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Our comfortable suites coupled with our focus on paying attention to detail as well as guest comfort and satisfaction has been the means to our success.
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After a restful night in a comfortable bed, a hot shower and a tasty breakfast in The Hunker Down B&B many a guest questions what the friendly owner has done to justify the $200 per night fee.  On the surface it appears he has just redecorated the spare bedroom and baked some great muffins. Perhaps a would-be operator thinks that is the extent of the operation.

Following is a brief account on the creation of our At the Shore B&B. The inspiration came to Norma and I during a month long journey through the Atlantic Maritimes staying in B&Bs.

Back home a one day seminar on operating a bed and breakfast convinced us we could be successful operators. We located and purchased an appropriate house on a 3/4 acre waterfront property on the west side of Porpoise Bay, 5 minutes from the village of Sechelt. The house had a lower level walkout to a deck and a magnificent panoramic view of the bay.

With the help of a local interior decorator we developed a lower level floor plan featuring two 600 square foot suites, a media room, an office, a hall and a storage room. With our building permit in hand the suites were created and decorated.

We then applied for membership in the local B&B association which gave us a wonderful support group. A local web designer produced a website for us and we had various printed materials created showcasing our suites. We then concentrated on advertizing.

We started with rack cards at the local visitors’ centre and joined some carefully chosen B&B websites. With some trepidation we welcomed our first guests and quickly became very comfortable sharing our home with strangers. We recorded income and expenses.

After 6 years of operation we decided our suites needed a theme. We chose to go maritime and added model sailing ships, framed marine prints, a few maritime knick knacks and books featuring the square riggers of the 18th century. Our comfortable suites coupled with our focus on paying attention to detail as well as guest comfort and satisfaction has been the means to our success.