A bed and breakfast is a small, cozy, restored or renovated property that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. They are typically private residences with a few bedrooms offered for rent and available to the public.
It’s an escape-within-an-escape, a home-away-from-home, an experience akin to spending a few nights and mornings with a relative one is meeting for the first time that has a near-unforgettable breakfast prepared for you the minute you get out of bed.
B&B’s usually only offer morning meals and are not typically responsible for lunch or dinners. They offer the same amenities as hotels but are a lot more intimate. It’s the intimacy they provide that attracts guests and clients, usually vacationers and travelers looking for a romantic getaway, some downtime or just to unplug from work.
But the industry is vastly underrepresented by black owners. Few of the inns scattered across the U.S. are properties owned by people of color.
According to Monica Edwards, co-owner of Morehead Manor Bed and Breakfast in Durham, North Carolina, “Out of the 30,000 or more B&B’s in the country only about 1% are black owned.” Another black-owned B&B owner, Monique Greenwood says less than half a percent of B&B’s nationwide are black-owned.
BlackEnterprise.com asked them to recommend the top black-owned bed and breakfasts in the country.
Check them out on the next page …
With four locations welcoming guests in Brooklyn, New York; Cape May, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; and Bethany, Pennsylvania, many consider Monique Greenwood‘s Akwaaba the gold standard of black-owned bed and breakfasts.
The husband and wife team of Greenwood and Glenn Pogue have been in the business for nearly two decades, opening their Brooklyn location in 1995, and having their technique locked down to a science.
“Each Bed and Breakfast should reflect the character of the owner. I have a wonderful staff, and we are very committed to what we do. And it doesn’t necessarily feel like work although sometimes its too much work.”
Owned by Sylvia Daley, this bed and breakfast and spa located an hour and a half from New York City is nestled between the beaches of the Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound.
The journey there takes you past the lush landscapes of wineries and farm land.
It features five suites complete with fire places, private decks, and a jacuzzi. The facility also features a full-service spa.
Owned by Daniel and Monica Edwards, the Morehead Manor Bed and Breakfast
opened to the public back in 1997. Since then it has been a staple of African American excellence in hospitality.Located in Durham, North Carolina, the splendidly redecorated, 8,000 square-foot, Colonial Revival Style home is located within walking distance to the Downtown area. The property has four spacious guestrooms each with a private bath.
“We are going into our 17th year. I’ve seen lots of changes and I’ve embraced them. I enjoy what I do, its a labor of love and I tell everybody if I didn’t enjoy it I wouldn’t be doing it this long.”
“I can honestly say my first experience at a bed and breakfast was in 1995 and I fell in love with it and said to myself this a very good concept. And over the next year and a half every time my husband and I traveled we stayed at a B&B and talked to people there. Remember at that time there was very limited information about B&B’s unlike hotels that have a lot of money to spend on advertising, most B&B’s have a very limited budget.”
The Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast
Located in the waterfront downtown area on the southeastern tip of the Virginia peninsula, this Hampton, Virginia Bed and Breakfast is one of the city’s premier inns and one of the “most sought after” for lodging experience for business and leisure travelers.
It’s been owned by Joyce and Lankford Blair for eight years. The inn also operates a wedding chapel and specialize in small weddings.
The Blairs are certified ministers and have married 77 couples. It’s described as the ideal location for a quick getaway for couples looking to elope and shut out the chaos of everyday living.
Thee Matriarch Bed and Breakfast, Meetings and Special Events Venue
Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina and owned by husband and wife team, Rachelle Jamerson-Holmes and Fred Holmes, Thee Matriarch B&B is a pioneer of a new concept in bed and breakfast hospitality. It offers space for meetings and special events providing full catering.
The couple bought two 100-year-old generational homes back in 2001. After getting the properties exactly the way they wanted it, they opened their inn to the world Feb. 22, 2012.
Co-Owner Jamerson-Holmes tells BlackEnterprise.com, “Love starts at the front door.”
Henderson House Bed and Breakfast
Located in Columbus, Ohio and owned by former model Lee Henderson Johnson, this lovely five-acre property used to belong to former Ohio Governor and United States president Rutherford. B. Hayes.
The Henderson House B & B is a restored farm house tucked away close to downtown Columbus. It is the first African American-owned bed and breakfast in the state of Ohio.
The historical house which has belonged to the Henderson family for generations opened as a bed and breakfast in 1994. Their first guests were the ensemble cast of the hit opera, “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Owned by Merrill “Mell” and Angie Monroe.
Rated No. 3 out of 25 bed and breakfasts in Chicago by Tripadvisor, this property was built in 1893 and is a seven-room Queen Anne historic home.
The Monroes purchased the property eight years ago and turned it into a bed and breakfast in 2011.
You have to have an honest and sincere interest in people and a high tolerance for service, Mell Monroe says. Be comfortable cooking because you’re going to be cooking everyday as long as you have guests. It’s important to have a compassion and empathy for people who are unlike yourself, ethnically or culturally or with respect to their religion.