Jane Austen Society

The Jane Austen Society met last night (in full costume) and sent us photos:

 

Changes afoot

Wow, it's February already. We've been open six months, we've met some great people, we've gotten some great reviews, we've had a lot of fun, and we've got 68 people subscribed to our email list--amazing! (Where were you guys three years ago?!)

There are some changes afoot:

• We're rearranging a little, so instead of having "Bill's room" with a full-size bed, we'll have the "South Room" with a queen-size bed, fireplace, and private bath (shower only), for $150/night. The South room is much larger as well.
• We're renaming the "Boys' room" to the "Eastlake room" to reflect the antique Eastlake bedroom set, including two beds, a marble-topped dresser, and a nightstand. Since we're targeting women traveling together, "Boys' room" definitely wasn't appropriate. (I wanted to go with the "Girls' room" but was overruled.)
• I'm no longer involved in the day-to-day activities. Dawn is taking care of it all, with the able assistance of Ruth Hollinger. There's so much to do, from breakfast to marketing, it's hard to believe one person can handle it all, but she's doing fine.
• We've got several new packages available, including chocolate and rose petals, a "fireside" picnic basket, personalized wine bottles, a girlfriend getaway for 2-4 women, dinner in bed, dinner with the Amish (not in bed), couples massage (also not in bed), carriage rides, and hot air balloon rides. We're not marking these services up at all; we're just partnering with local vendors to help our guests make the most of their stay. (I'm hoping that if we can drive enough traffic to these vendors, we can also negotiate discounts for our guests.)
• The wolf sanctuary has started a new program, "By the light of the moon," where the public is invited to come after dark, sit around the campfire, and commune with the wolves. This is offered once a month, on the Saturday closest to the full moon, and we hope our guests will take advantage of this.
• We're implementing a two-day minimum on weekends for the cottages. We always thought B&Bs had minimum stays because they were greedy, but it turns out it's just too much work to turn over all the rooms on a busy weekend. The rooms in the mansion will still be available for one night stands. (Uh, perhaps I should rephrase that.)
• I'm overhauling the "itineraries" section to map out all of the attractions, and allow visitors to create and print their own custom itineraries complete with description, hours, and location maps. So far it looks pretty good, but I'm having problems with Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, I accidentally rolled out a beta version and wiped out the old itineraries section, so I apologize in advance if you have any problems. I am working on it.

Well, I think that's enough change for six months. Hopefully in another six months we'll have the back porch restored, so you can sit in a rocking chair and enjoy the fireflies and the cicadas. (It will be screened in, of course.)

Don't forget, in honor of black history month, we're giving away two free tickets to the Underground Railroad Experience if you stay two nights, including a Friday or Saturday. We're even mentioned in a press release on B&Bs with Underground Railroad ties.

We're also hosting a meeting of the local Jane Austen society on Tuesday, February 20, in full Victorian costume! If you're a fan of the author, please join us.

And as always, we're always looking for ways to improve, so if you have any suggestions, ideas, or feedback, please let us know. Thanks!