidy, and otherwise unpleasant individuals would increase the pleasure of the stay for other guests while also keeping the innkeeper/owner happy.
I hope this woman has deep pockets.
Sadly, I know of one facility that tried just such a thing in a nearby community. The innkeeper decided to stop accepting new guests. She would only accept previous guests and only those previous guests that she enjoyed.
Her facility is now closed because she went out of business.
My ideal guest is the guest who has the ability to pay for a room. We also appreciate guests who abide by our non-smoking policy.
As long as the guests pose no hazard to themselves, to this establishment, or to others, I am perfectly happy to rent rooms to anyone who walks through my front doors.
The Pennsylvania Innkeepers’ Rights Act of 1996 says it best. “An innkeeper shall have the right to refuse or deny any accomodations, facilities or privleges of a lodging establishment to any person who is unwilling or unable to pay for accomodations and services, to any person who is disorderly, to any person who the innkeeper reasonalby believes is seeking accomodations for an unlawful purpose including the unlawful possession or use of a controlled substance, to any person who the innkeeper beleives is bringing into the lodging establishment property which may be dangerous to other persons, and to any person who exceeds the maximum number of persons allowed to occupy any particular guest room as posted by the lodging establishment.”
_________________
Inn at Elizabethville