blog @ stone lion cape cod » Innkeeping

May Already?

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:48:42 +0000

I honestly don’t know where spring goes. It seems like one day it’s winter and the next thing I know the calendar is filling up and I have guests more days than not. Even though summer is considered to be the “busy season” here, in many ways spring is busier because there are certain things that have to be done every year but can only be done during this span of a few weeks when the weather is warming up and before the crowds descend.

This has been an especially busy spring here at The Stone Lion Inn. If you’ve wondered why the blog hasn’t been updated in a while, here’s what I’ve been up to…

I’ve had some necessary projects taken care of, including having the exterior of the house power washed and one side painted, having the foundation re-pointed (it’s disturbing to look at your foundation and think “gee, there ought to be a lot more mortar between those bricks…”) and having a cobblestone apron installed at the base of the driveway.

The apron at the entry to the driveway really improves curb appeal.

While I was having cobblestone work done I also had a transition added between the gravel driveway and the brick patio at the front of the house. The way the patio ended had bothered me for a long time, I think this is a major improvement.

Cobblestone made a neat transition from the brick patio to the gravel driveway.

Most of the shutters on the house are in terrible condition so I made the decision to order new ones and to go with real wood. I looked at the vinyl ones which are much less expensive, but they’re too ugly to contemplate putting on this beautiful house. The new shutters should be here in a week or two.

Massachusetts put together a “cash for appliances” program this year using stimulus funds to entice people to replace old, energy hog appliances with new, more efficient models. I am taking advantage of that to get a new washing machine and a new refrigerator, those will be here sometime next week (I think). The washer will be an easy replacement, the refrigerator less so. In addition to removing the contents and doing a major purge, which badly needs to be done, all the photos, postcards, magnets, etc. plus a cool, funky spice rack on the outside have to be removed and placed on the new fridge. Wish me luck.

Spring is also time for hiring new staff. My housekeeper of over a year quit in February so I was starting from scratch. My first hire worked three shifts and vanished. The two I’ve hired since then are still here… keeping my fingers crossed that doesn’t change. I don’t enjoy the interview process and training is exhausting. I’ll need to advertise for and hire one more housekeeper before the season gets into full swing, that’s a task for next week.

Other things I’ve been doing/having done: researched & ordered new towels, upgraded all the shower heads to a much better model (partly in response to a reviewer comment but something I’d been thinking about anyway), had the unfinished 2nd gazebo in the back yard taken down & removed, had a leaky skylight in the apartment bathroom replaced & repaired the ceiling around that, re-caulked and repainted the stairs, did a major wall patch in the deluxe queen room and several less major ones in one of the front bedrooms which then got a complete new paint job (same color, though), framed some new artwork and made substitutions in various places; had a new light fixture installed in the vestibule and a new ceiling fan/light installed in the kitchen, purchased new area rugs for three bedrooms, had the motor for the dryer replaced; it died literally DAYS after I ordered the new washer & refrigerator, reviewed/approved an ad for the program for the local theater, had the septic system pumped (annual maintenance), upgraded the modem & wireless router for my internet service… and I’m sure I’m forgetting some things.

I wish I could say I was nearly done with my spring tasks but there’s still a ton of stuff to do outside including mulching, planting, getting the fish pond set up for the summer and rehabbing the yard where that gazebo was. I also need to find new rugs for the 4th bedroom, decide whether to order new t-shirts and if so, what to order, and deal with a half dozen other things I’ve either started or researched but not ordered or made a final decision on.

Whew. I think I need a clone.

A Time and a Season

Janet Loewenstein — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:25:07 +0000

Hard to believe winter is almost over. On the one hand it’s been a long one, on the other, as with each of the years I’ve been doing this, the busy season is approaching all too quickly. As usual, there is a lot to do around here.

This is the time of year when I take a look around and decide what needs to be done either to keep up or to improve the property. There’s always some simple maintenance, like patching plaster and touching up paint, tightening faucets, re-caulking showers (one of my least favorite jobs), etc. That kind of stuff is sort of a no-brainer. Then there are things that should be replaced because they’re showing signs of wear & tear. Some of those things I replace often, like towels. Other things, like area rugs, need to be replaced because after ten years they’re showing signs of wear. The house also needs new shutters, the existing ones are probably original and they’re falling apart. These are the projects I do myself.

Then there are some larger projects with which I need help. To that end I’ve been having what I call “The Running of the Contractors”. It’s kind of like The Running of the Bulls, but different. So far this year that has included a roofing contractor to replace a leaky skylight in the apartment, a masonry contractor to install a cobblestone apron at the front of the driveway (an attempt to keep the stones in the driveway) and a concrete countertop guy to look at replacing the sink counter in my kitchen. The first two of those three projects should be done by the end of this week; I’m still waiting on the countertop estimate to make my decision on that. I’d like to do it, but it’s not critical and I may need to spend the money elsewhere.

I still need to talk to my house painter, there’s exterior painting and power washing that need to be done and I want to see if his crew can install new shutters for me. There’s also some landscaping work that I need to have done, parts of the brick foundation that need to be repointed and a couple of exterior carpentry jobs that can’t wait. Oh, and it’s really all got to be done by the middle of May if not sooner. It’s a small window of time, but with the exception of the kitchen countertop, this is all exterior work that needs to be done in reasonably good weather.

Looking at the above list, I’m well aware of how short time is. No doubt about it, summer is coming.

Anniversary

Janet Loewenstein — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:11:49 +0000

Ten years ago today I checked in my first guests.

I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed, it’s been quite a ride! I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot, met amazing people and am going through a huge transition in my life, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. And how many people can say that about their jobs?

Busy, busy

Janet Loewenstein — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:10:26 +0000

Wow, it’s been a long time since my last post. Suffice it to say, spring has been insanely busy. Partly it’s the normal “I’ve still got projects to do, when did winter end?!” stuff, but I’ve also had guests almost constantly so frequently my entire morning is taken up with breakfast & cleanup. That leaves the afternoon for other work and paperwork. Add to that having the blog moved to a new platform I’ve never used before, and it makes it difficult to concentrate on writing anything.

Let’s call this my ‘test run’. I’ll keep it short and get back to more regular posting now that I know this Wordpress stuff isn’t so scary. And hey, leave a comment now and then, ok? Thanks!

Slice of PAII

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:27:00 +0000

I’m off this week to the PAII* conference in Atlanta. It promises to be three days of information-packed sessions, a busy trade show and (I hope) some time spent with innkeeper friends from other parts of the country.

In other news, my occupancy for the first quarter of this year is up slightly from last year, economy not withstanding. Reservations for the summer are coming in steadily as well. Signs of spring are everywhere, even though the weather has remained chilly. When I get back it will be time to start thinking about yard cleanup and spring projects.

A guest snapped this nifty photo of a hawk at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary a couple of weeks ago and sent it, along with permission to use it here:

Thanks, Mia!

If I learn anything worth reporting at the conference I’ll post about it when I return. Y’all have a great week.

*PAII is the acronym for the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, the trade association for B&B owners and Innkeepers. It’s pronounced “pie”.

Holy Sheet

Janet Loewenstein — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:50:00 +0000

The long search is finally over; I’ve found new sheets that will work for the inn and ordered them. The new sheets are just different enough to require new duvet covers as well, I ordered those two weeks ago from another source. I’ve also decided to put the duvets into storage in the summer and switch to a lighter weight coverlet; that order went in with the sheets. The final piece to the puzzle will be new bed skirts; the ones I’m using now were purchased with and matched the original sheets. They’re just enough off the color of the new sheets & duvet covers to bother me.

I wouldn’t have thought replacing sheets would be this painful, but as it turns out I have a very specific set of criteria and for various reasons it has been difficult to find what I needed. One of my primary issues is that I wanted sheets I don’t have to iron; quite frankly I haven’t the space or the time to iron sheets. That meant I needed a cotton/poly blend sheet. When I opened the inn in 2000, there were a couple of American manufacturers making nice blend sheets and that’s what I bought. Within about two years, however, all the remaining American manufacturers of sheets closed down and all sheets were being brought in from other countries. Well, guess what? Polyester is pretty cheap in the U.S., cheaper than cotton, but in most other countries like China and Pakistan, where a lot of sheets are now being produced, cotton is much cheaper than polyester. For a long time I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why blend sheets had disappeared, until someone made a comment – I’ve forgotten who and what it was – that made the answer crystal clear. If you didn’t know, polyester is a petroleum product; our government was being run by people with interests in the petroleum industry – you do the math. Ergo, 100% cotton sheets became the norm. There were still some institutional-grade blend sheets available, but those were an unacceptable quality for my purposes. It’s only in the last year or two that I’ve started to see a few blend sheets in higher thread counts come back on the market and I finally found ones that I liked.

It’s a relief to no longer have to examine the offerings in every linen/home supply/hospitality catalog that crosses my threshold looking for “the” sheet that will work. I’ve ordered enough sets to get me through 2 – 3 years if I keep an eye out for stains, in a couple of months when my cash flow is a bit better I’ll probably order a few more so I can get 4 – 5 years out of this pattern & style. Given how long I’ve been looking for these, I guess I’ll have to start the search all over again in a year. I can hardly wait.

Two Good Things

Janet Loewenstein — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:22:00 +0000

I almost always have guests on President’s Day weekend, although it may only be two or three rooms. This year for some reason the stars seem to have aligned and deposited Valentine’s Day on the Saturday of the long weekend. As a result, I have a full house for two nights. Woo hoo! I also have a couple of rooms booked for Sunday night, which is a bonus since not everyone gets President’s Day off. Most of the reservations were last minute, all but one came in a week or less before the weekend began. That’s not unusual for winter reservations; people wait for the weather forecast before deciding to drive anywhere.

Edit: I spoke too soon… my one guest coming for a single Saturday just cancelled. Anyone want a last-minute room for tonight?

Edit part 2: Someone called hoping for a room tonight. They got one. The “No Vacancy” sign is back up and all is right with the world.

There’s a couple that has stayed here several days to a week every summer for about five years. They didn’t stay last summer and I actually did notice their absence. He called a couple of weeks ago to reserve a room for this summer and I asked him about last year, he told me they’d taken a special trip for a big birthday and hadn’t had enough vacation time left to allow for a trip to Wellfleet. He seemed pleased to have been missed. This summer he and his wife want to stay for two weeks! Typically I request a 50% deposit to guarantee the reservation, but since this was going to be a fairly big number and because I know some people are struggling, I offered to break up the deposit into two payments for him. He replied that there was no need; when the stock market began to fall he’d liquidated some investment he’d had and that he could think of no better place to put his money than at The Stone Lion Inn.

Most of the time I like what I do. Sometimes, I love it.

Challenging

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:07:00 +0000

I have a guest here who appears to have an extreme case of homophobia. Wouldn’t even consider going to Provincetown where, unlike Wellfleet at the moment, there are good restaurants (the topic of restaurant closings is a whole other post). If there is one thing I can’t tolerate, it’s intolerance – whether it be racial, sexual, social or anything else. This is going to be a long two days of tongue-biting for me in order not to get into an argument with the guest.

I’m resisting the urge to call several of my gay friends and invite them to have breakfast here on Tuesday. It would be fun, though.

Green Travel

Janet Loewenstein — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:41:00 +0000

There has been a lot of talk lately about “going green”. We are all being encouraged to think about our environmental footprint, change our light bulbs, reduce waste, drive less and so forth. There is also a “green” trend in the travel and hospitality industry, and while I think anything that can be done to reduce energy consumption and waste is good, I wonder how many travelers actually choose a lodging establishment based on how “green” it is.

We have been pretty green from the very beginning but I’ve never advertised it because it’s just what I do. To me it isn’t a marketing ploy, it’s how I want to live my life. And we aren’t totally green, there are no solar panels on the house and the property isn’t large enough for a windmill so we are forced to use oil and propane for heat, hot water and drying laundry. Only rarely do I hang anything to dry outside. Our electricity use could probably be reduced by putting in power strips for things like televisions and video decks. I haven’t yet changed over to a water saving front loading washing machine, although I probably will very soon; our current washer is showing definite signs of advancing age. Still, I think I do more than the average homeowner. For anyone interested, here is a list of our green practices:

- Soap/shampoo/lotion dispensers in the bathrooms save on all those little plastic bottles;
- Navy blue towels and colored bed linens so we don’t have to use bleach in the wash;
- Compost almost all fruit/vegetable waste from the kitchen (except in winter);
- Compact fluorescent light bulbs in all lights that burn many hours a day and I’m in the process of changing the bulbs in more places;
- Timers for outdoor lighting;
- Recycling, including bottles, cans, newspapers & cardboard;
- Freecycle(TM) for items we no longer use but that aren’t ready for the trash, like blankets & towels that we change out every couple of years. Pillows and linens that are too stained or worn for human use go to an animal shelter;
- Air conditioners are installed in frames that allow us to open the window above the unit. This permits a cross-breeze in all our guest rooms and minimizes the use of air conditioning;
- Ceiling fans in all guest rooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and our personal space to cool without a/c;
- Minimal use of chemical cleaning agents;
- Purchasing larger refill sizes and/or concentrates rather than small bottles where possible;
- Programmable thermostat for the heat which allows us to keep the house warmer during peak guest usage (mornings and evenings) and cooler mid-day and at night without having to remember to set it ourselves;
- Purchasing recycled office supplies as much as possible, including copy paper, our letterhead & envelopes, file folders and clasp envelopes;
- Switched from sending snail-mail confirmation letters to email;
- Switched to paperless billing for as many of my business & personal bills as possible;
- In order to save water on longer stays, sheets and towels are changed after the third night. Requests for more frequent changes are, of course, honored;
- When planting my garden each spring, I specifically look for drought-hardy annuals that don’t have to be watered every day.

Wow. Pretty exciting, right? I’m sure everyone who reads this is going to want to book rooms here now.

Let’s face it, most “green” practices are pretty mundane. I do these things because they make sense to ME. In some cases they actually make my life easier (less watering, fewer light bulb changes, two or three loads of laundry saved in a busy week), in other cases they increase my workload (rinsing & sorting recyclables, bundling newspaper & cardboard, resetting timers, mixing cleaning agents and filling spray bottles).

Okay, now I’d like to hear from my readers. I have a stat. counter, I know you’re out there. Do “green” practices weigh into your decisions about lodging when going on vacation? Do you think there is more I should be doing? And what do you do at home?

Change of Season, Season of Change

Janet Loewenstein — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 01:50:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe it’s Labor Day already. Another summer, gone. Not that I expect business to slow down much, but the pace of life usually does after this weekend.

This summer has both flown and dragged by. The inn, and I, are going through some transitions. My husband and partner, Adam, and I are getting divorced. He will be moving out some time in October. That means I will need to find help to do some of the things Adam has done here over the years and to that end I have hired and am training an assistant innkeeper. She will take over the two breakfast shifts per week that Adam has been doing and cover check ins some afternoons so I can get out and do the shopping, another of Adam’s jobs, and take care of any personal appointments. So that’s one piece of the puzzle. There are many others I’m still figuring out.

Although I am sad and sometimes terrified, I do see the possibilities for positive change in all this. For one thing, I have someone to whom I can delegate certain things. Adam was a partner and would not have been a good choice to delegate some of my projects to, since he considered them my projects. Already Nancy has helped me with two small things that I have been wanting to get done but have been unable to motivate myself to do, even though I had everything I needed to do them. And over the winter I’ll have her work with me to improve organization in my kitchen and office.

Adam and I have made every effort to keep this all behind the scenes. We’re much more sad than angry about the whole thing and we want our guests to have the relaxing vacation they came here for. So far, from the comments in our guest book, we seem to have been successful. I hope arriving guests who read this don’t get weirded out by it. The plan is to continue to provide the hospitality we’ve become known for.

I’m more concerned about the guests who have been here before, some of whom come every year. It will be difficult telling them, but I suppose it’ll get easier with practice. Wish me luck.