by Heather T. | Apr 11, 2019 | Bed and Breakfasts, Food
This past January one of the sessions I ran was “In the Kitchen Time Savers”, and I had a slide about compound butters. Interestingly enough, most of the questions I got at the tail end of the session were asking about the butters, I had innkeepers tracking me down after the session to ask about them and innkeepers are still emailing me, the one this morning actually is the one that prompted me to write this up.
What I have been asked about primarily is some suggestions and any tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years. So here goes……
Realistically almost anything can be made into a compound butter, aside from the usual types, you can add finely chopped smoked bacon or diced smoked salmon, lobster butter is also quite lovely, especially on top of a nice omelet or poached egg, also quite good on savory waffles as well. Smoked salmon and dill butter on a sweet potato pancake or waffle is a tasty combination. Method, soften the butter, throw into a mixer, whip, add ingredients, roll into logs, refrigerate and serve.
Using a hot knife to cut the logs is suggested (running under hot water or having a bain marie filled with hot water if you are going to cut a bunch makes it much easier to cut) be sure to wipe the blade down to remove any water first. There are cheese and butter cutters with waffle cuts that can make some fun patterns as well when cutting.
The sky and your imagination are all that hold you back. The one rule of thumb is if something tastes good with butter on it (the exception being a steak, I have tried making a compound butter with it, and it’s “interesting”) it’s generally going to taste good as a compound butter mix.
When in doubt, try micro batches. I prefer using my KitchenAid Mixer to make compounds, but if experimenting, I would use a regular small bowl and spatula to test and just do a tablespoon at a time.
Use unsalted butter to start, add Kosher Salt to taste, I prefer Diamond brand Kosher salt as other Koshers tend to be saltier and textured differently. Even with fruit butter, a pinch of salt brings the flavors out. Using iodized salt in compound butter is just gross, sorry, but it is.
While you can use plastic wrap to make the butter logs, I prefer parchment paper as it makes a more even roll, wrap well in plastic wrap after to ward off refrigerator or freezer odors.
You can set the compound butter in a large square or oval dish and use a butter curler to make individual curls as well, just be sure that any compound butters you are using with a butter curler are smooth, chunky butters like nut or chopped fruit will not curl well. I have also cut out shapes with a cookie cutter, like hearts and stars and reused the leftover butter bits for something else.
Compound butters can be cut from the log and served on a plate as an accompaniment, put in small ramekins to serve or placed directly on your entree or side, they are so versatile and I always found it fun to watch a guest in a dining room ohh and ahh over a lovely roasted pepper compound butter strategically placed on top of their stuffed sole melting slowly down over it. Where oh where was Instagram 20+ years ago?
Toasting any spices in a cast iron past before use (cool down before adding to the butter mix) brings out most flavors.
Fresh Herbs are always the way to go when making compound butters, dried herbs, even if rehydrated, never have the same flavor and the color is not a poppy as well.
I also recommend using fresh garlic and ginger, while powdered does work as well, you will get a better flavor from using fresh ingredients. If you are using a recipe, even one you have developed, taste the garlic or ginger first before adding, I suggest this about most herbs as well. One head of garlic can have a hugely different flavor from another head, that one tablespoon of chopped garlic per one pound of butter may be perfect one time, but overwhelm or underwhelm the next.
If using alcohol or liquors for the compound butters, burning off the alcohol in advance is best, let cool before adding to the mix.
If putting citrus in butters, don’t just use the juice, cut out the supremes (the segments) and chop up and use as well. Tip; using canned mandarin oranges (drain well first) makes excellent citrus butters.
For using other fruits and nuts in butter, puree or finely chop in a food processor before adding them to the whipped butter.
I try to keep most compound butters less then a week, the shelf life will vary depending on the ingredients, if you are making large batches, I’d suggest freezing them (very well wrapped to negate odors) for less than two months. Optimally a month is best. I have kept compound butters In the freezer longer with no ill effects, but again it depends on the ingredients used.
Making homemade butter is always a treat to use as a compound. Because compound butters usually don’t keep for long, the normal shelf life of homemade butter (2-3 weeks) generally doesn’t come into play. I personally love Kate’s Homemade Butter, which I think is one of the best butters out there, I prefer it above even Plugra. Please use a good butter, even if a little more expensive, the flavor makes a difference and guests notice, good ingredients are so important. It’s like cooking with cheap wine, your sauce will taste a million times better if you buy that $13.00 bottle of 19 Crimes Red Blend and use half and drink half vs the $6 cooking wine. It doesn’t have to break the bank just up the game a little.
Keep in mind when making compounds you want to think of the end results and what you intend to do with them, are they to compliment a dish you make frequently? Is it to go on every table daily to accompany muffins that may change flavor daily or scones? Experimenting is fun, but think about when you batch compound butters, is this something you are going to end up with a lot extra of, and even if frozen will it languish in the freezer until you have to throw it out to make room for something else?
These are some of my favorites I’ve made over the years:
Sweet Butters
• Dried Blueberry and Lavender Butter
• Honey Grand Marnier Butter (also good with Toasted Walnuts or Pecans)
• Toasted Pecan and Maple Butter
• Orange Honey Butter
• Ginger and Grapefruit Butter
• Chocolate and Black Pepper Butter
• Dark Chocolate and Toasted Hazelnut Butter
• Blackberry and Sage Butter
• Mango and Ginger Butter (Mango puree works the best for this).
• Dried Cherry and Bourbon Butter
• Strawberry and Toasted Walnut Butter
• Raspberry and Chocolate Mint Butter
• Banana and Cumin Butter (with a touch of honey)
• Cinnamon Maple Butter
• Blueberry and Cardamom Butter
Sweet or Savory
• Reduced Balsamic Butter (or you can cheat and use something like Blaze’s Reduced Balsamic)
• Chocolate Balsamic Butter
• Mexican Chocolate and Chili Butter
• Honey Sriracha Butter
• Red Wine or Port Butter (always reduce the wine or port to a ¼ of its original for the best flavor, I like using Port better as it has a somewhat sweeter final taste, also yummy with some dark cocoa power dashed in)
• Blood Orange and Ginger Butter
• Macha Tea and Ginger Butter
• Roasted Apricot and Thyme Butter
• Pink Peppercorn and Grapefruit Butter
• Roasted (or Grilled) Pear and Agave Butter (Puree the pears in advance or chop very finely)
• Blueberry and Thyme Butter
• Roasted Peach and Mint Butter
• Poppyseed and Lemon Butter
• Fig and Honey Butter
Savory Butters
• Garlic and (any herb) Butter
• Lime and Cilantro Butter
• Honey Mustard and Dill Butter
• Roasted Cerignola Olive and Rosemary Butter
• Chipotle and Smoked Paprika Butter
• Jalapeno, Lime and Cilantro butter
• Lemon and Dill Butter
• Chive and Whole Grain Mustard Butter
• Caramelized Onion or Shallot Butter with Cracked Peppercorns (Peppercorn Melange/Mixed Peppercorns are good in this)
• Gooseberry and Ponzu Butter
• Grilled Eggplant and Basil Butter
• Caper and Tarragon Butter
• Roasted Pepper Butter (Red bells will give you a different flavor and color then yellows and oranges)
• Soy Sauce and Lime Butter (I like Citrus Ponzu, Lime and Ginger Butter as well)
• Smoked Tomato and Garlic Butter
• Roasted garlic (and any herb) Butter
• Black Garlic and Rosemary Butter
• Toasted Sesame and Lime Butter
• Kalamata and garlic butter (I like roasting the olives first as it gives an additional dimension to the flavor.
I could go on as there are hundreds, nay thousands of combinations out there, use your imagination and have fun!
by Heather T. | May 15, 2018 | Bed and Breakfasts, Equipment, Marketing
Some quick tips for innkeepers doing DIY photos for websites and social media channels.
- Experiment with height and creating different levels. Use a cutting board or other type of portable surface (cake stands, glasses, trays), etc. Adding some texture, like kitchen towels, napkins and kitchen utensils helps break things up and create visual differences between the focus of the photo (the food) and it’s surroundings.
- Use Negative Space, have spots in the photo where there is “nothing” makes for better photos. When taking closeup shots, add a little space for background or if it’s on china, for the plate to be a part of the picture, ie half a plate, a corner of the plate.
- Use a Tripod For the best photos. If using a smart phone, most full-size tripods or mini tripods now come with, or can be ordered with, smart phone mounts, you just clip your phone right into the mount and shoot away!
- Take a ton of photos, don’t take one or two, don’t take a dozen, take several dozen from various angles including straight down. What looks good on a smart phone may not good on a computer when you see it in large resolution. The more photos you take, the more of a chance you will get a couple of “keepers”.
- The food is the center point of the photo. Props are nice, but they should complement, not overwhelm the food. Taking photos on white plates is best. A colorful prop can be beautiful, but it can easily be the highlight of the picture and grab attention away from the food it’s supposed to be highlighting,
- Garnish is key. Any ingredient can be a garnish and a prop as well, a simple omelet can get “spruced up” by a little chopped parsley or some crumbled cheese and cracked pepper. Simple low prep garnishes are great for food photos. Chopped chives hold up well, as does chopped parsley without browning, crumbled/shredded cheese, chopped or whole nuts, sunflower seeds, ground pepper, chia or poppy seeds, coarse or colored sea salt, chocolate shavings or cocoa powder, coconut flakes, chili flakes, pink peppercorns, dried and fresh berries and fruit. Raid your spice cabinet!
- Do your photo editing on a computer, as mentioned prior, a photo may look great on a smartphone, it will look completely different on a big computer and you will be likely to see imperfections and things you won’t notice on a small screen.
- Build or buy a lightbox, there are a lot of inexpensive ones on the market and they are quite easy to make as well.
Tips for When Just Doing Food Photos (not photos to serve to guests, best when testing out a new recipe, what better way to utilize it when trying it out, use it to play with some photography shots!)
- Use the freshest ingredients, imperfections, even small ones, show up on camera. When specifically doing food “just” for food photos, a leaf of mint “must” be perfect, even small blemishes on fruit show up when in closeups, so heavily eyeball everything.
- Don’t cook it all the way, meat, vegetables and fruit all keep cooking (called carryover cooking) when removed from heat. To keep everything look plump and moist, take it out prior to it just being done to shoot it.
- Aerosol olive oil sprays, as well as spray bottles with room temperate water can liven up dishes and make them glisten in photos, a spray of fine misted water over fresh herbs and fruit gives it that “just picked” look.
Pro-Photographers Food Styling Tip: Capturing steam on camera is always difficult, placing cotton balls (tampons actually work the best) soaked in hot water behind a coffee or tea cup while snapping photos can give you some nice effects.
Free photo editors – lets you edit all your photos online, from one easy place.
Best Apps for Smartphones:
How to build an easy lightbox:
by Heather T. | Jan 30, 2018 | Bed and Breakfasts, Lodging, Marketing, Social Media
Last January, my how time flies! I wrote a blog about how video is hot (and it’s still getting hotter) and live streaming: Ideas for Bed and Breakfasts using Video and Live Streaming, which I would encourage B&Bs to review, because video is here to stay and will continue to advance and perhaps dominate marketing in the years to come.
I wanted to follow this up with the checklist I had made up that might help B&Bs prepare a little bit if they were going to do video to promote their B&B, or they wanted to play around with Live Streaming Video.
Checklist for doing a Live Streaming Event:
- Check Lighting. Try to avoid windows with bright sun streaming in. Turn on room lights and check for glare on camera.
- Tripods in place if needed.
- Preview movement for “in camera” objects, pre-video walkthrough or still photos.
- Sound Checks with pre-recording.
- Mute phones and cell phones if possible.
- Turn off radio and/or TV.
- Cue cards if needed for talking points.
- If doing a recipe demonstration, have your mise en place done in advance.
- If having people participate, get photo/video permissions, in writing if possible.
- Check your appearance and anyone else’s in the video in advance.
- Test your internet connection and speed.
- Video in Facebook is muted by default, so make the opening reflect your topic or reflect a brand.
- Share on as many channels as you can..
- Be cognizant that many people may be watching on smartphones, so filming with your smartphone in the vertical position is suggested.
- Time Yourself, Videos should be one to two minutes long at the most. If you are posting the videos to Youtube, keep in mind that Youtube Creator will let you edit videos as well as stitch them together.
Have you done some recent videos or live streaming events at your Bed and Breakfast that you would like to share? Please do in the comments, as I am always looking for example to show to other B&Bs!
by Heather T. | Dec 13, 2017 | Bed and Breakfasts, Blog, Equipment, Lodging, Operations
Knives have come a long way since I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1992, plus there are a lot more brands out there that were not available than. Ask any professional chef or anyone else that loves cooking, whether for pleasure or for a profession, you will get a completely different answer as to the best knives, the best brands and their favorite type of knives. So this article aims to be more informational than opinion, so that the reader can choose their own with more direction.
I personally have always had (and still have) primarily Wüsthof and Henckels (J.A. Henckels) knives, and Dexter (Dexter Russell) for the ones I can badly abuse. My original knives that I used while cooking professionally, I still have almost all of them (several many inches shorter due to years of sharpening-photo above of many of them) with the exception of a boning knife that met a sad end when my husband snapped the tip off (he has since replaced it for me, such a sweet guy). A good knife lasts for a very very long time with TLC, and it’s something to keep in mind when shopping for knives, because you might go into some sticker shock looking at good quality ones, “Just HOW much is that paring knife????”. A good knife will last you decades, and can be kept in the family for many generations. I still have a Wüsthof utility (paring) knife that my Grandfather bought back in the 1920’s before he immigrated from Norway to America, and it’s still a great knife, and it still holds an edge.
Knives are a matter of preference. A lot like a car, there are certain things you want to look for when knife shopping. I would suggest adding to your knife collection slowly. Sets are great, but either you outlay a huge amount of money for a good set, of which you will realistically only use half of the knives a lot, and the others rarely, if at all, or you buy an inexpensive set and you get what you pay for, OR you can think about what you actually need, and invest in them slowly, which is what I would recommend.
Knife Storage:
Storing your knives properly is very important, if you must keep knives in a drawer, I would suggest either getting a custom rack insert for the drawer, or buying plastic knife guards for your knives.
Wood block storage is also very popular for knives; the two things I would caution users about is: don’t, under any circumstances, put your knives away wet, while wood doesn’t hold bacteria as well as plastic, if you do get any type of food contaminant or other particles in the holes you can have problems. When placing knives into the block and removing them, make sure you sheathe and unsheathe the knives with the blunt edge of the top of the knife coming into contact with the knife slot, and not the sharp side. This will help maintain sharpness.
My personal favorite for knife storage is a wall mounted magnetic strip, you can see all your knives at a glance and the risk of them dulling while coming into contact with something else is minimized. The magnets are strong, so be careful when placing your knifes on the rack, as improper placement can also cause some damage.
Some basic rules for knives:
- Always dry your knives after use.
- Never put them in the sink if dirty, or in a sink filled with water. (while this is common sense, I’ve lost count of the number of B&Bs (and sadly restaurant kitchens as well) I’ve visited that have been guilty of doing this.) While it’s not only extremely unsafe, you risk causing damage to your knives.
- After sharpening a knife, rinse well before use. I prefer washing it and than drying it, but don’t go directly from sharpening to cutting, at least wipe it down if nothing else.
- Keep your knives sharp! A dull knife will cause more damage and rip the skin if you cut yourself, vs a clean cut from a sharp knife which will heal faster and cleanly.
- Never put your good knives in the dishwasher! The wash cycle in a dishwasher vibrates silverware against your knives and contributes to dulling. It can cause delamination of some types of handles, and cause rivets to come off or loosen contributing to unsafe knives, plus most dishwashing liquids, detergents or pods contain caustics ingredients which can damage and pit your knives.
(Look at the above stock photo, look at the knife on the far right side, a rivet is missing and the handle is cracked, leading to an unsafe knife, as the partial detachment from the tang could result in the knife coming apart during use. The crack can also harbor food particles and bacteria.) You should never do this to your knives, even good quality ones can break a knife tip doing this.
Things to look for when knife buying:
The Tang: I really recommend buying full tang knives. Over many years, using other’s knives or “house” knives (what many professional kitchens have for cooks in addition to their own), I’ve found that knives with partial tangs have a short shelf life, they break and they are dangerous when the adhesive that connects the knife tang with the handle comes apart, especially if it’s being used at the time. I’ve seen many stitches as a result of injury’s caused by partial tang knives literally disintegrating while being used. I recommend meandering over to Lansky Sharpeners, who has a very good overview of knife tangs.
The Grip: the grip is a preference, what is it made of? Plastic, rubber, steel, in some cases cork and other materials. Make sure when you buy a knife, especially a Chef’s knife that you will use for chopping, the handle fits well in your hand and is comfortable, I was never a big fan of Victorinox knives (and they are great knives) because I have smaller sized hands, and the handles never felt very comfortable to me, again it’s a personal preference. Wood grips on knives tend to not hold up well under long term use. When knife shopping you may find a better price online for the knife you want and buy it there, but I’d suggest handling them first so you can see what it feels like in your hand and the balance.
Ever sharp knives: to own or not to own. I admit we have several in my house, I rarely use them but my husband does. If you want low maintenance knives, then yes these are the knives for you, but they are not “really” forever sharp. They do dull with repeated use, and you can’t re-sharpen them easily, sometimes not at all.
Riveting and Joins: When buying knives look for the joins and rivets, and see if the handle moves at all when you push the blade sideways. Good quality knives will have zero give, but many generic knives out there, while they look nice, are quite flimsy and not made for heavy duty use.
What are they made of?
Carbon Steel: this the traditional material used the most for the past few hundred years. It can hold an extremely sharp edge, but it does discolor easily. It will discolor some foods, like onions and citrus, as well as you can actually smell what seems like a chemical odor coming from it, and may leave a metallic taste. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use Carbon Steel with these, but it does mean that the acidity in onions and citrus can cause pitting of the blade, if you do use them, wipe the blade down every few minutes in between uses. I find if you are cutting a lot of meat or filleting fish, a carbon steel knife, I personally find, will do a better job as it’s holds an edge the best. Rubbing the blade down with a paste made from water and baking soda when you first get it (and repeat for the first few weeks) helps protect the knife and build up a good patina. Carbon steel knives will change color with use.
High Carbon Stain Free Steel: This is a relatively new alloy that combines the best features of Carbon Steel and new modern alloy metals (Chromium-Molybdenum Steel). Most modern higher end knives are made of this and it’s suggested for professional use.
Stainless Steel: this will not rust or corrode, but is a very poor choice for knives, it’s brittle and it is difficult to keep a very sharp edge on a stainless steel knife.
Ceramic Cutlery: This is a newer process made with modern age ceramics, often zirconium dioxide. Ceramic knives are substantially harder than steel knives, they will not corrode and work well for slicing vegetables, meat (boneless), fruits and bread. The downsides to ceramic, is it’s just like a plate, if it gets dropped, it can shatter or chip. Ceramic knives are not recommended for use with hard to cut items, like bones or frozen foods. While ceramic holds an edge a lot longer than carbon steel, once the edge degrades it needs a professional to re-sharpen it.
Damascus Steel: This is not “true” Damascus, that art has been lost for a long long time, these knives are basically laminated pieces of steel together, and quality can vary a huge amount depending on the maker. If you have a magnetic knife strip that can display your knives where your guests can see them, you will have the oh and ah factor, as they can be quite beautiful, but most of these knives will not outperform a regular good quality knife.
Some Quality Knife Brands:
Aritsugu http://aframestokyo.com/aritsugu.html (there are other sites out there that carry Aritsugu, the Aritsugu site itself is in Japanese).
Global http://globalknives.uk/
J.A. Henckels http://www.zwillingonline.com/
Masamoto http://www.masamotochefknives.com
Messermeister https://www.messermeister.com/
Shun https://shun.kaiusaltd.com/
Victorinox (formerly R.H. Forschner by Victorinox) https://www.victorinox.com/global/en_US/
Wüsthof http://www.wusthof.com
Honorable Mentions (great for knifes that can take some abuse, inexpensive and good for general purpose knives)
Dexter Russell http://www.dexterrussellcutlery.com/
Additional Knives:
MAC https://www.macknife.com/ (While reputedly a great knife brand, Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter apparently love the line, the quality does seem to be there and it shows well in use.) I can’t say with certainty that this knife line will hold up well under long term use. I’ve test driven several of these, but unlike any of the above knife brands that I have used over the course of many many years, this one is a newer addition to the traditional brands. If you do decide to buy one of these, I would suggest the MTH-80 Professional over the TH-80 Chef Knives. The MTH-80 while the more expensive, is the better knife.
If anyone has any interest, I can do a follow up post on this with a suggested list of what to buy (or at least start out with) if you are just buying a bed and breakfast and need to stock the kitchen with equipment.
And an additional article with some useful tips 25 Tips And Tricks About Chef’s Knives- Every Chef Should Know.
by Heather T. | Aug 28, 2017 | Bed and Breakfasts, Lodging, Marketing, Social Media
Today I was supposed to teach a short instructional webinar on using Youtube Slideshow Creator. A very useful tool that I found out this morning (when I logged in to Youtube) that it’s being retired on September 20, 2017. Apparently, they had put out a notice (not very widely apparently) that is was going away permanently a few months ago. I did know that Youtube is revamping it’s Creator studio, which I have Beta access to, and am quite excited to see the full version of, but I was unaware of this. Caught a bit by surprise as I usually know about most social media changes way ahead of time, I am to say the least, extremely disappointed they are retiring this feature as it was very useful for B&Bs. The explanation is “that it was not widely used”, similar to Facebook retiring it’s lists feature earlier this year (and there is a workaround for them at least) the feature was a victim of the fact that hardly anyone used it, because most didn’t even know about it.
If you do want to explore Youtube slideshows, you have until the 20th to do so. Youtube says it won’t be doing away with any videos created with it prior, so if you have a few minutes and some good still photos, take advantage of it now. The slideshow feature can be replicated with other programs (I am looking into good suggestions for replacing) but access to the availability of royalty free music (that Youtube provides with the slideshow creator) is not as easily replaced.
I had done a blog in 2014 about using the slideshow option, so if you would like to play with it in the interim of the feature going away, please visit https://chefforfeng.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/how-innkeepers-can-leverage-youtubes-photo-slideshow-option/. You may need to use Firefox (recommended), Safari or Internet Explorer as Google Chrome is blocking the Flash plugin used to create the show.
If you have a current version of Powerpoint (within the last 4 years) there is an option of turning your slides (with effects) into a video that is uploadable to Youtube.
While there are literally 100s of options for programs to do slideshows and export to video ranging from $29.99 to $99.00, and many more in the higher price ranges with more bells and whistles, there are not many options out there for free.
Windows Movie Maker (PC only) (http://www.windows-movie-maker.org/) is one option that Windows users can download for free. Avid Media Composer (PC or Mac) is another, but maybe for the more technological inclined (http://www.avid.com/media-composer-first). I would very much recommend not downloading many of the other options that tout themselves as “free” without first checking them out heavily online. Many contain Spyware and Adware which can be even more malicious, and in many cases much harder to get rid of than regular viruses.
Kizoa (https://www.kizoa.com/) is one online option, but the free version limits what you can do. I have not trialed the paid version but it looks promising. There are several others online as well that offer “free” but with limitations as well. I’d recommend testing out the online ones available, with the caveat be careful what links you click on, especially if the program landing page has lots of ads on it, similar to the downloadable options for slideshow editors, be cognizant that some links may take you to malicious sites.
We are continuing to research other options for this and will post an additional post when (and sadly if) we find more comparable (free) equivalents to Youtube Slideshow Creator, Avid we had been aware of prior, and Kizoa we came across today and trial tested (and recommend to check out as a possible option) after looking at and testing about two dozen other options today.
by Heather T. | Jul 27, 2017 | Bed and Breakfasts, Lodging, Opinion
Last week a rather nasty article got published online by Country Living Magazine, 6 Reasons Why I Will Never Stay at a Bed and Breakfast Again. I am not even going to go there in terms of what I think about the article or the author, read it yourself and draw your own conclusions, aside from wondering why it would take 2 years to write a snarky snippy article about a B&B you stayed at. There is always Tripadvisor to vent your wrath on (and no review there at that time mind you.)
There have been some great rebuttal articles on this; Dear Country Living Magazine: Point and Counterpoint and What a Bed and Breakfast Owner Wants You to Know About Staying at Small Inns, and I am sure there will be more as it hit a rather big nerve with the industry as a whole.
The article hit a nerve with me as well, as I work with and within the industry, I work with PAII which has been around for a long time, but mostly it hit a nerve because many of my personal clients are B&Bs, and very many of my friends are innkeepers, and that article portrays ALL B&Bs in a bad light, painting a very broad brush stroke across an industry that makes itself unique through it’s individuality. Plus using horrible Getty stock images to illustrate the article (and realistically people may think they were actual pictures of the inn) is pretty darn insulting. (unlike the stock photos in that piece, the photos in this are from real B&Bs, the top is from the 1896 House in Williamstown, MA, the others are from the Glynn House Inn in Ashland, NH and the Highland Lake Inn in Andover, NH, and I took them so I know they are realistic and true images of the B&Bs).
B&Bs are all unique, a few can remind one of an elderly auntie’s house, but others are art deco, to mid-century mod, to Victorian and some are much more modern. I’ve stayed in hundreds and hundreds of B&Bs over the years, and every single one is different.
In all of those stays I only have had two not so great experiences, one was at an inn someone else booked for me (and it would not have been my first choice based on their website, and looking at their reviews, and it was not horrible, just not my cuppa tea) and the second was the upstairs room above ours ended up being inhabited by a couple of drunken revelers who were practicing the art of gliding hotel (or B&B) furniture for most of the night, this was no fault of the B&B itself, just bad guests.
The quote from Terri Petrovits commentary, “Some people aren’t ‘B&B people,” is entirely true. People who like to stay at B&Bs, like to stay at them for a reason, because they are all unique, and you can find one or two, or a dozen to suit, where ever you like all over the world. Horsefarm B&Bs, stately historic homes filled with antiques, pet friendly B&Bs, Nautical B&Bs, upscale Lux B&Bs, Rustic B&Bs, B&Bs filled with knickknacks, Romantic B&Bs, Themed B&Bs and B&Bs filled with carefully chosen décor that is clean, sleek and modern. You name it, there is a B&B out there to suit, and if none of them do, then stay in a cold, boring hotel, and or a unregulated unsafe Airbnb, your just not a B&B person and that’s ok ?
I’d just like to counterpoint some things from the article “6 Reasons Why I Will Never Stay at a Bed and Breakfast Again” so that when you are looking for a B&B to stay at, you know what to expect when you stay and book at one.
First “The early bird gets the scones”. B&Bs have set hours for a reason for breakfast, most will be very accommodating if you need to leave early, or miss breakfast, but you do need to try to let them know prior. Innkeepers work pretty much 24/7, when they are done with breakfast, they have to clean up, make beds, clean rooms, take reservations, engage with guests, and all the rest of the million things one has to do to run a business full time, they can’t just sit around in the kitchen all day waiting for stragglers. Running a real B&B bears absolutely no relation to the Newhart TV show.
In the couple of instances, I’ve missed breakfast, (i.e. staying up very late the night before working on a presentation) the innkeepers have gone out of the way to rummage me up some homebaked muffins and fresh fruit. This is more than you would ever get at a restaurant (or a hotel) if you showed up after service was over.
“Awkward conversations over breakfast”. B&Bs are all different, some have communal dining tables, some have individual tables within a dining room (how this is terribly different from sitting in a hotel restaurant, aside from B&Bs having much better food and better service etc. is beyond me.) But if sitting at a communal table is not your fancy, find out first, most B&Bs have dining room photos on their websites, and you can always ask. My husband refuses to stay at a B&B with me that has a communal table, because he doesn’t want to socialize, I personally love it. Ask. It’s YOUR vacation.
“Where’s my coffee?” I like strong coffee; my favorite is the kind where the spoon can stand up in it. But not everyone does. Every B&B I have ever visited serves a different brand of coffee, and a different strength of brew.
Ok, coffee too strong, or coffee too weak? How about you ask the innkeeper for something else, or another cup of differently brewed coffee. I’ve been in several B&Bs where I considered the coffee a bit on the weak side, but it appeared most of the other guests were sucking it down happily, so I asked nicely and guess what? The innkeepers made me another pot! Perfection! And by the way, many B&Bs have self-service Keurig machines, so you can get your caffeine fix at any time.
“The rooms are from another decade”. Now this one is VERY broad generalization of the industry, and quite frankly downright wrong. While some B&Bs are old fashioned and have antiques in every room, and yes, a few do still have doilies, many of them do not. Of the 2 dozen B&Bs I’ve stayed at in the last year, only one would I call a doily inn, and I don’t mean that as a sarcastic or nasty statement. The inn was decorated with 50s chic, and I adored it. It was quaint, it was comfortable, the bed was one of the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in, the pillows were to die for, the rosemary hand soap was so lovely smelling I wanted to eat it, the innkeepers adorable (they were in their early 70s) and the breakfast incredible. I usually prefer more modern B&Bs and many B&Bs are. I stayed in a B&B last month that was luxury defined; soaking tubs, Molton Brown Amenities, Ceccotti furniture, Silk-bamboo bathrobes and truffled eggs for breakfast, and Innkeepers in their mid 40s. Innkeepers run the gamut of ages from 30s to 70s, and their B&Bs run the gamut of tastes and styles. That’s part of the appeal of B&Bs. Uniqueness.
“There are few modern amenities” Another VERY broad generalization of the industry. Most B&Bs have TVs and many of them are quite large (but generally tastefully staged), rooms may also include smart phone docks, and other modern electronics, and did I mention WIFI? Most B&Bs have free WIFI, vs hotels where you have to pay through the nose for it, and most times it’s horrible, or an Airbnb where WIFI may be totally nonexistent.
Yes, there are B&Bs with no TVs or small TVs, but some people want to go on vacation and turn technology off, the tiny TVs are there for those that “have” to get their fix. If having cable access is so important to you, that you need to have it on while on vacation in the first place, maybe you need to rethink that just a little, and maybe you should check out the website, look at the room photos and read the descriptions. If you can’t see or read online that they have or have not 100 inch screen TVs, and it’s that important to you, Ask!
The referenced electric fireplace you probably won’t run into in most B&Bs, and if you do and have an issue with it, please save yourself a second bad night of sleep (unlike this lady) and enquire about it with the innkeepers after the first night, instead of bemoaning two nights of it. Or 2 years later……..
“They’re overpriced”. Yet another VERY broad generalization of the industry. Yes, there are pricey B&Bs out there, but most are quite affordable for what you get, they are generally cheaper than hotels and while you may say, “stay at an Airbnb, it’s cheaper!” Look carefully at the comparable rates, Airbnb rentals are generally equivalent in price, if not more money than a B&B, when all the costs associated with it add up. Fees to Airbnb, plus base rate, plus most have cleaning fees. So, your $99 per night Airbnb rental gets a $50 dollar per night cleaning fee tacked on, plus the 6% – 12% fee that Airbnb tacks on, that’s a bit more expensive than a local B&B at a $130 per night for example (read the fine print in the Airbnb listing). And B&Bs have things that most Airbnbs do not, they are inspected and insured, and their fire alarms work for example, add delicious homemade gourmet breakfasts (or you can have your Cheerios in an Airbnb). And in case of an accident a real B&B has liability insurance, ask the next Airbnb host you go to if they have it, and consider what would happen to you and your family in case of a fire, or an accident at the rental for example.
I have yet to stay at hotel aside from several very expensive ones that match the amenities that a B&B has to offer, plus I’ve never stayed at a B&B where you get tagged for using the bottled water in a room at $5 a pop, or a bag of M&Ms for $3.50 unlike at a hotel. Instead at a B&B there are usually beverages available all the time, and free homemade cookies as well. I have yet to stay at a hotel where I have ever had a decent breakfast. Chefs don’t work breakfast at a hotel (I’ve worked in a few so I know the skinny), lowly paid line cooks do, so if you want rubbery scrambled eggs, stay at a hotel instead of a B&B. Even the luxury hotel I stayed in last month in Massachusetts had a horrible breakfast, and I had to pay separately for it to boot.
If you want an ideal B&B stay, do a little homework in advance. Look at the website, look at the pictures, read the descriptions, I have yet to see a B&B website that doesn’t state what size bed is in the room. Take a few minutes and go to Tripadvisor, Google and Yelp and read the reviews first. Are there management responses? Check out their social media! If you buy a new car or new stove hopefully you check out the reviews and reliability first before you spend money. If you are going on vacation and you want it to be nice, take a few minutes and do your homework first.
If you have questions that are not answered on the website, Ask! Pick up the phone or send an email.
If you have an issue at the time of your stay, please mention it to the innkeepers at the time, please don’t wait two years to blindside them with the fact you had some issues with your stay (Or you “think” you had some issues with your stay, and perhaps two years later these were a little confabulated? Or perhaps memory has played fast and lose with a few details for the sake of a snarky article?).
The very biggest and most oft repeated complaint I get from innkeepers when I help them figure out how to respond to online reviews properly, is that guests who may have had an issue with something, didn’t mention it at the time of their stay, so it could be corrected or fixed at the time.
I have never stayed at a B&B where I had a small (or even large) problem and I mentioned it to the innkeepers and they didn’t try to fix it right away. If you don’t even try to say something, then don’t assume they just “know”, and don’t assume right off they won’t try to fix it.
B&Bs and their innkeepers pride themselves on service and hospitality. Innkeepers are not hotel front desk clerks who generally don’t care, innkeepers take pride in their B&Bs because it’s their livelihood.
It reminds me of people who used to come eat at my restaurants who would lick the plates clean, tell the waitstaff everything was fine and dandy, “Just lovely!”, and then leave a scathing review about how they didn’t get enough herb butter for their ciabatta rolls, and the salad dressing had way too much garlic in it, so it was almost inedible (funny since they ate it all). Thankfully I only ever had a couple of those, but I feel the innkeepers pain on this point. If your room is too cold or hot or whatever, mention it, give the innkeepers a chance to at least make it right. While innkeepers are excellent hospitality hosts, I have not yet met any of them that could mind read.
Bed and Breakfasts are unique, they are all different, the innkeepers are all different, it’s one of the pleasures of staying at a B&B, because they are not cookie cutter. (But they always have excellent homemade cookies :).
I prefer staying at a B&B vs a hotel for a million reasons, food and comfort are key, to name a couple of big points. I will never stay at an Airbnb, because I for one am concerned about things like; does the smoke alarm work? What happens if the host’s dog bites me? What happens if I get food poisoning from food they have made me, or food that’s been improperly stored in the house? Am I covered? Is it safe?
Inns and B&Bs are insured and inspected, and that makes additional reasons to stay at them in addition to the great food and hospitality that most B&Bs offer.
Please don’t take one unhappy person’s snark at a B&B she stayed at years ago as a representation of our industry as whole, it’s an opinion article and she had her own opinion, not every B&B is perfect, but the vast majority of B&Bs out there try. Do your home work before you stay, whether it be at a hotel, motel, Airbnb or real B&B, and say something if you have an issue no matter where you stay, while you stay, not after. I challenge you to form your own opinions about the B&B industry, and love it as much as I do.
