INNfo

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Volume 2, Issue 15


PAII News & Announcements:
PAII Headquarters and New Jersey Inns "Thankful" After Nor'easter

On Sunday and Monday, the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states were hit with a major nor'easter. New Jersey, where PAII's HQ resides, found itself in state of emergency by Monday morning. The storm system was responsible for hundreds of cancelled/delayed flights, severe flooding in several states, and at least one death when a tornado touched-down Sunday morning. Heavy rain, high winds, and high tides were especially evident at the Jersey shore, contributing to fallen utility wires, trees, and signs.

Thankfully, PAII member inns we spoke with are doing fine after the storm. In Cape May, NJ, the Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast (www.queenvictoria.com) "had a few branches fall." But as of Monday afternoon, Queen Victoria told PAII, "It's beautiful here and we have the sun shining again....Thankfully, we had no cancellations because of the nor'easter." Similarly, the Haddonfield Inn in Haddonfield, NJ (www.haddonfieldinn.com) fared well through the storm system, citing some local river flooding, but overall, "not too bad."
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PAII Membership Minutes:
Attention Interim Innkeepers & Pennsylvania Inns

Attention Interim Innkeepers
PAII has turned over its Interim Innkeeper Certificate program to the Interim Innkeepers Network (IIN) to facilitate. They have blended PAII's training requirements with their own to provide a very comprehensive certification program. IIN will closely monitor the issue and renewal process each year. Any interim innkeepers with a PAII certification more than one year old should contact IIN directly for renewal and recertification. Please contact Rosie Seidelmann, President of IIN, for details at lvit2us@aol.com. Visit www.interiminnkeepers.net for more information on IIN.

Attention Pennsylvania Inns



ServSafe Class Offered in Lancaster
The PA Tourism & Lodging Association is proud to sponsor the following ServSafe class:

Monday, May 21, 2007
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Lancaster Center-Central Pennsylvania College
1905 Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster, PA 19602
717.393.0779

PTLA Member = $125.00
Non-member = $165.00

All registrations must be received by April 27, 2007. There will be no exceptions.
Textbooks will be mailed to you on Monday, May 7, 2007.
Please complete the registration form (PDF).
You may mail or fax the form.
Payment must be received with registration.

All classes are one day, 8 hours. Length of entire course is 15 hours. This includes 7.5 hours of self/home study prior to the date of each one-day seminar. All course applicants must certify they have participated in 7.5 hours of home study prior to taking this course.

For more information contact Mark Krotulski at 717.232.8880 x102, or by e-mail at markk@patourism.org.
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PAII Forum Digest:
Cashier's Checks & Money Orders, Website Pictures, & More!
If you have not had time to log on to the Forum located in the Members Only section of www.paii.org,
here are some of the interesting topics that have been discussed this past week.

Do You Take Cashier's Checks & Money Orders?
I received a call a couple of days ago from someone in Florida who wanted to book four nights. However, she would only pay with a cashier's check or money order and would not use a personal check or credit card. I declined, as it sounded suspicious to me. Any thoughts? This is not the usual UK scenario.

Website Pictures
I'd like to add a few thoughts in addition to all the helpful comments already posted.

1. Good for you for understanding how important good photos are! They are the number one tool for converting lookers to bookers, so get the very best photographers you can afford. Be sure to talk to innkeepers about the results—good photography combined with a good website tends to generate immediate results in terms of reservations. Spending $5,000 is not expensive if you get the ROI in a couple months; spending $1,000 costs more if you don't see a prompt return on your investment.

2. Interior photography is tricky, so make sure you get someone who understands that your rooms should look great, but not unrecognizable. Photos that are overly staged or make your rooms look much bigger than they really are will generate disappointed and grouchy guests.

3. Go to the Jumping Rocks website and click through on their portfolios to see how they shoot rooms. Note that it's not usually necessary to show the entire bed in the shot, for example.

4. Take seasonal exterior shots yourself so you have photos of your inn in all seasons—with spring blossoms, summer greenery, fall foliage, Christmas decorations, winter snow, etc. Take them in high resolution with a good digital camera. It's not that hard, and the professionals won't be available in every season.

5. Although low-resolution photos are generally used on your website for speedy loading times, make sure you have high resolution photos available for use on print and TV. Innkeepers miss out on a ton of free publicity for lack of quality high-res photos.

6. Video is definitely the NEXT BIG THING (actually it's the current big thing) on websites, so ask if your photographer can also shoot video for you, or if he/she can create a "video" through a montage of high-res photos.

Guest Waivers
We're just about to open our inn in south Georgia, and the insurance carrier says we'll need to have guests sign liability waivers when they ride our bikes or use the canoe. Would anyone be willing to share a copy of the waiver you use for these activities?

Cleaning Jets in a Whirlpool Tub
I'm looking for suggestions on how to keep the pipes of the jets clean in a whirlpool tub. I thought we were taking care of this but had an incident today that resulted in the gunk inside the pipes pouring into the tub when the jets got turned on! And of course it happened to guests, not the housekeeper. Any suggestions/cleaning tips would be greatly appreciated!

Contract King or California King v. Eastern King Beds
If you were buying a king bed, would you buy a Contract King 72' x 80' or a California King 72' x 84'. (Note the Eastern King is the most popular by far which is 76' x 80'.) And which bed maker and style would you buy from whom? Would the California King offer more PR value? What is the availability and price of sheets and feather bed toppers for the California and Contract beds v. the Eastern King?

Bed Sizes & Nightly Rates
We have a small four-guest house B&B that is marketed to adults only for romantic getaways. Does anyone have any thoughts on the value of king size beds versus queens? I would think that there should be a higher nightly rate associated with a king but I'm not sure what is equitable? I would appreciate your comments on this. If everything else is equal what is the size of the larger bed worth, if anything?

How Many Jets for a Whirlpool?
I am purchasing a 72" x 36" whirlpool for one of my suites. I have to decide between six jets or 10. The way I am looking at it is that the purpose of the whirlpool is luxury, romance, and sometimes the need to soothe. So six jets would work fine. Then I can afford a heater to keep the tub constantly warm. Your thoughts please!

Breakfast Quiche
Does anyone know of a good resource for frozen quiche? The only one I can find that's decent is from Costco and it's just okay.

Best Sheets After Washer/Dryer & Thread Count
What do you find as the best sheets at what number thread count for the nicest finish after washing and coming from the dryer? Must they be dried on a cool setting? I still believe I prefer sheets with a bit of poly in them for the nicest feel without wrinkles, but now everything is cotton and I am not too pleased with 300 or under. Just purchased some 300, and after the very first wash they feel quite rough to me. Your advice please.
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PAII Food Feature:
Lookout Point Inn's Ham & Cheese Rolled Omelet
Let us feature a recipe from your inn!
Please send your submission (and a photo of the dish if available) to L1simpson@msn.com.

Kristie and Ray Rosset from the Lookout Point Lakeside Inn (www.lookoutpointinn.com) in Hot Springs, AR, offer this delicious, unique recipe for a Ham & Cheese Rolled Omelet. Serves 10.

Ingredients
4 Ounces cream cheese (softened)
3/4 Cup milk
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoon  salt
12 Eggs
2 1/4 Cups shredded cheddar or Swiss cheese
2 Cups cooked ham (finely chopped)
1/2 Cup green or white onions (thinly sliced or chopped)
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Instructions
Line the bottom and sides of a greased 15" x 10" x 1" baking pan with parchment paper.  Grease the paper and set aside. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add flour and salt; mix until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until blended. Add the cream cheese mixture; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until eggs are puffed and set. Remove from oven.

Immediately spread with mustard and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Sprinkle with ham, onions, and 1 cup cheese. Roll up from a short side, peeling parchment paper away while rolling. Sprinkle top of roll with the remaining cheese. Bake 3-4 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
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PAII Pointer:
Spring Screening
Spring is upon us: It's almost time to fling open our windows and enjoy some fresh air! This may be the first time in a few seasons that we've paid attention to how clean our window screens are. Before resorting to wet-cleaning your screens, try vacuuming them! Use an attachment to vacuum up-and-down and then left-to-right, then repeat on the other side.
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About INNfo

INNfo is published weekly. Annual subscription is included in the price of membership.

Publisher
Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII)

Editor-in-Chief
Stacey Bleistein

Production Coordinator
Laura Middleton

Editorial Staff
Laura Middleton, Stacey Bleistein, Karen Hudgeons, Jeanine Zeman

Editorial Suggestions and Contributions
Editorial comments and suggestions are welcomed. In addition, if you have a suggestion or would like to contribute news and announcements for INNfo, please contact INNfo’s Editor-in-Chief, Stacey Bleistein, at 856.310.1102 or stacey@paii.org.

Advertising Rates & Information
Weekly sponsorship ads are available. Please send all inquiries to Marlene Sapir at marlene@paii.org or 856.310.1102. MC/VISA/AMEX/DISCOVER accepted.

Editorial Offices
c/o PAII
207 White Horse Pike
Haddon Heights, NJ 08035
Phone: 856.310.1102 • Fax: 856.310.1105
membership@paii.org • www.paii.org

Title Image Courtesy of Jumping Rocks

©2007INNfo, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the editor.
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