Sugar Hill Inn, Sugar Hill, NH

Chapter 1

I think of myself more as an artist then a business owner and the Sugar Hill inn is my canvas.  In this blog I am going to talk about the art of inn keeping.  This blog should be of interest to anyone interested in travel, hospitality, design, art, fine wine and food, the White Mountain, environmental issues and enlighten business management.

When I purchased the inn four years ago it was just one of many average and somewhat tired country inns with its glory day a fading memory.  The previous owners were smart, hard working and friendly but had a business model that was wearing them out, leaving little family time and benefiting only the bank holding the mortgage and the inn’s suppliers.   Only someone wearing rose color glasses could consider risking it all on this money pit.  I remember bring my girl friend up for the weekend before buying it.  Standing on the Forest View desk facing the rear of the inn, her eye were focused on the deteriorating roof, peeling paint and the herculean task of turning this place around while I was focused on the inspiring views of MT. Lafayette, the historic farm house and the pride of owning 15 of the most beautiful acres in the state.

Four years latter most of the inn has been renovated, occupancy has more than doubled, the inn has been featured numerous publications and has received the Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA)’s Achievement of Distinction in Dining award for 2009.  This blog will also focus on this amazing journey.

Tags: art, design, environmental issues and enlighten business management, fine wine and food, hospitality, the White Mountain

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Innkeeping, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.