As the summer continues across the U.S. and millions of people plan vacations and getaways from their daily grind, an increasing number of Americans are opting to spend time at a bed and breakfast as opposed to conventional and mainstream hotels.
B&B’s offer the same amenities as hotels but are a lot more intimate. It’s the intimacy they provide that attracts guests and clients, usually vacationers and travelers looking for a romantic getaway, some downtime or just to unplug from work.
And after years of struggling to recover from the devastating financial impacts to the hospitality industry after 9/11 and then the great recession and economic downturn that followed a few short years, business in this niche segment of the travel industry is finally starting to boom.
But there is a dark side to this story of continued recovery. The B&B industry is vastly underrepresented by owners of color.
BlackEnterprise.com reached out to owners of some of the top black-owned bed and breakfasts in the country to see if they could put a finger on the pulse of the problem and to comment on the state of the industry.
Monique Greenwood, is co-founder of Akwaaba. Monica Edwards is co-owner of Morehead Manor and current treasurer of the African American Association of Innkeepers International, Lee Henderson Johnson, the owner of the Henderson House Bed and Breakfast in Columbus Ohio, Rachelle Jamerson-Holmes, co-owner of the Thee Matriarch Bed and Breakfast, Meeting and Special Events Venu, and Mell Monroe, Co-Owner of the Welcome Inn Manor in Chicago.
According to Greenwood, blacks “kind of pioneered the idea of bed and breakfast.” She said, “When we were unable to stay in hotels during segregation, we often times would let our friends and family know about people who may live in some of the cities we were traveling to and we would stay in their homes. They would always give us a meal in the mornings before we set out on the road. In my mind that is the original bed and breakfast concept.”
Read more on the next page …
BlackEnterprise.com: How is the bed and breakfast industry faring?
Monique Greenwood: It is the No. 1 most envied profession in the country, being an owner of an inn. You get to live in an amazing property in a great city and meet wonderful guests and there are perks like tax benefits. You can write off a lot of living expenses and you get to work from home because your home is your work. Tremendous upside.
Monica Edwards: I think it’s going very well. Like every industry there are challenges, especially because it is dependent on people’s pocketbooks, we have seen our ups and downs based on the economy. But, depending on location, it affects a lot of places differently.
So what are the challenges for African American B&B owners?
Edwards: Understanding that this is a business, not a hobby. Often times people go into businesses thinking of them as a side trade. I’ve talked to a lot of “aspiring innkeepers” who have the dream of owning a B&B and informed them that they need to do their research. There are probably more than 30,000 bed and breakfasts across the country and only 1% of those are owned by African Americans and or minorities.
Greenwood: It’s definitely less than 1%. One percent would be at about 300. I would place the number of black-owned BB’s at about 35. That’s less than 1%. My thought is that we are looking at about a quarter of a percent.
Find out more about why the B&B industry is lacking diversity on page two …
Why is that?
Edwards: I’m not sure, but when we first got in, we recognized that part of our duty was to be constantly educating African Americans especially about what bed and breakfasts’ actually are.
Lee Henderson Johnson: It’s about location, location, location, and property ownership. There are too few owners of color of bed and breakfast type properties and a lot of times these properties are extremely expensive.
Rachelle Jamerson-Holmes: Issues of privacy. This a business run out of your home. A lot of times African American families aren’t comfortable opening up their homes to strangers.
Greenwood: If we look at the industry today, it’s not an easy industry to enter financially. And I think that’s the biggest obstacle. Because you first have to acquire the property. And you are acquiring property in areas where people want to travel to. So it should be around a popular community or area. And in most cases B&B’s are distinctive properties. So now you’re buying a premium piece of property in a highly desirable area. So that could be a barrier right there in terms of trying to get the financing. You’re not even sure if there is redlining still out there. Or if African Americans are having a harder time getting bank loans. But I think that’s probably the first thing to look at.
Mell Monroe: It’s not a hard license to get assuming you have a clean plate and you own a house that is close to a landmark or has some attractions. It’s not like there is an organization that was formed and blacks are excluded from it. Anybody who wants to open a B&B can.
So do black-owned B&B’s predominantly cater or market to black guests?
Edwards: My guests are from all walks of life. I’m very quick to tell you that if I had to depend on my people for my income, I would be broke and out of business right now. While I can’t tell you exact numbers on diversity in other inns, I do know that we get a lot of first-time black B&B goers and they tell me that they have never had a B&B experience before and would prefer to have it with someone who looked like them. Especially so they wouldn’t feel intimidated if they felt like they had to ask questions about how certain things are done or how to conduct themselves at an inn.
Greenwood: I definitely feel that blacks have an affinity for trying to patronize black-owned properties because their interests might be better catered to. By that I mean if you’re coming to a place where you don’t have to worry that the person opening the door is going to have a look of shock on their face. There’s also the likelihood of other guests of color being there who you can bond with and share experiences. I think that as a people we take pride in supporting one another. A large percentage of my guests are African American, but I attract others because if you offer quality products everybody is attracted to that.