Professional Association of Innkeepers Int'l

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Volume 2, Issue 20

PAII News & Announcements:
PAII Office Closed on Memorial Day

The PAII Office will be closed on May 28th in observance of Memorial Day. Please have a wonderful day and pay tribute to our men and women in our armed services. We will be back in the office on Tuesday, May 29th.
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PAII Membership Minutes:
Travel Exchange Program

PAII's Travel Exchange allows innkeepers to take advantage of the generosity of their fellow members by exchanging affordable vacation options. Participating inns agree that they will either offer free lodging, lodging on an exchange basis, or 50% off to any PAII innkeeper on a space-available basis.

If a fellow innkeeper wants to stay at your place and you're pretty sure you'd like to stay at their place, you arrange to swap room nights.
If they would like to stay with you, but you think it is unlikely that you would ever stay at their place, consider seasonal factors and your occupancy during the timeframe they intend to visit, and then decide whether to comp' or discount the room.
If they are asking for a room during a very slow period when you know it's likely that you would have a vacant room anyway, you may want to charge just enough to cover your costs (breakfast and laundry).
If they are staying in a "shoulder season" or mid-week, where there's a 50/50 chance the room would be rented at full profit, you might want to charge cost plus 50% of whatever profit you would normally be getting.
If they want to stay during your busiest season, or on a weekend when you know you are normally sold out, then it isn't uncommon to say, "Gee, that's just not a time when I can give a discount," and encourage them to come at a different time.

We hope that through PAII's Travel Exchange, you will meet other innkeepers, become friendly with one another, and you'll have the opportunity to gain perspective from the guests' point of view.

If you would like to be part of the Travel Exchange throughout 2007, or you aren't sure if you are already signed up, all you have to do is go into your member record and check off the Travel Exchange box which is located on the organization page under "Affiliations." If you would like to be removed from the existing list, simply go into your record at any time and uncheck the box.
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PAII Forum Digest:
Guest Review on Bedandbreakfast.com, & 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.

Guest Review on Bedandbreakfast.com
A guest who apparently stayed at our inn a year ago posted a review last Friday on bedandbreakfast.com. While the review was very nice and praised our hospitality, our breakfasts, and the peace and quiet of the inn, the reviewer mentioned that their room and bathroom were small. While I appreciate the fact that bedandbreakfast.com sent us an email to let us know that a review has been posted, and that they made it easy for us to post a response to the review, it's very frustrating to have our inn misrepresented to a potentially huge audience in this way -- and by a guest who wasn't even complaining! He or she presented information that is factually inaccurate.

Your Experiences with Property Management Software (No Vendors, Please)
We were aspiring innkeepers at the convention, and have finally found a 6-room B&B and should be closing on June 29th (YAY!). We have been getting sales pitches and marketing materials online, but would be interested in hearing from actual innkeepers about what you like and (especially) what you don't like. Thanks in advance!

Potato Nests
HELP!! I am failing at many attempts to make these with the proper wire basket. Purchased the basket from a kitchen site online. The potato stuck to the wires so badly I ended up with only bits and pieces. Added egg, flour to the recipe (first, only the shredded potato per the recipe) still without luck. Tried the sieve and muffin tin method—not what I want. Has anyone used the wire basket for this purpose with success? In case you don't know about this do a search online. Great presentation for scrambled eggs, scallops, etc.

Guests Moving Furniture
I had a friend tell me that one of her guests ( an interior decorator) had given her LOTS and LOTS of suggestions for her B&B, but weren't things she was interested in doing—Well lo and behold—this same guest came to my inn this last weekend, but instead of telling me anything, SHE MOVED ALL MY FURNITURE AROUND. Have any of you had this happen to you?

Announcement: Share the Excitement: We Are Open!
OK...after many many months of construction and renovations we did a "soft" opening with one guest room in early February. The second room opened in early April and our third room last week. We are having a "Grand Opening" Open House this weekend (one on Friday for town officials and the business community and one on Saturday for the general public). Anyway, the local paper did a nice article on us. http://www.ledgertranscript.com/2007/stories/2_feature_051507.shtml

The Pastor's Scam
Recevied this scam today. Too bad when people pose as clergy. The following has all the tell-tale signs of a scam. Beware everyone! "I am Pastor Reuben Peterson. I need to book 2 double rooms accommodation for me and my family coming for vacation in your country within the month of June, 2007 and we will be staying for 10 nights. Please kindly send me your lists of available dates for 10 nights in the month of June so that i can proceed with booking reservations."

Bedandbreakfast.com Online Bookings
Would very much appreciate feedback from innkeepers participating in this program with bedandbreakfast.com/Expedia etc.. We are planning on testing it in the coming weeks but would really like to hear from innkeepers who are using it in terms of filling guest rooms vs. the significant commission. Thanks in advance.

Tori & Dean Inn Love...Episodes 107 & 108
Two new episodes of Tori & Dean Inn Love on the Oxygen Network. Number 107 dealt with the first day with paying guests. They hadn't finished cleaning from the gala event the night before, when the guests from hell arrive. The first pair arrives 2 hours before check in time. Another couple brought an unexpected child. Then a male couple arrive—Tori & Dean think the reservation had been cancelled and thus had overbooked the house, so they give up their room and move to the carriage house/nursery. They play butler, go-fer, and party host and basically think their job is to entertain and wait on the guests hand and foot. Number 108 has the guests in the house with no hosts. Friends are called to take over and have no clue what to do, so they stop at a gas station and pick up snacks. They arrive to a kitchen in chaos and throw up their hands in defeat, give the guests the boot—and a free night, then they hit the liquor cabinet.
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PAII Food Feature:
Victorian Treasure Inn' s Hazelnut Scones with Strawberry Sauce
Let us feature a recipe from your inn!
Please send your submission (and a photo of the dish if available) to L1simpson@msn.com.

The Victorian Treasure Inn (www.victoriantreasure.com) in Lodi, WI offers this delicious recipe for Hazelnut Scones with Strawberry Sauce. Four Servings

Scones:
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toast hazelnuts on a sheet pan approximately 5 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Put flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like fine granules. Stir in brown sugar and hazelnuts. Add milk and stir until a soft dough forms.

Scoop four portions of dough and drop 2 inches apart onto an ungreased sheet pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until very lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

Strawberry Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup frozen strawberries, cut in half
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Bring sugar and water to simmer on medium heat. Reduce to half. Add frozen strawberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place in refrigerator. When cool, add fresh strawberries. Pour 1/2 cup of sauce into serving bowl, place scone on top, and drizzle with additional sauce. Can be garnished with frsh sliced strawberries, drizzled chocolate sauce, and/or a small scoop of ice cream or sorbet.
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PAII Pointer:
Blades of Glory

Memorial Day kick starts the glorious days of summer,
and perhaps our remembering that our ceiling fans
are in need of a good dusting. Use two cloths for this
task: Spray the first cloth and wipe one blade
(spraying the cloth is safer than spraying the blade),
then use the second cloth (also sprayed) to finish the
job. Repeat for each blade.
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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, Laura Middleton, at 856.310.1102 or Laura@paii.org.

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Editorial Offices
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Phone: 856.310.1102 • Fax: 856.310.1105
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