Innkeeping Rule #1

It’s been almost 7 years since we set up shop here in Vicksburg. Hard to believe right? We’ve had lots of ups and down, highs and lows, expected and unexpected things happen over the past 80 months, not the least of which has been a 2-year pandemic that almost bankrupted us (it actually still might if things don’t pick up pretty soon). But, that’s not the point of this post. The point is, I’ve learned a few things since I started being an innkeeper.

I used to tell people who were interested in getting into the B & B business that the most important quality an innkeeper should possess is flexibility. So often things don’t go as expected and last minute changes have to be made. Sometimes guests show up wanting all kinds of crazy, out of the norm, stuff. You have to be able to think on your feet and be able to adjust when practicable.

But then other times I think that being flexible is probably not the single most important factor. Being firm and having the ability to say no is a very strong skill that I recommend every innkeeper adopt. I’m not that person, but I need to be. I often make exceptions that I end up regretting. I’m learning though.

But, recently, very recently, I learned that the absolute number 1 rule of innkeeping is that everyone in the house cannot get sick at the same time. That is a hard and fast rule. It’s horrendous when it happens. Being sick is never fun, but when you have to get up, show up, and put on a smiling face, when you feel like crap and just want to crawl under the covers is one of the hardest things to do. I know, because we all just did that here at Casa Baer.

My husband was the first to get sick. Fever, chills, runny nose. He stayed in bed for almost 2 days. By the second day, I had similar symptoms but a houseful of guests that needed attention. I wasn’t as bad as him – at first – so we were sort of able to tag team between breakfast, room cleaning, and check-in. We tried to have at least one of us be up and awake at all times. We took turns sleeping and resting.

My husband was feeling almost back to normal after about 36 hours. I kept getting worse. On my second day, my dad got sick. REALLY sick. Which meant, I had to take care of him while fighting off my own, whatever it was ailing me. On my third day of feeling totally body-slammed, we took at-home covid tests. Negative. Good news. But, I wasn’t getting much better and my dad was getting worse.

Somehow, we managed to drag ourselves around and get everyone checked in and fed in the morning, without too much guest interaction. Except my dad. He wasn’t making much progress in the getting better department. Twice I was going to take him to the hospital and twice he adamantly refused to go. After about 5 days he finally showed signs of improvement. Whew.

I’m still fighting, what I can only assume is allergies (given the extremely high pollen count and my lingering symptoms), but able to perform most of my usual duties without having to rest every 15 minutes. I have an annoying cough that won’t go away, itchy eyes, and I’m tired all the time, but hey, that’s life in the springtime pretty much anywhere.

So, there you have it. Rule number 1 if you’re ever considering innkeeping. Stay healthy and stay away from your significant other if that person is sick. You’ll thank me later.

Have you guys been noticing an uptick in pollen counts in your areas? Are allergies plaguing you? What do you do when your entire family is sick at the same time but you still have a business to run?

I’ve got some exciting things planned for the year that only my newsletter followers will know about. I promise you’ll only get 6 newsletters for the entire year, so I won’t clutter up your inbox. Here’s the link if you want to sign up and be the first to know things: http://bit.ly/JansenSchmidtNewsletter

Word of the Day: Ejido

Fun fact about me: This is the first time since moving to Vicksburg that I’ve experienced allergies. I think it’s because for 2 years we’ve all been masked up. Now that the masks are off, my sinuses are freaking out.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, March 2022. Images by Google and giphy.com