Nancy Galloway of the Wedgwood Country Inn has been kind enough to share some Innsight with us.

1. How long have you been in the B&B and/or hospitality business? One year full time, plus 3 years part-time.

2. What is your favorite part of the job?
Cooking cool new things, decorating the rooms, chatting with the people.

3. What is your least favorite part of the job?
Dealing with things that break.

4. What is your best marketing tip?
Have a great website - we had a [really good]professional develop the site, & a professional photographer take the photos. It has made a huge difference in our marketing.

5. Do you have a staff or do everything yourself? .We have a part-time cleaning lady who also helps with gardening, and a night manager to give us an occasional evening off. We also have a man who helps with heavy gardening (we have 7 acres, much of it actively cultivated).

6. What type of marketing do you find most effective?
Other than my website, the other great marketing is to be mentioned in a publication like Sunset or the Automobile Association magazine.

7. Do you attend seminars? Buy B&B Guides? No; yes.

8. Which recipe do you always get rave reviews for? It really varies from person to person; but people who like sweets love my stuffed French toast. Those who like savory love the Mediterranean omelet with pesto sauce.

9. If you weren’t a B&B Innkeeper what would you be doing? Raising money for Salvation Army (my last job).

10. Tell us about your most memorable guest?
We had two guests who stayed with us at the same time; one (male) was in town for a brewer’s convention, the other (female) was there for business. All of us just hit it off & had a marvelous time, laughing & talking. It was really as if friends were staying with us.

11. Do you have any horror stories from past guests? We did get one young couple - gorgeous - he came down with a list of questions like “Where can I chill my beer? Why don’t you have cable?” He wanted to lie in bed, watch TV & drink beer. My husband said, “With such a gorgeous girl, I can certainly think of better things to do!” They left after one night & we helped find them a hotel to move to.

12. What do you think the biggest misconception is about staying at a B&B? That B&Bs are dingy, unattractive & serve only muffins & other sweet things.

13. What would you like to change about the industry?
A bit more professionalism in the innkeepers would be nice; but then we might lose some of our individualism.

14. Do you have any time saving tips or marketing treasures that you would like to share?
Time-saving: I chop lots of onions - both regular onions & green onions - combine them and freeze them in zip-loc bags. They’re there when I need them.
I make vast quantities of pesto & freeze it in ice-cube trays, then pop out the little cubes into another zip-loc bag. They’re good for a whole year & very easy to use.

15. What makes your B&B unique? It’s a wonderful 1910 English country manor plunked down in one of British Columbia’s most beautiful areas. It has an interesting history - it was built by a Royal Navy Commander who retired here, & brought his wife, Lucy Caroline Wedgwood, here when she was 62. They are both buried on the grounds. She was grandaughter of Josiah Wedgwood of the pottery, & her uncles were Charles Darwin & composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.