Mothers and Daughters, Side-by-Side, Running Lucrative Bed and Breakfasts

Online, February 24, 2011 (Newswire.com) - At first it was like watching an I Love Lucy episode riddled with mishaps, loud cackles and sudden outbursts but now these unlikely mother-daughter teams are arm-in-arm, laughing all the way to the bank.

It's long been thought that running a bed and breakfast is a pipe dream. Who hasn't at one time thought of giving it all up, moving to the country and welcoming guests to their picture-perfect cottage? There's even something nostalgic about it. But actually setting up and running a bed and breakfast is far from glamorous. And mothers and daughters determined to make room at the inn, have colorful stories to tell.

Lea Moffet and her mom, Josephine, run the Catskill Maison Bed and Breakfast in Windham, New York. Both first-time, instant innkeepers, they jumped right in and agreed to split the chores evenly. If one person cooks the other does the dishes. One morning, Lea, perky and humming, was cooking breakfast in the kitchen while her mom quickly showered upstairs, when disaster struck. "The grill shut off, no coffee pot, no lights, pancakes half cooked," said Lea. "I figured I had too much going on and I blew a fuse." It wasn't until Lea left the kitchen for the basement that she realized the emergency lights were on. She raced to find her mom all lathered up: "We don't have any electricity!" I yelled over the running water. She told me to "Flip the switch," laughed Lea. "I had to say 'You don't get it, there is no power.'" After a few moments of staring at each other like deer in headlights, they snapped into action and quickly drove guests to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

Like many innkeepers, Lea and Josephine stumbled into innkeeping. Now in their 30s and 60s, respectively, the mother-daughter duo intended to open a wine bar together. Wine bar, bed and breakfast, same difference? While scouting locations, they realized they could own a property instead of leasing it, so they bought a bed and breakfast that was large enough to house a wine bar, which will soon open. "It just made sense to keep it as a B&B too," said Lea. "It seemed it would be less daunting," she said, letting out a huge laugh.

Johanna Hauer is another daughter that sort of woke up and decided to be an innkeeper. Home after completing college, Johanna, decided to pitch in for the summer and work as an innkeeper alongside her mom, Judi at the Maine Stay Inn & Cottages in Kennebunkport, Maine. "I was shocked. I really liked it and given the economy and not being 100% sure I want to go to a MD PhD program; the inn is a great place to be," she said. Johanna, in her early 20s, does a lot of the heavy lifting. "I mud walls and paint and strip wall paper, I assist my electrician when legally able... and I do all the social media," she said. Johanna is also trying to get her 60+ mom up-to-digital speed. "We have weekly a tutorial on Facebook."

But living under the same roof after years of living apart has an adjustment period. Plus, a fresh set of eyes brings new ideas, some which take some warming up to too. The women recently compromised and bought alarm clocks with hidden iPod docking stations. Johanna wanted a dock, Judi didn't know what to do with one, they ultimately agreed on a hidden dock to appease the various generations of guests who frequent the inn. While dad chimes in, it's really Judi and Johanna who make the decisions. "We are in the process of getting a new boiler and everyone who comes in for the estimate asks for my dad. Mom and I look at each other, 'We say you don't want to talk with him you want to talk to us," says Johanna. "They look at us in disbelief." But Johanna is used to crawling around the basement and showing the valves and connections. It's the decision of whether to stay at the inn or go back to school that's causing a problem. "I'm torn. I would like to go to grad school and fulfill that intellectual curiosity about science and maybe come back and be an innkeeper," she said. "It's a tough decision."

Cheryl Barber is one daughter who'd always wanted to run a bed and breakfast. In the process of moving up North with her husband, Rodney, she called her mom and asked if she'd sell her house and move in to help. "I moved away from home and out of the house at a very young age and I didn't have a great relationship with my mom but this opportunity to spend this time with her has been incredible," she said.

Both Cheryl, now in her 40s, and mom, Sally Hues, in her 60s, say they've learned a lot about each other and have become very close while running 10 Fitch Inn Bed and Breakfast in Auburn, New York. "I see her as a person now," says Cheryl. "She's a woman, she's not just mom." Cheryl says she admires her mom's go-go-go mentality.

"She'll be out shoveling the driveway and I'm out yelling at her 'Mom stop! Come inside! Rodney will take care of that when he comes home!'"

It seems admiration runs rampant among mother-daughter teams. Amy Smith, home for the summer after working in Atlanta at the Olympic Games, jumped right in to oversee marketing for her parents' bed and breakfast. "After a summer I said I didn't want to go back to the Corporate World," she said. Today Saratoga Arms is a 31-room bed and breakfast in Saratoga Springs, New York. Growing to its current size and high-occupancy took a little maneuvering.

"In 2007 I was desperate to put a new website up and she thought the existing site was fine. She wouldn't do it," explained Amy, now in her 40s. Her mom Kathleen is in her mid-60s.

After about a year of failing to convince her mom, Amy came up with a plan. She struck a deal that if she brought in enough gift certificate revenue for that holiday season, she'd get the go-ahead on a new website. "I was able to do it! We recouped the money after the website went live in six weeks, so I don't get as much push back as I used to," she said victoriously.

Amy's sister, Sheila Sperling, in her 30s, also works at the inn. A new mom, she's worked out a part-time arrangement and handles group sales, executive retreats and board meetings.

The daughters are happy to help their family business grow and thrilled their parents are able to leave the inn and spend time in Florida, without hesitation. That said, the sense of responsibility is magnified. "I tell mom to go, have fun but I do have her on logmein.com so she can look at the books every day, make sure we're doing the right thing!"

For more information on any of these bed and breakfasts or to set up interviews with any of the mothers and daughters, please contact Maria Coder at 212.480.0414 x 16 or email [email protected]

Relevant links:
BnBFinder.com/CatskillMaison
BnBFinder.com/MaineStayInn
BnBFinder.com/10Fitch
BnBFinder.com/SaratogaArms