B&Bs; Becoming a Business Travel Option

The boom in bed and breakfast innkeeping has had a spinoff effect for business travelers. As the number of inns has mushroomed to between 15,000 and 20,000, from fewer than 1,000 a decade ago, competition has increased, and a growing number of inns are looking for ways to attract midweek business travelers to help boost their occupancy rates.

As a result, small bed and breakfasts, once known for their parlor ambience or their gourmet breakfasts, are now advertising fax machines, computer hookups, the latest in audiovisual equipment and ergonomic chairs.

This shift comes at a time when a segment of the business travel market is already looking for alternatives to large corporate hotels.

“In late 1987, we saw a shift (in corporate travel) beginning to happen,” said Ron Callari, a former executive with Marriott Hotels. “We were beginning to see professionals looking for more intimate, smaller facilities.”

In some cases, companies were trying to find places for retreats or workshops to focus on strategic planning or team building in a private atmosphere. Other travelers, especially women on business, wanted a place that offered a greater sense of security. And some companies wanted the exclusivity and service that comes with being able to book every room in the place.

Sensing a market opportunity, Callari struck out on his own to form INNovations Inc. in Cranford, N.J., one of the first sales and marketing agencies for inns wanting to capitalize on the business travel and meeting marketplace. By 1992, he was booking more than 600 meetings a year into inns or bed and breakfasts.

A recent survey Callari conducted showed that between 25% and 35% of Fortune 500 companies have used a bed and breakfast or inn for business travel at least once.

And the number appears to be growing. Urban area inns report about 23% of their guests are now business travelers, said Pat Hardy, co-executive director of the Professional Assn. of Innkeepers International in Santa Barbara. Although this is the first year the association has surveyed its members regarding business travelers, Hardy said her conversations with innkeepers indicate business travel is up.

One reason many more inns are going after the business travel market is the demographics of people running inns. Until a few years ago, innkeeping was a cottage industry, run largely by retired people. But with the wave of corporate downsizings and restructurings that started in the 1980s, many mid-career professionals looking for a lifestyle change began running bed and breakfasts. They brought with them not just professional skills, but the desire to make the inns profitable businesses, Callari said.

Indeed, according to statistics kept by the Professional Assn. of Innkeepers International, the majority of innkeepers today are between 40 and 55 years old. More than 75% are college graduates who came out of executive, administrative, computer, professional, sales education or human services jobs.

“Innkeepers have become more sophisticated in their handling of guests,” Hardy said.

But the most difficult aspect of building the business marketplace has been dispelling the image that all inns and bed and breakfasts still have shared baths and no phones or other technological amenities.

That may have been true a few years ago, when only about 26% of inns even had phones in the rooms. By 1992, however, more than 65% of inns in urban areas had telephones, and 42% had fax machines on the premises.

So far, about 40% of inns and bed and breakfasts have done the kind of upgrading necessary to attract business clients, Callari said.

For example, Linda Davies, who runs the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara, said all her rooms have telephones with extra jacks for fax machines.

Rooms also have tables or desks, coffee machines, refrigerators and whirlpool baths.

Midweek, about half the guests are there on business, she said. “And I do feel like it’s growing.”

But inns are having to fight for the business. “In general, people would like to have more corporate travel midweek,” she said. “But it’s a difficult market to break into.”

Jan Martin Winn, who runs the Upham Hotel & Cottages in Santa Barbara, went after corporate business several years ago when several new, large stores were going into Santa Barbara’s downtown mall. Executives from Nordstrom and Sharper Image began staying there and have continued whenever they are in town, she said.

“I see it growing right now,” she said. “But it’s taken a lot of hard work focusing on the corporate traveler.”

Bed and breakfast guides are also making it easier to locate business rooms in smaller inns. The “Professional Inn Guide” from Colburn Press in New Jersey will be available in bookstores soon. (It is available now by writing P.O. Box 356, Montvale, NJ 97645.)

And Pamela Lanier’s “Complete Guide to Bed & Breakfasts, Inns & Guesthouses in the United States and Canada” (Lanier Publishing) now has a section on inns with conference facilities. The next edition will have a section on inns and bed and breakfasts with business amenities, Lanier said.

Lanier Publishing also has its bed and breakfast guide available on-line through CompuServe. In addition to providing listings of inns that offer business services, the new service has an Inn Forum, through which users can communicate about their inn experiences. (For more information, contact Lanier Publishing International at (510) 644-8018.)

Business B&Bs;

Here is a sampling of inns and bed and breakfasts in the United States that have conference facilities.

UPHAM HOTEL & COTTAGES 1404 De la Vina St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 962-0058 Victorian hotel with cottages. Cottage rooms have patios and fireplaces. Serves complimentary wine and cheese at fireplace in lobby. Also has complimentary coffee, tea and newspapers. Corporate rates available. (39 rooms)

PETITE AUBERGE 863 Bush St., San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 928-6000 French country-style inn near Union Square. Offers afternoon wine and full breakfast. Located near cable car line. (26 rooms)

POWER’S MANSION INN 1910 Rockwood Drive, Auburn, CA 95864 (916) 885-1166 Built in 1885. Serves full breakfast, complimentary wine and snacks. Third night is 50% off. (13 rooms)

COBBLESTONE INN P.O. Box 3185, Carmel, CA 93921 (408) 625-5222 Country inn in English garden setting. Sitting room, full breakfast, wine and hors d’oeuvres. (24 rooms)

FOUNTAIN HALL B&B; 609 S. East St., Culpeper, VA 22701 (800) 476-2944 In historic town near Washington and Charlottesville. Golf available nearby. Breakfast, complimentary beverages. (5 rooms)

TEN ACRES LODGE 14 Barrows Road, Stowe, VT 05672 (800) 327-7357 Full breakfast buffet. Pool. Hill house and cottages available. During non-peak season, second night is 50% off. (16 rooms)

Source: “The Complete Guide to Bed & Breakfasts, Inns & Guesthouses in the United States and Canada,” 11th edition. Lanier Publishing, P.O. Box 20429, Oakland, CA 94620, (510) 644-8018.