1847 Blake House Inn B & B

Meet Amber – A Super Addition to the Blake House Family

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Running a B&B can be tiring business. But I’m sure anyone reading this already knows that. Running any business is exhausting because it can be non-stop, seven days a week, with little down time. Even when the Inn is empty, there are a million things to do.  So, after 5 years of running Blake House virtually by myself (with appreciated help from my part-time housekeeper and my mother), I have found a gem of an Assistant Innkeeper.  

Amber Goins-Finley started here last weekend and after 2 days of training, took over on her own on Monday. There is a lot to remember about this place and I am excited to say that Amber has fit right in with the Inn and my personal style of doing things.  She also brings her own point of view and I look forward to her suggestions for improvements.

You can read all about Amber on our Meet the Innkeepers Page. Not included in her bio is the fact that Amber also assists her husband with his motorcycle parts business, Pirate’s Lair Motorcycles.  I am not personally a motorcycle girl, but many motorcyclists come through Asheville, enjoying the Blue Ridge Parkway. Blake House has housed a few and we have a nice sized parking area, perfect for motorcycle trailers.

I hope our guests welcome Amber with open arms. She is a wonderful, and much-needed addition to the family.

QR Codes – Why You Should Get to Know Them

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

I signed up for a QR code about 10 months ago, but never used it. Until now! That’s because I didn’t recognize its value at first. I just got one for the Inn because I was learning as much as possible about all the new social media options and QR codes were among the growing list of things to use to promote your business.  Now that I understand how to use it better, I see what a cool tool it can be.

What is a QR Code?

According to Wikipedia, the technical definition of a QR Code is a two-dimensional barcode, sort of like the barcodes you see on store items that identify what they are and how much they cost when you scan the code into the register. The QR code is shaped like a square and can be encoded with text, data, or in my case, the URL the the Blake House website.  It’s my business’ fingerprint. This is the QR Code for Blake House:

How is a QR Code used?

It is used by the camera function on your smart phone.  First you have to download a FREE QR Code Reader app onto your phone. I have an iPhone so I downloaded the QR Code Reader app from i-nigma. You can use other versions or readers. From your iphone, click the App Store icon and do a search for i-nigma. There is an app for the new iPhone4 and one for the rest of us who still have the iPhone 3GS or lower. Once you download the app, you can start reading QR Codes for any business that has one. It is literally that simple.

You’ll see QR Codes in store windows, on printed material, Facebook Pages, emails, etc.  You may have already seen them, but like me, didn’t know what they were and haven’t paid much attention to them. Now you do.

When you see a business with a QR Code (like the Blake House one shown above), you click the QR Reader app on your phone and it opens your camera.  Hold your camera up so that it sees the QR Code and as soon as it registers the code, it will take you to whatever online information has been programmed into the code.

The Blake House Inn QR Code takes you to the Blake House Inn website. Other QR Codes may be set up to take you to the business’ website or a coupon page or their Facebook Page.

What is the value of the app?

Here are 2 examples:

1. Let’s say you pick up one of Blake House Inn’s rack cards in the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, but you haven’t been to our website.  The rack card only has so much information and you think you’ll remember to check out the website when you get home later. Maybe you will, but maybe you’ll forget.  If the rack card has a QR Code on it (mine don’t right now), you can use your phone to very quickly get to my website, just by opening your camera.  And instead of having to wait to look at my business, you can access it immediately.
2. You’re at a restaurant and you notice they have a QR Code displayed on their menu or in the window. By clicking on it, you find out that they are offering a discount, but only for patrons who reference the promotion on the QR Code.

Of course, there are many other uses for the QR Code, but its greatest purpose is to allow people on-the-spot access to information about the business they are interested in. It can be used for informational purposes only or it can be used to promote specials or promotions for those who access it.

If you own a business, you should consider getting a QR Code (or multiple codes) to help promote your business.

For everyone else, you should start reading QR Codes for the businesses you patronize that have them because you never know what kind of deal you just might score.

4 Reasons to Stay at a B&B Instead of a Hotel When Visiting Asheville, NC

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

2011 is shaping up to be a year of ups and downs.  Many things are going up in price, including gas and groceries. Airfare rates and fees are also looking to increase.  On the bright side, the economy appears to be inching slowly into a recovery and people can afford to take vacations this year. As a small B&B owner and local resident of Asheville, I am doing my part to help our guests maintain a reasonable vacation budget.

Room rates at Blake House are not going up this year and all rooms in the main house are $150/night or less (double occupancy).  PLUS, a full gourmet breakfast is included in the nightly rate.

While you can find cheaper places to stay like an area motel or hotel, if you are looking for a complete experience, why not stay at an Asheville B&B?  Blake House is pet- and child-friendly. The perception that B&Bs are exclusive and too expensive is just not true.  Let me list just a few of the things about a B&B that recommend it as an accommodation people need to consider:

1. Uniqueness – Every B&B is different from every other B&B. In other words, no two B&Bs are alike and no 2 rooms within a B&B are alike.  That’s because the majority of B&Bs are in historic homes where the craftsmanship and quality of construction tend to be better (thus, the reason they are still standing after hundreds of years), making each room a study in history. I have nothing against hotels, but if the walls could talk in a hotel, what do you think they’d say? In a historic B&B, you may very well find out what the walls have said because many are on National and/or Local Historical Registers and much of the historical information has been researched and provided for guests’ entertainment. Also part of the character of an historic house are the quirks and creaks that make it unique. Some houses may even be haunted by past occupants (if you’re into that kind of thing).
2. Personal Service & Area Knowledge – Some of the best tour guides and keepers of knowledge about all things Asheville are your local innkeepers. Innkeepers are fantastic resources of information on where to go to eat and experience this wonderful city.  They have intimate knowledge of the good, the great, and the avoidable places and they are more than willing to share their opinions and experiences with their guests.  This is an often overlooked benefit for guests, but its priceless when you consider your overall experience.  The average hotel concierge may or may not even live around the hotel where they work and, therefore, may or may not have intimate knowledge of the area.  Hotels tend to refer guests to the big attractions and places where the hotel has a financial interest.  If you really want to have a great time in Asheville, trust your innkeeper to provide personal service with a strong desire for you to enjoy your entire trip.
3. Home-made Gourmet Breakfasts – While breakfast is also offered at hotels, most are offering breakfast buffets for hundreds of guests. The average B&B is serving breakfast to a much, much smaller group of guests and you know it was made fresh and brought to you straight from the oven and had not been sitting under heat lamps for extended periods of time. Innkeepers are quite adept at working around dietary restrictions (with advance notice) and in a city like Asheville, it is not uncommon to have guests with food restrictions. When you look at breakfast in the context of the overall B&B experience, it becomes a more personal experience as well. Guests get to meet and chat with other guests, sharing their experiences in the city thus far and trading information about where they live, what brought them to Asheville, etc., etc.  Do you ever speak to anyone at a hotel breakfast other than your server?  I have seen so many guests make new acquaintances/friends during breakfast and exchange contact information afterwards. How cool is that? Yeah, MacDonald’s and Denny’s are cheaper, but can they really compare to the B&B breakfast experience?
4. The Best in Amenities – While historical houses suggest that everything inside is antiquated, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  The majority of B&Bs have been retrofitted and renovated with modern conveniences, including individual bathrooms for each guestroom, central heat and air conditioning, wi-fi, TVs and DVD players, ipod/cd docking stations, and so on.  Yeah, some do it better than others, but in some cases, it’s not possible to totally modernize a centuries-old house without defiling the integrity of the original structure. So, we work around those inconveniences as best as possible. B&Bs also include many freebies that the average hotel/motel does not, including snacks and homemade goodies for the guests, free movies for guests to watch and games for guests to amuse themselves with. Think any of these things are free or even offered at hotels?

So when you consider your next trip, be it for business or pleasure, consider the B&B. They may not be out of your price range. Call and speak to the innkeeper before making your reservation so you can “meet” first and you can get a feel for that particular B&B and whether or not it fits with what you are looking for. Remember that every B&B is different so if one is not to your liking, there are many more to choose from.  Figure out what is most important to you in your stay and find out from the innkeeper if they can fill your needs.

Blake House is located in the city limits of Asheville, but we are not in downtown and while a 15-minute drive to downtown from the Inn doesn’t seem like a lot of time, for some it is and I understand that.  What’s great about South Asheville is that it is building up quickly, having added the Biltmore Square Town Center with a modern movie theater, a handful of restaurants, and boutiques. South Asheville also has several fabulous independent restaurants and some of the downtown restaurants are opening South Asheville locations (Tupelo Honey Cafe and Fiore’s Ristorante Toscana is coming soon).  Before long, South Asheville will be as big as downtown and guests will have to think of reasons to leave our south location. This South Asheville B&B plans to keep its room rates affordable and our guests as happy and comfortable as possible.

Mention this blog post when making your reservation and receive $10 off your total, in addition to any other special/discount you may qualify for.