Inns and bed & breakfasts across the country are dealing with cancelled reservations.
In Fairport at The Inn on Church, owners Angela Harrold and Pam Renfro were ready for peak season — Canal Days, cycling tours, bridal showers and college graduations.
What You Need To Know
- The fallout of Coronavirus cancellations is being felt by those in the inns and bed & breakfast industries
- Fairport's The Inn on Church reveals how they have had to adjust
- They have let one family in at a time and hosted movie nights
- Rates have been reduced, and they have also supplied masks and hand sanitizer
"We had quite a few events in April and May that were canceled and along with that is room rentals and then I would say going forward most everything in June and July has cancelled," Renfro said.
Less tourism means they had to brainstorm how to use the inn differently — with a focus on local visitors and pay-what-you-can family movie nights along with deep cleaning for peace of mind.
"As a mom of four, school-age kids I realized how housebound we are and that maybe our houses are feeling small so we opened up the barn which is typically event space for 50 people and we opened it up for one family at a time and they can have a movie night, they can do a little fire in our fire pit in the backyard and get take-out so that families can get out of the house a little bit," Harrold said.
The Inn on Church has the modern comforts of home. It offers a change of scenery and a close to home getaway.
"We now do whole house rentals and we have reduced our rates so it is hopefully more accessible and we have hand sanitizer for guests and face coverings available so that people feel safe, Harold said. "I think once we come through this, we are going to back better than ever!"