Haunted B&Bs are extremely popular, and many guests hoping for a glimpse of the afterlife or a good scare specifically seek them out. Regardless of how you feel, having a spectral visitor at your B&B can be a great selling point. Today, we came across an article from Snow Hill Maryland about a B&B, which includes a resident ghost, being sold at a public auction.

According to writer Mindy Burgoyne, the ghost has been seen and felt by many people, and ‘Innkeepers, contractors, guests, children, employees and towns people all have stories of the young man who roams the halls of the Inn, locking doors, opening windows, turning lights off and on, setting fire alarms, appearing in mirrors, shaking beds with sleeping guests in them, extinguishing candles, lighting the fireplaces and more’.

This scenario raises some interesting questions about spooks, real estate and the general traits that make a building a good B&B. Prior to the auction, the Snow Hill Inn was actually advertised under the tag line, ‘The Ghost of Snow Hill Inn’ on the local real estate listing website. What’s curious, is many supposedly haunted homes are often impossible to sell. There have been several court cases where real estate contracts were voided in courts of law due to hauntings, and many homes been declared legally haunted.

Why are ghosts considered a nuisance and problem in the real estate world, except when it comes to B&Bs? Is there something about innkeepers and B&B guests that strays from the norm, and lets them turn everyone else’s lemons into lemonade? Has anyone specifically sought out a haunted house to turn into B&B, knowing how popular they are? We’d love to hear from innkeepers who sought out a haunted space, and B&B guests who’ve done the same.

Whenever innkeepers talk shop there are always a few topics that come up, and one of the most common is cleaning. Whether innkeepers love cleaning or hate it, everyone agrees that cleaning day in and day out will make you an expert efficient cleaner. Here at BnBFinder, we unfortunately are not cleaning experts. The last few weeks in Manhattan have been brutally humid, and we’ve been keeping the windows sealed up tight which is great for keeping cool, but terrible when you are trying to clean the office. The main culprit is the chemical smelling cleaning products we’ve been using, which do the job, but smell terrible, give everyone in the office headaches and are also terrible for the planet.

Simone, our do-it-all BnBFinder guru went on the search for a better way to clean the office, and thanks to the innkeepers at the very lovely and very green Shambhala Ranch, she struck gold. Truth be told, cleaning products aren’t usually a source of much excitement for us, but Thieves Household Cleaner is really brilliant. It smells organically wonderful, without being overpowering, and has a cool background story.

According to Young Living, the makers of Thieves:

Europeans began producing essential oils in the 12th century. During the Plague of the 15th century, certain thieves were able to rob the dead without fear of becoming infected by the terrible disease. After being captured and charged with robbing the dead and dying victims of the plague, the thieves were offered a deal. The magistrate offered them leniency if they would reveal how they managed to avoid contracting the dreaded infection, in spite of their close proximity with the infected corpses. They disclosed that they were perfumers and spice traders, and that they had rubbed themselves with a concoction of aromatic herbs, notably cinnamon, and clove.

Thieves Household Cleaner can be used to clean nearly anything in the home, and we used it to clean the sink in the kitchen which has never looked better and given zero headaches. If you are looking for a ‘greener’ way to clean your inn, Thieves might be what you’ve been looking for.

If anyone else has suggestions for cleaning products that really get the job done, please leave us a comment in the comments section below.

After our post of a few days ago, inquiring about the best way to make thick cookies, one reader was so impressed with the overwhelming response from innkeepers she brought us a question of her own.

‘How can I make my scrambled eggs fluffy?’

That’s a mystery to us, and making fluffy eggs is what separates the guests from the innkeepers. Is it a matter of physics, or the touch of a master chef? It isn’t easy! If anyone is able to give a good answer to this question, it would be the inn keeping community. Diner owners may be the only other group on the planet with as much experience cooking perfect eggs as innkeepers.

The best eggs I’ve had were at the Short Stop Diner somewhere in the wilds of New Jersey. They were famous for serving ‘Eggs in the Skillet’, which is a wonderful novelty to a child. Just don’t grab the handle! They had fluffy eggs, and I think their secret was the 2-3 pounds of butter per egg in each skillet.

What are the most popular ways that guests at B&Bs enjoy them? Is it regional? Here in NYC, a scrambled egg sandwich comes standard with salt, pepper and ketchup, but I know in other parts of the country it’s hot sauce. Until receiving this question, we had never really pondered the breadth, depth and usefulness of eggs, especially to innkeepers.

Please leave us a comment below to help out a fellow innkeeper, and lets talk about eggs. Goo goo g’joob.

Running an inn has more than its’ share of rewards, but I’ve never spoken to an innkeeper who would classify it as an easy job. Last year, we got to see Tori and Dean screw up again and again on their reality tv hit ‘Dean and Tori - Inn Love’. We’ve just received word that a new B&B based reality show is currently filming at an inn somewhere in Tennessee with a motley crew of perennial reality tv show stars as the innkeepers. We’re taking odds here at BnBFinder. Will it be breakfast in bed…or will they wreck it instead?

The show is called Outsider’s Inn, and will begin airing on Country Music Television August 15, 2008. The trio of innkeepers include Ms. Maureen (’Marcia Brady’) McCormick, who is also an accomplished country singer. Carnie (’Wilson-Phillips Alum and daughter of Beach Boy Brian’) Wilson and Bobby (’New Edition married to Whitney Houston’) Brown. Each of the three will have their own specific duties while making the inn run smoothly. Ms. McCormick is the head innkeeper, Bobby Brown is the entertainment director and Carnie Wilson will take over kitchen duties as head chef.

Entertainment director? The challenges each week will involve ‘eclectic houseguests’ which would seem to be a step towards the ‘reality’ of reality programming. You can be certain we’ll be following Outsider’s Inn very closely, as we know most of you will as well [This has nothing to do with a certain persons long standing crush on the eldest Brady sister] . This is exciting news, and will absolutely put the idea of staying at a B&B in front of more and more people. As always, we’ll let you know whenever we hear anything new.

Are there any innkeepers out their who think there inn would make a fun reality show?

Lucie Regensdorf, innkeeper at Grady House in High Springs, Florida was recently announced as the winner of the Emeril Live National Sweepstakes from The Food Network. How cool is that? Lucie will be traveling to NYC to see epicurean warriors duke it out live at a taping of ‘Iron Chef’. She’ll also be having dinner at Emeril’s restaurant in Orlando, on Emeril and The Food Network. Congratulations Lucie, stop by and say ‘Hello’ when you get to NYC. Lucie told The High Springs Herald:

“I love cooking. Owning a bed and breakfast was a dream for many years.”

That’s one happy innkeeper. Lucie plans to take full advantage of her great luck by making the most of this PR opportunity for her inn. She explained, ‘The fact that I own a bed and breakfast and can talk to people could open up doors”. Make sure you don’t head back to Florida without visiting Dominic and having a slice of the world’s best pizza at DiFara.

Grady House Bed and Breakfast in The Highspring Herald

From time to time here at BnBFinder, innkeepers will get in touch with us because they have a question about some aspect of the inn business. We’re accustomed to handling inquiries about marketing your B&B, how search engines really work,what a Babymoon is and what the weather is like in NYC. Yesterday an innkeeper got in touch with a query that has us stumped, so we’re looking for your assistance to find an answer.

“How do you make thick cookies? How do other innkeepers keep them from spreading out in the pan?”

Considering the recipes and photos we see daily from all of you innkeepers out there, we’re absolutely confident that someone out there has the answers. Please take a second and leave a comment if you have some advice to share. Thanks!

I’ve always had a fascination with everything English. From Jane Austen and The Brontes to Croquet, Branston Pickle and footie; I love them all. There are many things that the UK does very well, and B&Bs fall in this category. I recently discovered that the AA (which is akin to Triple A stateside) gives out yearly awards for outstanding B&Bs throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales similar to BnBFinders’ own ‘Guest Favorite Awards’ .

It’s the usual British panache and style that make their ‘AA’ awards something worth talking about. The awards the ‘AA’ gives out are brilliant. Awards are given for ‘Friendliest Landlady of the Year’ (remember in the UK Landlord/Landlady stand in for the unisex innkeeper we use stateside), which was won by Miss Rosemary Reeves who grows her own flowers to place around the inn, one of many special touches she is known for. There is an award for the ‘Funkiest B&B of the Year’. What exactly defines ‘funky’? The 2008 winner, the Crazy Bear boasts a check in desk situated in a former Double Decker bus, statues, zebra stripes and plants everywhere as well as a dual English and Thai restaurant on the premises.

An award is given for ‘Most Family Friendly B&B’ as well, which the ‘AA’ hopes will reiterate that B&Bs are a great place for a family trips. More traditional awards are doled out as well including Best B&B in London, and Best B&B in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

This year marks the 100th Year of the ‘AA’, and a black tie gala is being held to honor the winners. Again, I find myself enamored with something English. I love that the ‘AA’ recognizes ‘Funky’ and ‘Friendly’ as award worthy adjectives to strive for, and that B&Bs are given the black tie treatment along with chefs and other hospitality professionals. It’s very cool.

I’m wondering which B&Bs in the US would win these awards? I have some ideas, but we’d love to hear about your choices in the comments section. I personally know a few very funky, and very wonderful inns. In addition we know many family friendly B&Bs as well. Leave a comment and tell us who you think deserves an award outside the norm or who would look the best in black tie.

Patricia McDaniel, founder of The Fifth Annual Historic National Road Yard Sale, took a 60 day drive along Interstate 40, staying at B&Bs along the way. She had some great things to say about her accommodations, and some advice for innkeepers as well. McDaniel explained that she prefers B&Bs that have a ‘buffet’ style breakfast because “I could fix what I wanted”. She also doted on the kindness shown to her by innkeepers and their animal friends during her trip. Her B&B etiquette is outstanding as well, even after being stranded one evening, “The night manager let me email my host and hostess (at the bed and breakfast) that I’d be quite late … “. We know innkeepers really appreciate the courtesy if guests are running late!

Patricia McDaniel’s one problem with B&Bs? “If I get another breakfast casserole, I’m going to gag.” You can read the article about Patricia’s trip and the kindness shown to her by innkeepers in the article below from the Palladium-Item.

America’s Largest Yard Sale

http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080527/NEWS01/805270301

Riddle me this inn-goers…remember the campy Batman television show from the 60’s? Sure you do. As a kid, I was always amazed when Batman would hide down in the Batcave, watching a bank of cardboard video monitors, surveying his estate from hidden video cameras placed everywhere. It seems nearly quaint compared to the technology available to the average consumer currently. Wireless video transmission is nothing all that ground breaking, but until very recently it was the financially out of the reach of everyone but professional news organizations who could justify such a hefty investment. In the last few years, the price of wireless, internet ready video cameras has dipped below the $100 USD mark. These cameras are tiny, cheap, shoot amazing video and are simple to setup. People anywhere in the world can access the feeds from their home computer.

Yesterday, we were working on a project here at BnBFinder that had us visiting dozens of inns websites, and we noticed something cool and innovative that some innkeepers were doing. On several of the B&B sites we visited, we noticed the innkeepers had set up video cameras streaming the gorgeous views at some pristine locations around the world. We were mesmerized.

So many B&Bs are located in places that are beautiful, breathtaking and one of a kind. That’s why we love them. For those of us not lucky enough to be innkeepers, and enjoy nature at it’s best every day (say those of who live in…Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens), the view from a webcam is a nice escape. Still photos are amazing, but there really is something cool about watching the ocean ripple and the trees move 3,000 miles from where you are. It makes every apartment a Bat Cave.

We’ve picked out two amazing inns that have live webcams we’d love to share with you, from the dramatic cliff ringed coast off of Mendocino, California. As a brief aside, The Hill House Inn was also the setting for television show ‘Murder She Wrote’. With some careful watching it might be possible to spot Angela Lansbury solving a thriller!

Hill House Inn Live Webcam Mendocino, CA

Agate Cove Inn Live WebcamMendocino, CA

On the East Coast, the Pilgrim House Inn Bed and Breakfast has a camera on their third floor deck overlooking Newport harbor. You can see the masts of the racing boats bobbing up and down in the harbor. It’s like looking into a live painting of the perfect New England fishing town.

The Pilgrim House Inn Bed and Breakfast

We’d love to hear from other innkeepers who are using web cams to share their views with the world, so as always please get in touch. We hope everyone has a fun, safe and busy Memorial Day Weekend.

We were recently discussing some of our personal experiences staying at B&Bs around the water cooler here at BnBFinder (Full Disclosure, we actually have a Brita in the refrigerator, not a water cooler), and my first experience staying at a B&B was great, but it’s not that interesting of a story. The room was great, the innkeepers were funny and I slept in and missed breakfast. A much more interesting story is the first time I didn’t stay at a B&B.

It was 1995, and I had just landed in Prague, capital of the newly formed Czech Republic. I was 19 and had done a fair bit of traveling, and naively considered myself someone who ‘knew the ropes’ and could bounce from country to country with little planning, and even less money. Prague was heavy in the throes of shaking off communism, and had a cosmopolitan flair mixed with a wild west energy. It was the perfect time to be young and explore the city, and I figured finding a room in Prague would be simple, as it was in the rest of Europe.

Prior to entering the free market, Intourist was the official travel and hotel purveyor of much of the Eastern Bloc, and while apparently efficient, one skill they hadn’t mastered was building a decent hotel. A few concrete hulks were located around the city, but they reminded me more of Alcatraz than the Downtown Hilton. Growing up as a Reagan era kid from New York, I let my delusions run wild and knew that if I got a room for the night at Intourist it was even money I would wake up in the Gulags smelting brass to make statues of Lenin. Remember, I’m 19.

I wandered Prague and the few people I met who spoke English explained that in the Czech Republic, hotels weren’t where people stayed. They stayed at B&Bs, most of which were located in private homes throughout the city. I had heard of B&Bs back in NYC, and the parents of one my close friends had been debating about opening one for a while, so I had a vague notion of what they were about. My new English speaking friends were fantastic. They brought me to a bar deep under the streets of Prague, located in a subterranean cave that was lit by torches, and served Absinthe and sugar cubes with 18 Century slotted silver spoons designed for the purpose. Afterwards, we piled into someones jalopy and drove out of the city, past what looked like a Czech Levittown, and up to the top of a mountain. Hanging off the side of this mountain, overlooking Prague’s castles, bridges and stars was a wooden deck several hundred yards long, filled with picnic tables and Czechs of all ages hoisting giant beers. Steins of Pilnser Urquell were the equivalent of one US nickel, and the bar also sold half roasted chickens for a dime and the best garlic pickles I’ve ever had to this day. After a few hours of being introduced to what must have been most of the residents of Prague, I was exhausted and ready for bed.

Unfortunately, I had neglected to make any arrangements and lost track of time. When I informed my new friends, who now consisted of about 175 very drunk Czechs of all ages, they began to discuss my options, loudly, in Czech. A small, well dressed man stepped forward and explained to me in halting English, that he was the proprietor of a small inn, located not far from where we were standing right at that very moment. I felt that fortune had smiled upon me, and this would be the perfect end to a perfect day of traveling. The man, who resembled Mr. Bean, walked me out to the turnoff in the dirt road that served as the parking lot for the bar, and beckoned me to have a seat on something that wasn’t quite a motorcycle, but more of a bicycle with a lawnmower engine attached. I was nervous, but we rode into the night, through the woods, dodging cars and singing Bee Gees songs, and eventually came to a ramshackle cottage in a clearing in the woods. It was completely dark, so there could have been other homes nearby, but I felt as though I had wandered into a fairy tale and had gotten myself into big trouble. Paranoia took over.

Mr. Bean motioned for me to come inside his shack. I turned and ran into the Czech woods. Mr. Bean grabbed something off a table inside his front door and began chasing me into the woods, screaming, ‘Stop! Stop! I am a hotelier!’. I ran faster, tripping over roots and branches until I decided to hide in a hollow between some trees. I saw Mr. Bean walk past me, holding a set of formerly clean bed linens in his hand bellowing, ‘I am a Hotelier! I am a Hotelier!’. At some point he must have given up looking for the crazy American, because the next thing I knew it was morning and I was covered in dew watching the sun come up over the Castle in Prague.

In hindsight, I imagine I was being young and paranoid, because I’ve never visited anywhere with people as forthright and friendly as the Czech Republic, and I still count some people I met on that initial trip among my close friends. That’s the first time I didn’t stay at a Bed and Breakfast, and the last time an innkeeper chased me through the woods with bed linens, loudly declaiming his profession. -Michael