Scott and I went to a national B&B conference known as PAII out in Las Vegas this past January. We had never gone to one of these national conventions before, so we really didn’t know what to expect. There were B&B’s from all over the country ranging in size from 1 room to literally the size of a small hotel up to 30 rooms. We met a lot of really nice people and came back with so much information. Because they are catering to a wide range of different size inns, some information didn’t pertain to us like how to brew beer at your inn. Hmm, that got Scott thinking that maybe we should think about getting bigger. Ha! Back to reality.

The biggest thing I walked away from was some new marketing ideas though. Being in the bed and breakfast industry is not a get rich quick profession or EVER for that matter. It really is all about the lifestyle though, which is why Scott and I love what we do. It works for our family.  We constantly get told from locals that they did not even know that their was a bed and breakfast in Oshkosh. You have no idea how many times we hear that. Our marketing budget is so small that we have to be sooo choosy on where we spend our marketing dollars. Because the majority of our business comes from our surrounding states, we tend to focus our efforts in trying to get our inn noticed by the greatest number of people. Our website is the window to that world. Now, don’t get me wrong, we want Oshkosh to know that we are here and hope that our Facebook and word of mouth referrals  will keep coming our way but we figured a new website might not hurt either.  One statement grabbed my attention while in Vegas.

It was said, that if you have a limited dollar amount for your marketing budget, put everything you got into your website if it is three years or older. Our website was just past that mark.  We have always gotten great reviews from it and I hated to change it, because I did like it so much. Now, I have always been one that appreciates honesty, whether you want to hear it or not. I have never been one to hold back so I hoped they wouldn’t either and they didn’t.  This presenter that we were listening to, put our website along with many others up on a big screen in a convention hall and started picking it apart. Man, I felt like I had a lot to learn. As small as I felt, I needed to hear the bad news which lead us to where we are today.

I decided to work with a company that we had been doing business with the last couple of years who focuses on the bed and breakfast industry in website design.  We spent almost a half a day just trying to come up with a font that was easy to read. Scott still isn’t happy with it, but I would love to know your thoughts. This company went out of their way to find out who we were were as a family, as innkeepers, information about Oshkosh , our clientele and our style. All things important when creating a website or our storefront for that matter, that appeals to the masses. The last couple of  months have been tweaking everything from information, to pictures, to the behind the scenes that only Google and many other search engines will appreciate. Our website just went live yesterday with a  few minor things that need to be completed.

I hope you like our new site and find it easy to use and navigate through. If you should have any thoughts one way or another on it, please feel free to share.

With many months of working on the new suite and receiving so many name ideas from our Facebook followers, we have come to a decision. Casa Suite is the new two bedroom suite. A name brought to us from the contest we ran on Facebook for naming rights. Jon and Susan from Milwaukee have won a free night stay in the new suite. However, we have decided that our runners up, Robin and Philip and Mary Kay and Chet should also be rewarded. They are each receiving $100.00 towards their next stay with us.

With just the bathroom needing completion, we are only a couple weeks away from showing you the final outcome. Casa means a lot to us for several different reasons. Casa means home. Therefore, we want you to feel comfortable, as if you are in your own home, not only at the B&B, but in this new suite as well. We also purchased our home from Casa Cara 8 years ago, which was a  non profit organization here in Oshkosh. In keeping with the rest of the theme of our other rooms, which are named after people that had a significant influence on our home and business, we felt this was the best choice.

The Casa Suite is a two bedroom suite on the second floor. As you walk through the door, the master bedroom is on the left. It is decorated in dark green mossy, suede walls, and velvety mossy green drapes with creme berber carpeting. It boasts a black king size four poster bed with a heated mattress pad, two nights stands with a ipod alarm clock, 32″ flat screen television and ceiling fan. As you walk out of the master bedroom, you will walk through an arched entry way into the foyer.  To the right of the foyer is the second bedroom which offers two full size beds with tan tufted headboards against a deep plum painted granite wall. It is carpeted in a nutmeg color flooring, with a ceiling fan, 27″ flat screen television, and one night stand with a shared ipod alarm clock. As you walk out of the second bedroom, it will lead you to the living room. The living room is carpeted in a smoky gray flooring with a 37″ flat screen television, black sofa with chaise lounge, a cream leather chair and ceiling fan. Off to the side is a small work area with a desk.   The bathroom which is off of the living room is still being completed, however some things you can look forward to is a double vanity, bathtub, laundry facilities and a tiled shower with steam like amenities.

I am looking forward to getting professional pictures taken of the new suite, but I wanted to offer you a sneak peak of one of the rooms. In a couple of weeks, I will post more once completed. We are taking reservations now. You can book online or call us anytime.

Though this may not sound too exciting for some of you, however it is a huge benefit to all involved. For one,  when booking your reservation online, you can now see what is available and what is not just by looking at the calender on the left. The dates marked in gray, we do not have any availability.  The dates that are not  marked you can click on and see what what rooms are available that day for that price, also you can see if  there  is a minimum night stay on any or all rooms.

There are also tabs at the top of the page that you can add a package to your stay, add extras such as flowers, candy, dinner,etc. buy gift certificates that I can email or mail out or get those sheets and bathrobes that you love so much when you stay.

In the summer we offer Scotty’s Pontoon for rent. Our guests get a discounted rate, however we offer it to anyone that would like to use it. . Coming soon, there will be a link that will show when the pontoon is available, which then you will be able to book online as well.

If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Some things we have control over and some things are just how the system works. We’ve tried to make this as easy as possible when booking your reservation.

As an extra bonus, we will have an additional room available this Spring. After you click on check availability, go to the guest rooms. Scroll down to the bottom where you will see our fifth room that we will be offering. We are having a contest over the next few months on the name of the room.  If we choose your name for the new guest suite, you will win a one night stay in the new suite.

So click on check availability now on our site and start thinking of some good names and then email us and with your thoughts. Good Luck.