Glen and Char Carlson of the Steamboat House in Galena, Illinois have taken the time to answer our 15 questions. They have given some very helpful tips.

1. How long have you been in the B&B and/or hospitality business?
We’ve just begun our sixth year in business.

2. What is your favorite part of the job?
We’ve met wonderful people and made great friends; we are also thrilled to be working for ourselves and for the opportunity to be together all the time, making decisions about the business, and sharing the experience. We’ve been married a long time and after retiring from demanding careers, the chance to spend our days together is a real blessing.

3. What is your least favorite part of the job?
The tedium of cleaning the same rooms over and over and over. . .

4. What is your best marketing tip?
Stay informed of new trends. Technology changes every day and marketing strategies have to change along with it. Your computer is your most valuable friend in marketing.

5. Do you have a staff or do everything yourself? .
We do everything ourselves. Our reputation is on the line every time a guest checks into the inn; we don’t want to depend on anyone doing something in a shoddy way, or being inadvertently rude to a guest.

6. What type of marketing do you find most effective?
Of course, the Internet is the most valuable marketing tool, but we find that the referrals we get are almost as effective.

7. Do you attend seminars? Buy B&B Guides?
We’ve been mentored by two of the very finest innkeepers in the business, so attending seminars isn’t really necessary for us. We always had someone to ask when questions came up.

8. Which recipe do you always get rave reviews for?
Our home made breads, particularly our apricot bread, which was featured in a national cookbook.

9. If you weren’t a B&B Innkeeper what would you be doing?
Glen would still be a contractor; I’m not sure what I’d be up to. I would probably still have retired from my old career and maybe opened
an antiques store.

10. Tell us about your most memorable guest?
Memorable — Well, two of our guests have been here over 15 times in the last couple of years and have become close friends. They are now seeking to become innkeepers themselves and that makes us feel good.

11. Do you have any horror stories from past guests?
Not really; we’ve been lucky.

12. What do you think the biggest misconception is about staying at a
B&B?
That it’s just like a hotel; people don’t realize that this is a business, and it’s also someone’s home.

13. What would you like to change about the industry?
The trend to “become” hotels. Catering to every whim and trend is destructive. B&B’s should be wonderful, warm experiences. A clean, comfortable, preferably historic, home where innkeepers offer great
hospitality at a fair value is what they should remain. Retrofitting parlors into modern whirlpool suites makes a B&B just a smaller hotel that serves breakfast. The niche that B&Bs fill — friendly surroundings, character and charm, great food and interesting conversation, quiet places to relax, having someone to ask about local
attractions and restaurants — THAT’s what the industry should concentrate on.

14. Do you have any time saving tips or marketing treasures that you would like to share?
Cook ahead. When time allows, fry bacon and freeze it in pound quantities; do the same with sausage. Bake breads in 2’s and freeze one to be ready for that unexpected guest

15. What makes your B&B unique?
We’ve tried to maintain the true historic nature of this wonderful mansion by furnishing it in high quality heirloom antiques and offering guests the opportunity to be pampered by the finest of surroundings with crystal chandeliers, a breakfast served with sterling silver flatware and lovely china. Guests love to be “part” of the history of the house and feel special while interacting with other guests, playing billiards or just enjoying a glass of wine on the front porch in an old-fashioned rocking chair or swing.