Barbara Notarius,
Author of "Open Your Own Bed & Breakfast", published
by John Wiley and Sons, fourth edition came out in 2000. This
edition reflects the impact of the internet on the B&B industry
and provides all the information you need to join the 75% of innkeepers
who now have their own websites.
Barbara is available for private consultation about your inn or
as an expert witness if you encounter difficulty with zoning or
planning boards. She charges an hourly rate of $75 if you come
to her place for consultation or $400 a day plus expenses to travel
to your site.
She runs group
and private seminars and takes a small number of interns for a
week's apprenticeship each year
Here is what one
aspiring innkeeper had to say about her day of consulting:
"Thanks for a great day. I have said your writing had a powerful
influence on me--a day in person was very satisfying. (The power
of the written word: how does it feel to know that what started
as my lying in my hammock, mulling over the messages that spoke
to me in your book, led us quite directly to the house we'll be
living in. We really enjoyed sharing the houses with you on your
visit, and look forward to seeing you again.
Paul's mom has proclaimed that keeping our original house will
turn out to be "the greatest mistake of his life"---so
you can imagine how encouraged he felt to hear your enthusiastic
appraisal of the business prospects here. Thanks for that. We've
got a great team of workmen banging away at the plumbing even
as we speak, and they say we'll have the first two bed/bath suites
ready in November! If we open the third suite this fall, it'll
be done with a small bath now, with plumbing lines laid in a way
that allows for future exterior expansion.
We have also
taken your words to heart. Following up on your suggestion of
how to use a guest kitchen on the second floor, I am beginning
to see private & public space neatly divided between the first
& second floors, with the entire second floor as 4 rental
suites, plus a common parlor/guest kitchen. As you know, we have
two working baths on the second floor to start--the maids' suite
in back & the master suite in front. I'm exploring with a
designer-friend the possibility of putting our own master suite
in what was the first floor dining room. If it looks feasible
to do that, at least for a while when we first move in, we'll
more than double our income stream, from two guests on the second
floor this fall as we build up cash for plumbing work."
Paul & Deborah
Dahl Lustgarten -- Plainfield, New Jersey
