B&B’s serve slice of local charm

STAY A WHILE: Anne Tundermann, owner of Providence’s Annie Brownell House, serves breakfast to two out-of-towners: Victor Rodriguez and Annecy Baez, both of New York City. Tundermann’s bed-and-breakfast has been around for 14 years. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE
STAY A WHILE: Anne Tundermann, owner of Providence’s Annie Brownell House, serves breakfast to two out-of-towners: Victor Rodriguez and Annecy Baez, both of New York City. Tundermann’s bed-and-breakfast has been around for 14 years. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE

Rhode Island’s seaside offerings, art and cultural activities and preservation of history bring $5 billion a year into state coffers from tourism. A relatively small, but critical, part of Rhode Island’s hospitality industry is the colorful palette of bed-and-breakfasts, said state Tourism Director Mark Brodeur.
Rhode Island has about 200 bed-and breakfasts and inns that provide richness, not just in dollars, but in travel experiences, Brodeur said.
The state’s bed-and-breakfasts and inns include 147 in Newport, many of them historic homes with inviting porches and antique furnishings; 30 on Block Island, 27 in South County, including a B&B at a winery in Westerly; and four rooms at an inn on a working dairy farm in Portsmouth.
“Every bed-and-breakfast is unique. The bed-and-breakfast traveler is generally interested in the experience, as well as the location,” Brodeur said. “They’re often interested in the heritage aspect of the house and they want to enjoy the local flavor. They want the experience of staying in someone’s home and getting to know the host.”
Some hosts are getting to know a new generation of guests, said Cheryl Schatmeyer, president of the Newport County Inns and Bed and Breakfasts Association. She owns the Victorian Ladies Inn and the Adele Turner Inn in Newport.
“We’re getting more of the Gen X and Gen Yer’s, people in their late 20s up to about 40. That’s because they’re always on the Internet and many have never stayed in a bed-and-breakfast and just want to try it,” Schatmeyer said. “So the idea of mom-and-pop and lace and doilies in the rooms is changing. They want Wi-Fi in their rooms. They like tables for two.”
These younger-generation guests often come from New Jersey or Pennsylvania or other places that make for a convenient, long weekend, she said. And they find Newport an interesting destination, she said.
“They say they like the harbor and the beautiful vessels they can go out on, the museums and the wine tastings at vineyards nearby,” Schatmeyer said. “They also come because Newport is a destination for weddings and the wedding party will often take over an inn. It’s a good place to congregate.” One Newport B&B owner has found another type of visitor congregating at his place – osprey watchers. Anthony Zaloumis and his wife, Lorna, own Belle View Inn on Freebody Street in Newport.
“We have osprey. They come [nearly] every year. We think it’s the same two and they mate for life. They’re on one of the light posts in the park across the street,” Zaloumis said. “It’s amazing to see the number of people who come to see the osprey, not just people who stay here, but other people who stop by. The osprey have a following.”
A Newport native, Zaloumis said the two suites in his home, built in 1899 and located across from the International Tennis Hall of Fame, provide income during the summer, like many bed-and-breakfasts across the state.
But the window for tourism in Rhode Island is opening wider, said Myrna George, president of the South County Tourism Council.
“The bed-and-breakfasts, for years, have been the backbone of tourism in the southern end of the state – for 12 weeks out of the year,” George said. “That has been changing over the past 10 years because we have intentionally moved the shoulder seasons.”
George credits marketing efforts in publications such as Oprah Magazine and Yankee Magazine, as well as advertising in European and Canadian markets, as contributing to the extended season, which adds the changing colors of autumn to 100 miles of South County beaches for summer vacations.
“We’re not commercialized. We’re authentic and environmentally sensitive and people who enjoy that are responding to our marketing efforts,” said George.
Of the 27 B&Bs in South County, Narragansett has 11, South Kingstown has seven, Westerly has five, North Kingstown has two, and Hopkinton and Richmond each have one, she said.
Data drives new regional tourism campaigns and bed-and-breakfasts are benefiting, she said.
“We just had our bridal show on Jan. 6. We began it based on research of our 11 towns, of how many brides were pulling licenses in our … area,” said George. “We decided to support them with accommodations and the related businesses.” The increasing popularity of destination weddings is an outstanding opportunity for South County and its bed-and-breakfasts, she said.
“The University of Rhode Island brings people from out of state and many of them choose to be married here. It’s a very scenic portion of the state and they have all kinds of celebrations,” said George. “They feel the accommodations suit the celebrations, because there’s a certain charm that surrounds many of our bed-and-breakfasts.”
While bed-and-breakfasts often have only two or three rooms or suites, George said other attractive inns and hotels are not competition, but add up to a good selection of offerings that draws more people in the long run.
“I know my numbers are up,” George said. “Tourism is up across the state, even in a challenging economy.”
The number of bed-and-breakfasts across the state tends to remain fairly steady, with two or three closing and another few opening from time to time, Brodeur said.
Anne Tundermann has owned the Annie Brownell House on Angell Street in Providence for 14 years and she’s survived the ups and downs of the national economic crisis and stiff competition from large hotels.
“Last year I had my best year in all the time I’ve been running the business. Ultimately, I really don’t know why. I guess it’s partly because I have good reviews, especially word-of-mouth,” Tundermann said.
“But the years before last year were extremely difficult. I only just managed to keep my head above water,” she said. “Occupancy did go down then and there are property taxes and other expenses that just don’t go down.”
The location of the Annie Brownell House near Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design gives Tundermann a built-in clientele, with 80 percent of her guests tied to the colleges. The remainder is made up of friends and family of local residents, international travelers and sometimes couples coming in from New York just to enjoy the slower pace and the offerings of Providence. Some visitors to Rhode Island choose a different pace at Langworthy Farm Bed and Breakfast and winery in Westerly, or Escobar’s Farmhouse Inn at a working dairy farm in Portsmouth.
“The inn was opened to help supplement the farm, because dairy farming is not a lucrative profession,” said Stuart MacNaught, innkeeper at Escobar’s Farmhouse Inn, which has had steadily increasing business in the two years since it opened.
“We’re open year-round and we have a lot of repeat visitors. In the summer, even weekdays are pretty full, in addition to weekends,” he said. “We’re part of the growing emphasis on agritourism. It’s all about getting more people exposed to farming, getting kids out there to see how milk is made. It’s been a real drawing point.”
Many guests who stay in one of the inn’s four rooms enjoy the close-up look at milking cows and other parts of the dairy operation. But the inn has some special activities for guests who come because of the farm’s business relationship with Cabot Creamery.
“It’s for a lot of their executives and salespeople. They get up at 5 a.m. to milk the cows and do the farm chores. Then they come in for a big, farm breakfast,” said MacNaught. “Then they go out about four in the afternoon to milk the cows again. Cabot wants them to really know all about dairy farming.”
Whether the bed-and-breakfast has cows, wine, four-poster beds or a nearby beach, they’re all part of Rhode Island’s growing tourism economy, Brodeur said.
“Even though bed-and-breakfasts may only be about 7 percent of the state’s total number of rooms, it’s the B&B experience that’s unique and important,” Brodeur said.
“We’re finding with our international growth, there a growing interest in our bed-and-breakfasts. A lot of international tourists are interested in architecture and this is one way to experience our architecture firsthand,” Brodeur said. “From the tourism perspective, we think B&Bs will play a big role in Rhode Island’s future.” •

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