As they say in Ireland, "there are as many ways to relax as there are shades of green". With St. Patrick's Day approaching, we thought we might highlight a few of our member inns with a special connection to the Emerald Isle.  

The Irish Inn, Ozark, IL: Stay in a stone and log chalet, comfortably cool in summer with blazing log fires in winter. You will enjoy the company of a genuine Belfast-born innkeeper, a full unbelievably big Irish breakfast, and best of all  there is no  charge for big doses of the blarney, storytelling, and good Irish luck. One day a month is not enough to celebrate the luck of the Irish here, so look forward to a celebration every single day.  Irish music, storytelling around warm fires, special catered dinner feasts of Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage or four other dinners,  full Irish breakfasts, and the blarney of your Irish Innkeeper will make your visit one to remember. Over the years some interesting guests have found their way to The Irish Inn, including two kilted Irishmen from a place called Islandmagee and a fine artist James Cameron of Carrickfergus who painted a portrait of the inn now on display at the inn.

Fitzgerald's Irish B&B, Painesville, OH:  Come for the warm Irish hospitality in a unique sixteen-room French Tudor built in 1937 and you'll be wow'd by the ornate staircase, hard-wood floors throughout, unusual turret and 11 foot fireplace. Reminescent of an Irish (not French) castle, yet only 30 minutes outside Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it's no surprise that the guest rooms here have Irish names like the Galway and Dublin rooms.

Killahevlin, Front Royal, VA:  Even within this inn’s blog, you’ll find a bit of the blarney. Offering an "Emerald Isle" for travelers to the Shenandoah Valley reminiscent of turn of the century hospitality this hilltop Edwardian Mansion welcomes visitors from throughout the world. The Irish influence can be spotted throughout the guest rooms and the inn filled with stained glass transom windows and  reproduction wallpaper from 19th century Ireland. Yet it’s the Irish pub offering complimentary Irish draft beer on tap, plus wine, soft drinks and snacks that guests love.  From the moment you enter the entrance with its green shingles to the time you leave, enjoy a wee bit of rest and a big dose of Irish hospitality here.

For those interested in traveling a little farther than Illinois, Ohio or Virginia, take a trip across the pond to Ireland for a taste of the Irish B&B  blarney.  BedandBreakfast.com lists hundreds of Irish B&Bs.  In search of the lucky leprechaun? Choose from Irish inns from Aclare to Westport and plan your trip starting with BedandBreakfast.com. 

Many, although not all, B&Bs offer peek into earlier times. As harbingers of historic preservation, B&Bs in the U.S. have been known to offer a glimpses back as far as colonial days, yet few date prior to 1750 or so. For those seeking a living lesson in Medieval history, it takes a a trip over the pond for the chance to experience a much earlier history lesson.

Interested in what life was like in the 13th and 14th century Tuscany? Italy’s Il Podere di Toscana offers a living lesson filled with the aromas and tastes of Tuscany. Beautifully preserved, this former monestary underwent a restoration in 2009 to convert it to a B&B with hardstone accents from the Florentine hills, hand crafted tarra cotta, Impruneta and Tuscanty Oak and Chestnut frames and accents. Every corner of the house was retouched with Tuscan artistry, including hand painted frescos recreating the medieval and Renaissance style reminiscent of the inn’s beginnings.

The story of Il Podere di Toscana finds its humble beginnings in the 14th century when it was a modest farmhouse owned by the Duke Family and set among terraced slopes planted with olives, and vineyards. The inn’s vegetable garden had its origins in medieval times when local  monks cultivated their vegetable gardens into geometric shapes to symbolize the order and the beauty of nature.  Today, the inn’s Mediterranean garden spans 3,000 meters with more than 10,000 aromatic plants offering distinctive seasonal scents depending on the various blooms. The garden was painstakingly overseen by the B&Bs owner, taking great care to restore its 13th century beginnings with plantings that date back hundreds of years.

Located  just 19 km from Leonardo da Vinci’s birthplace, guests enjoy visiting the museum in his birth village where displays of his inventions include reproductions of his drawings and many of his notebooks outlining his ideas. 

If you go:
Il Podere di Toscana, Via Baco 153, 51034 Cantagrillo, Pistoia, Tel/fax. +39.0573.527910, Mobile +39.388.7950707, info@ilpodereditoscana.it                                              
                                                        

HomeAway, Inc. – the world’s leading online vacation rental marketplace – today announced its acquisition of BedandBreakfast.com. With this acquisition, HomeAway strengthens its position as the No. 1 source for unique lodging alternatives to hotels. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“HomeAway already provides the most trusted sites and broadest inventory for searching for the ideal vacation rental home,” says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer of HomeAway. “With the addition of BedandBreakfast.com, we’re providing travelers with another option to find home-like accommodations for a vacation experience that delivers far greater satisfaction than staying in a traditional motel or hotel.”

BedandBreakfast.com was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1994 by CEO Eric Goldreyer, and has grown into a top travel site listing more than 10,000 B&Bs across 100 countries. The site specializes in providing travelers with a way to have a more personal travel experience for a weekend getaway, business trip, or extended vacation.

“We are thrilled to be joining the HomeAway family,” says Goldreyer. “The missions of our two companies are closely aligned – to help consumers easily find and experience a better lodging option than chain hotels and to help property owners effectively compete for and serve the traveler.”

HomeAway plans to operate BedandBreakfast.com as an independent brand.

More About HomeAway, Inc.

The HomeAway, Inc. websites connect homeowners and property managers with travelers who seek the space, value and amenities of vacation rental homes as an alternative to hotels. With more than 400,000 global listings across the sites, travelers may easily search for budget to luxury-priced vacation rentals on HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, VacationRentals.com,CyberRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, GreatRentals.com, TripHomes.com, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, OwnersDirect.co.uk, FeWo-direkt.de and Abritel.fr. The sites also feature Reviews and the HomeAway Rent with Confidence Guarantee, which help ensure a memorable HomeAway from home® experience. HomeAway is headquartered in Austin, Texas and funded by Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, American Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Trident Capital.

A bill that will create a tourism promotion organization for the United States received its final passage in the Senate last week.  Entitled The Travel Promotion Act, it calls for the formation of a nonprofit Corporation for Travel Promotion that will promote the United States as a travel destination and explain travel and security policies to international visitors. Many years in the making, passage of this act is a victory for everyone involved in the travel industry, from large hotels to the smallest B&Bs. Since 9-11, a decline in overseas travel to the United States has cost America 440,000 jobs and more than $500 billion in total travel-related spending due to ill-perceived perceptions about difficulties in traveling to the U.S. according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Within the next ten days, President Obama is expected to sign the bill, which the Senate passed 78-18 last Thursday, according to the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), a national organization of travel businesses.  According to the USTA, a $10 fee charged to visitors from countries included in the Visa Waiver Program will partially fund the new public-private Corporation for Travel Promotion organization. The rest of the funding is expected to come through a matching program of up to $100 million in private sector contributions. If the corporation is able to raise the projected $200 million annually, the organization will be the largest national tourism communications program in the world, according to Roger Dow, USTA President.

The Travel Promotion Act creates a public-private partnership campaign designed to market the United States as a premier travel destination overseas, with the goal of increasing the visits to the U.S. from international travelers. While individual private travel organizations have focused on this goal for many years without the help of government funding, they will now receive a boost from the Corp for Travel Promotion, affording a sustained effort to reach the international traveler.  This means that all forms of alternative lodging, even small inns and B&Bs from Boston to Brookline and beyond, will now have the opportunity to be more easily discovered by international travelers.

According to USTA, Oxford Economics, an economic consulting and forecasting company, estimates a well-executed promotional program would draw 1.6 million new international visitors annually and generate $4 billion in new visitor spending.

Sources: United States Travel Association, eTN

Carl Kosko is no stranger to cutting edge innkeeping.  While his business, Harvest Moon B&B may be steeped in Pennsylvania Dutch history, he has been employing today’s social media to communicate with inngoers for some time.  Recently, he posted a benefit auction, entitled the Moon over Haiti, on Facebook to raise funds for the earthquake victims in Haiti. The auction continues through the end of February.  He’s auctioning off a two night stay at Harvest Moon B&B and all monies raised will be donated to the Red Cross’s massive relief efforts, and he’s doing it entirely through Facebook.  In addition, two percent of all room bookings throughout the month of February are being donated to the same fund.

When he grew tired of the same chocolate chip cookie recipe, he turned to Facebook and posted a contest for a new cookie recipe too.  Found under Events on the Harvest Moon Facebook page, he’s already had plenty of fans sign on with recipes. Why don’t you “friend” Carl and submit your recipe or bid in the auction to win an overnight stay at Harvest Moon?

Carl is a regular on Twitter too!  For all you social media followers or for those who’d like to be, follow Carl on Facebook and Twitter to see a great example of social networking at its best.

For foodies, Harvest Moon has teamed up with nearby Artist Inn in Terre Hill, PA on a number of fabulous culinary tours.  Discover the tastes and smells of Lancaster County while staying at two fabulous culinary-focused inns.

For More Information

Harvest Moon Bed and Breakfast, 311 East Main Street, New Holland, PA 17557
Nestled In the middle of Lancaster County in the historic town of New Holland sits the Harvest Moon B&B. Four gracious guestrooms, antiques placed through the inn and a culinary focus lead to a sweet and savory vacation experience here.