Opening up a B&B is a dream for many people, but as any innkeeper will tell you it may be very rewarding but it isn’t easy. One of the most difficult aspects of getting an inn off the ground is compliance, because the laws governing B&Bs, and in fact even determining what constitutes a B&B vary by state, city and block by block. It can be a difficult process to meet the legal requirements before opening up.

The great State of Alaska, home to Denali, Northern Exposure and the most interesting scenery in the world has released a DVD for anyone interested in opening up a bed and breakfast. The Alaska Office of Economic Development created this informational DVD, with the assistance of local innkeepers, to help anyone considering opening an inn by providing practical advice from the experts. Dru Garson, Director of the Office of Economic Development explained that the DVD is especially geared towards B&Bs in rural parts of Alaska, and the unique challenges they face. The DVD covers many pertinent topics like booking reservations, insurance and food safety. It features innkeepers from as far afield as Nome.

Best of all, the DVD is available at no cost. For more information contact the Alaska Office of Economic Development or visit the KTNA website. When our DVD arrives you can be certain we’ll let you know all about it on the BnBFinder blog. In the meantime we’d love to hear from any other states that have similar resources for aspiring innkeepers. If you’re thinking of taking a trip to Great White North, have a look at a list of Alaska Bed and Breakfasts here.

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“Bonnie and Clyde meet Dracula? At a B&B? That sounds like the script for a campy horror movie?’” It is in fact, and it was shot at a real life B&B.

American film has a long tradition of famous people meeting monsters in movies. Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, the Three Stooges and Scooby-Doo and company have all squared off against Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy and of course Dracula. Many people don’t know this, but bed and breakfasts have been a favorite haunt for vampires since Bram Stoker wrote Dracula in 1897.

Whitby, in the North of England near the Yorkshire moors (think Wuthering Heights) is a small seaside village with many B&Bs that has been a popular vacation resort for a very long time. The village is lorded over by the ruins of Whitby Abbey, a skeletal church constructed in 657 CE. Bram Stoker spent quite a bit of time in Whitby, and it was a huge inspiration to him while he wrote the novel. Cheney Anne Markun, modern B&B guest staying in Whitby, has written this outstanding account of experiencing a thunderstorm in a B&B in the village that gave us Dracula.

Oddly enough, a second link between B&Bs and Dracula made its’ way to us here at BnBFinder this morning. Recalcitrant gangsters Bonnie and Clyde have been living at the Whiskey Mansion, a B&B in St. Joseph Missouri. They’ve really been enjoying themselves there, relaxing in the hot tub, taking advantage of the free wi-fi and making a holiday of the whole thing. Sadly, Dracula is also a guest at the Whiskey Mansion, and he’s been complaining quite a bit. ‘There’s garlic in my omelet, I said no garlic!’ he explained to the frustrated innkeepers. Dracula has also taken issue with the window coverings in his room being much too thin to let in the sunlight, and thought that checkout time was 11pm, not am. OK, that’s not the plot exactly, but it’s the version an innkeeper would write.

Handily, the good folks at at Big Atom Productions were on hand to document everything, and have recently released Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula. The film was shot in part at the real life Whiskey Mansion, and this evening they’ll be opening up for tours and having some of the stars of the film over for tours that are open to the public. The cast and crew will be screening the film and doing a meet and great, so if you’re in the area it’s a great chance to see a fun film and get a tour of a wonderful B&B while you’re at it. For more details, just click on the link above for the Whiskey Mansion and they can fill you in. Here’s a link to the trailer for Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula.

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Innkeeper Jeannette Jones in Lacombe, Canada has come up with a brilliant way to promote green living and her B&B. Jeanette has grown organic fruits and vegetables on the land surrounding her B&B for years. Her guests have always been impressed with the quality of her produce, and it’s included in nearly all her breakfasts. Jeannette knew that people would prefer to eat fresh, locally grown food and she explained to the Lacombe Globe, ” “Why should we buy from California when we have it in our own backyards?”

Jeannette decided to host an event called Brunch at the Beach, where people can  sample a gourmet brunch cooked by a local chef using locally grown and raised food. In addition to Jeannette’s veggies, local farmers are providing fruits and hormone free meat for guests to sample. At BnBFinder, we’ve mentioned again and again that inns don’t need to ‘Go Green’ because they already are. Jeannette is just another example of the B&B world setting the example for thinking globally and acting locally. You can read more about Jeannette’s efforts in the Lacombe Globe.

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Haunted B&Bs are extremely popular, and many guests hoping for a glimpse of the afterlife or a good scare specifically seek them out. Regardless of how you feel, having a spectral visitor at your B&B can be a great selling point. Today, we came across an article from Snow Hill Maryland about a B&B, which includes a resident ghost, being sold at a public auction.

According to writer Mindy Burgoyne, the ghost has been seen and felt by many people, and ‘Innkeepers, contractors, guests, children, employees and towns people all have stories of the young man who roams the halls of the Inn, locking doors, opening windows, turning lights off and on, setting fire alarms, appearing in mirrors, shaking beds with sleeping guests in them, extinguishing candles, lighting the fireplaces and more’.

This scenario raises some interesting questions about spooks, real estate and the general traits that make a building a good B&B. Prior to the auction, the Snow Hill Inn was actually advertised under the tag line, ‘The Ghost of Snow Hill Inn’ on the local real estate listing website. What’s curious, is many supposedly haunted homes are often impossible to sell. There have been several court cases where real estate contracts were voided in courts of law due to hauntings, and many homes been declared legally haunted.

Why are ghosts considered a nuisance and problem in the real estate world, except when it comes to B&Bs? Is there something about innkeepers and B&B guests that strays from the norm, and lets them turn everyone else’s lemons into lemonade? Has anyone specifically sought out a haunted house to turn into B&B, knowing how popular they are? We’d love to hear from innkeepers who sought out a haunted space, and B&B guests who’ve done the same.

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Whenever innkeepers talk shop there are always a few topics that come up, and one of the most common is cleaning. Whether innkeepers love cleaning or hate it, everyone agrees that cleaning day in and day out will make you an expert efficient cleaner. Here at BnBFinder, we unfortunately are not cleaning experts. The last few weeks in Manhattan have been brutally humid, and we’ve been keeping the windows sealed up tight which is great for keeping cool, but terrible when you are trying to clean the office. The main culprit is the chemical smelling cleaning products we’ve been using, which do the job, but smell terrible, give everyone in the office headaches and are also terrible for the planet.

Simone, our do-it-all BnBFinder guru went on the search for a better way to clean the office, and thanks to the innkeepers at the very lovely and very green Shambhala Ranch, she struck gold. Truth be told, cleaning products aren’t usually a source of much excitement for us, but Thieves Household Cleaner is really brilliant. It smells organically wonderful, without being overpowering, and has a cool background story.

According to Young Living, the makers of Thieves:

Europeans began producing essential oils in the 12th century. During the Plague of the 15th century, certain thieves were able to rob the dead without fear of becoming infected by the terrible disease. After being captured and charged with robbing the dead and dying victims of the plague, the thieves were offered a deal. The magistrate offered them leniency if they would reveal how they managed to avoid contracting the dreaded infection, in spite of their close proximity with the infected corpses. They disclosed that they were perfumers and spice traders, and that they had rubbed themselves with a concoction of aromatic herbs, notably cinnamon, and clove.

Thieves Household Cleaner can be used to clean nearly anything in the home, and we used it to clean the sink in the kitchen which has never looked better and given zero headaches. If you are looking for a ‘greener’ way to clean your inn, Thieves might be what you’ve been looking for.

If anyone else has suggestions for cleaning products that really get the job done, please leave us a comment in the comments section below.

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