Meeting and Event Center Opens

It was a day years in the making, but the Meeting and Event Center in the old Carriage House at the Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast in historic Daniels Hill in downtown Lynchburg finally took place. Mayor Joan Foster and Vice Mayor Bert Dodson assisted innkeepers Kathy and Michael Bedsworth with the ribbon cutting officially opening Lynchburg’s newest event venue on 27 October 2009.

The Meeting and Event Center encompasses the lower level of the carriage house and totals about 1300 square feet. The largest meeting room in the new facility is where the carriages and later automobiles were housed. The old stables were converted into a lobby and smaller conference room or breakout room. The old coal storage area and tack rooms now house the refreshment/beverage center, powder rooms and caterer’s kitchen.

During the construction process, the main focus on the final product was to create a multi-purpose space while keeping the integrity and character of the building. To that extent, the original tongue and grove ceiling in the meeting areas was preserved, antique lighting fixtures were installed and wood salvaged from the stables was used as wainscoting in the smaller conference/breakout room. Electrical outlets are spaced ever three to four and 15 data points were installed in the space. A 55 inch LCD screen allows speakers or trainers to show their presentations in brilliant color.

The main room can be set up theater style, classroom style, banquet style or U shaped depending on the nature of the event. This is the ideal space for local businesses to have meetings training sessions or conduct budget or strategic planning meetings. Likewise the community could use the space for bridal or baby showers, small weddings, birthday or anniversary parties. In the future wine and beer tastings, chocolate tastings and a host of other events will also be held here. Small weddings, elopement ceremonies, recommitment ceremonies and civil unions can also be held in this space.

Real value in a bed and breakfast

Kathy and I just returned from Atlanta where we attended the Professional Association of International Innkeepers (PAII) conference. We stayed at the downtown Hyatt on Peachtree Street. It is a beautiful hotel with a 23 story atrium and all rooms in the hotel open onto the atrium. On our way home we started to compare the costs/value of such a fine hotel to our Bed and Breakfast, The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived at our room was the $6.00 bottle of water. This generic brand of water is filtered water not some exotic water being shipped to the States from a spring in the Alps. At our Bed and Breakfast we provide our guests free bottled water. If you wanted a can of Coke (sorry Pepsi, Coke has a strong hold on the Atlanta area) that would also cost you a $2.75 at a bar or restaurant or a little less at one of the vending machines on each level. Again soda is complementary at our establishment. There was no refrigerator in the room but the hotel would be happy to put one in your room for a one time charge of $25.00. Our guests have access to one of our refrigerators at no charge. When it came time to check email I connected to their server and was greeted with a message offering to sign me up for their service. The least expensive (slowest) service was $12.95 per day with a discount for signing up for more days. Again, using our computer is free as is the wi-fi connection in our facility.

Breakfast in one of their onsite dining establishments could easily run $20.00 per person and more than likely it would be closer to $25.00 per day or $50.00 for the both of us. Our legendary three course breakfast is included in our room rate. A glass of wine in the afternoon was cheerfully provided along with a charge of $7.00 per glass. By now, you guessed it; a glass of wine is complementary at The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast. I almost forgot to mention the cost of parking your car at the Hyatt was $27.00 per day! Of course there were no complementary slippers or bath robes for us to use while staying there and there was no turn-down service or chocolate on our pillow at night. I didn’t check into charges for faxing, copying, scanning, or making long distance calls (we don’t charge for these) but I am confident there is a charge for utilizing those services, something many business people may need to do while staying at the hotel. The Hyatt charges $.75 for local calls and they are complementary at our Bed and Breakfast

The room was comfortable and somewhat clean although Kathy found a 6” hair on the bathroom floor and there was mold or mildew growing under the caulk surrounding the bath tub and under the soap holder in the tub, but my experience is that is somewhat normal in hotels. I do applaud the Hyatt for being green (as we are) and we did take advantage of them not changing our towels and sheets every day so that we could do our part to help the environment.

The conference was fantastic and I took away a lot of great ideas. I can’t say I wouldn’t stay there again, but next time I travel to Atlanta I might look at staying at a bed and breakfast instead. Even if the room rates are the same, one could easily save $75.00 or more per day with the add on charges that many hotels are now charging to make up for lower occupancy rates or perhaps just to increase their bottom line.

As you can see, staying at a Bed and Breakfast is a great value. Even if the room rate is a little higher you get so much more and the cost could end up being a lot less than a hotel. The experience of staying in a bed and breakfast and interacting with the innkeepers gives the guest so much more insight on the area. Many bed and breakfasts are in historical properties, as is ours, and you just don’t get the same ambiance out of a modern hotel room. Next time you travel I would recommend checking out a bed and breakfast and if you are traveling to Lynchburg, Virginia please book your room with us at: www.TheCarriageHouseInnBandB.com.

Batteaux Festival

Before you can set sail you have to sink the batteau

Lynchburg has been a city that has re-invented itself several times over the past couple hundred years. In the late 1700’s through the mid 1800’s tobacco was king making Lynchburg was a very prosperous town. After the fields became unusable (they didn’t know about crop rotation) Lynchburg became the largest shoe manufacturer east of the Mississippi. For a period of time during the teens and 1920’s Lynchburg made/assembled automobiles. Today education and nuclear research are major industries, but going back in time to when tobacco was king there needed to be a means of transporting tobacco to the market in Richmond.

Tobacco and other cargo was transported from Lynchburg to Richmond on the James River in sleek flat bottom boats called batteaux. The boats are made of white oak, and can carry about 8,000 pounds of cargo. A long pole is used to push the batteau downstream and rudders is in the front and rear to help steer the batteau. Before the batteau is launched for this trip it must first be sunk. The water expands the wood and the expanded wood makes the boat water tight by sealing all the cracks. After being submerged for a week or so water is bailed out and the interior dried out and the journey begins. During the next seven days an armada of batteaux will make their way down the James River stopping overnight in towns along the way.

Yesterday the re-enactors took to the water in period garb in reproductions of the batteaus that once were a very important part of our history. This festival is held every year in June and is well worth the trip to downtown to send off the dozen plus batteaux, including one batteau with an all woman crew from Charlottesville. Over the next week the batteaux will retrace the journey stopping in towns along the way until they reach their final destination, in Richmond. This year's batteaux festival was the 23rd. Don't miss next years festival, book your room today at The Carriage House Inn Bed and Breakfast.