Tag Archives: historic buildings

B&B Guests: History Buffs

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Some bed and breakfast guests visit because they want to tour historic buildings as well as monuments or local museums in your area.  You can take advantage of your prime location, and contact these places ahead of time to make arrangements for your guests to have tickets.

For example, in Asheville, North Carolina, the largest private mansion in the United States called the Biltmore Estate is located near a number of bed and breakfasts.  Many of these bed and breakfasts emphasize their close proximity and include tickets to the estate in a package they offer.

You may not have a huge estate in your area, but hopefully there is something historic that people tour in your local area.  If your bed and breakfast is historic, then play up your knowledge of its history and previous owners. Many people love getting a sense of history from learning about the past!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Activities, Guests, Promotion

If You Own a Historic Bed and Breakfast

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Many Bed and Breakfasts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Up to 90% of Bed and Breakfasts occupy historic buildings that have been lovingly restored.  Some of them have received rewards from a Preservation Society.  If you own a historic bed and breakfast, do you emphasize its history to your guests?

You can give tours of your historic home and talk about the people who formerly lived there.  If you know their names, talk about them.  Feel free to share any stories you know to be true. If they are rumors, then let your guests know that the information can not be confirmed.  Your guests will feel as though you are giving them a window into the life of those who once lived in your home.

If you have antique pictures of family members, hang them on your walls. Bed and breakfast owners, you can display precious momentos from your historic home.  If they are valuable and/or fragile, consider putting them in a locked glass display case for your guests to view.

You could even put together a scrapbook of old photos of your bed and breakfast and the people who formerly lived in your home.  If you put that scrapbook in a common area of the house, guests will be able to enjoy looking at the pages to get a sense of the history of the place they are staying in.

Guests love staying in places that have a fascinating history. Perhaps someone famous owned (or stayed at) your bed and breakfast.  You can mention that on your website and you can refer to that in a blog post.  Highlight the things that make your bed and breakfast unique and you will attract more visitors!

Posted in History