Barbara Notarius, Author of Open Your Own Bed & Breakfast, published by John Wiley and Sons, has released four editions. The fourth edition reflected the impact of the internet on the B&B industry and provide all the information you need to know the 54% of innkeepers who now have their own websites.

Barbara is available for private consultation about your inn or as an expert witness if you encounter difficulty with zoning or planning boards. She charges an hourly rate of $75 if you come to her place for consultation or $400 a day plus expenses to travel to your site.

She runs group and private seminars and takes a small number of interns for a week's apprenticeship each year. Details about seminars and internships are available on her website www.alexanderhamiltonhouse.com.

Here is what one aspiring innkeeper had to say about her day of consulting: "Thanks for a great day. I have said your writing had a powerful influence on me--a day in person was very satisfying. (The power of the written word: how does it feel to know that what started as my lying in my hammock, mulling over the messages that spoke to me in your book, led us quite directly to the house we'll be living in. We really enjoyed sharing the houses with you on your visit, and look forward to seeing you again. Paul's mom has proclaimed that keeping our original house will turn out to be "the greatest mistake of his life"---so you can imagine how encouraged he felt to hear your enthusiastic appraisal of the business prospects here. Thanks for that. We've got a great team of workmen banging away at the plumbing even as we speak, and they say we'll have the first two bed/bath suites ready both ready in November! If we open the third suite this fall, it'll be done with a small bath now, with plumbing lines laid in a way that allows for future exterior expansion. We have also taken your words to heart. Following up on your suggestion of how to use a guest kitchen on the second floor, I am beginning to see private & public space neatly divided between the first & second floors, with the entire second floor as 4 rental suites, plus a common parlor/guest kitchen. As you know, we have two working baths on the second floor to start--the maids' suite in back & the master suite in front. I'm exploring with a designer-friend the possibility of putting our own master suite in what was the first floor dining room. If it looks feasible to do that, at least for a while when we first move in, we'll more than double our income stream, from two guests on the second floor this fall as we build up cash for plumbing work." Paul & Deborah Dahl Plainfield, New Jersey

SEMINAR SCHEDULE FOR 2005 Weekend seminars will be offered January 7-9, February 4-6, March 4-6, April 1-3 Seminars take place at the Alexander Hamilton House, 49 Van Wyck St. Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520. Class: Friday 7 P.M. - 10 P.M., Saturday 10 A.M. - Noon, 1-6, and Sunday 9 – 1PM This three-day course is an introduction to inn-keeping for a person or couple seriously considering buying or converting an existing building into a B&B. Friday night: Selecting a site, conducting a marketing survey, how to research rules and regulations which will apply to you, the advantages and disadvantages of buying an established place versus starting from scratch, evaluating income potential, making an offer, going to contract. Saturday morning: Marketing - public relations and advertising, selecting your image, name, making your inn known, pricing. Saturday afternoon: Operations management - housekeeping, reservations, purchasing, staffing, and record keeping. Saturday evening: The Americans with Disabilities Act and its effect on your inn. Evaluating your marketing plan. Strategies to get financing. Lease option deals and other creative financing. Sunday morning: The effect of the internet and how you can use it to make your inn well-known. Increasing profitability by increasing occupancy, expanding your inn and cutting costs. An exit plan. FEES: One person $400; Couple $500. INCLUDED: 14 hours of class instruction, text, coffee break Saturday and Sunday, and lunch Saturday and Sunday. LODGING: Accommodations are available at the Alexander Hamilton House and a nearby B&B. Cost varies according to room selected. Breakfast is included. DRESS: Casual for all classes. Dinner Saturday night will be at the restaurant of your choice; dress varies. LOCATION: Croton-on-Hudson is one hour north of NYC by car or Metro-North train. You can fly in to White Plains, Stewart-Newburgh or any of NYC metro airports including Newark. Car rental is available at all airports or we can arrange limousine pickup.

Barbara Notarius 49 Van Wyck Street Croton-On-Hudson, New York 10520 (914) 271-6737 email: alexhous@bestweb.net	For additional information please see www.alexanderhamiltonhouse.com/inn.html (To return to Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE please use your web browser's BACK button.)
Tell Barbara Notarius you were visitor number to their bbonline home page since January 21, 2004. www.bbonline.com/innkeeper/notarius/

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