Spotlight: Captain Swift Inn

By Nathan Gawlik
Nathan Gawlik's experience includes being a General Manager of a Hampton Inn and other front line roles such as a Banquet Captain, Front Desk Agent, Housekeeper, Catering Event Manager, and Director of Sales.

"Fine Lodging and Exceptional Hospitality"

The Captain Swift Inn is located in Camden Maine, a small port town north of Portland nearly two hours. The current owners, Carolyn and Rick Bentzinger, bought an existing inn that was in need of considerable renovations.

In February of 2019, the Captain Swift Inn emerged anew complete with ResNexus Professional Edition. The property has seen incredible growth and the owners continue to be happy with the booking engine and automatic marketing services ResNexus provides.

Earlier this year, the property took advantage of Unlimited Text Messaging offered by ResNexus. Texting became a great way to communicate with guests while socially distancing during the pandemic. The property effortlessly sent over 200 text messages encouraging guests to leave a review in September alone.

front garden with house in the background

How have things changed since Covid-19?

We have been pleasantly surprised at just how many travelers we have seen. It's been slower than usual but better than we anticipated. We think a lot of the travelers are local, probably within a two-hour drive, the vast majority from our state - Maine. And generally, our guests are younger.

The length of stay is also longer. Last year we had so many one-night stays because guests were hitting so many destinations but now we see guests stay multiple nights and our small town is their final destination. More seasonal packages are being booked with Covid. Our guests are looking to have something planned or something to do during their stay with us. More carry-out dining and picnics are also prevalent and we are selling more alcohol because guests are staying in. We have also made considerable effort to try to leave a used room out of order for 24hr to sanitize it.

Alot has changed as a result of Covid19.

Is there any item you can't live without?

Early on we had a lot of checklists. Checklists. Checklists. Checklists. We had so many checklists for training and we tried to have everything organized and anticipate what would be needed for all the processes and procedures but now, we barely use them, it has now become so routine.

While they aren't used on a daily basis any longer, we tried to anticipate as much as we can and it was a worthwhile exercise. Each morning, I try to walk through the day as a team member and consider what they need to be successful.

Considering your question more, I guess I would have to say that I don't know how an Inn cannot have an online reservation service. I had a colleague whose father was buying an inn. He is elderly and he has never had an online reservation system. I told them hands down don't try it without it! For me, I think having done it both ways, doing it without an online system and with one, I would definitely say there is no way I would do it without it. I've seen some other long-time innkeepers without it and for me, its a head scratcher.

What unique challenges come with running a B&B that don't come from running any other business?

Decide how much face time you will be giving your guest. Understand that it is a job you can get really burnt out on. You don't think about that because you are doing something you really love but it's constant. The inn is always open. Guests might need you at all
hours.

I remember when we had another Inn years ago, we gave everything to our business. We were always available to our guests. We didn't care if you were checking in at 11pm at night, we were checking you in. We always say that our property offers fine lodging and exceptional hospitality. And then when we tried to pull back, we realized we had built up this expectation to our guests. We would write a note explaining that our Assistant Innkeeper is working tonight and that we would see them in the morning but our return guests would call us and say, "Oh can't you come visit, its our anniversary" or something along those lines. It's constant.

If you are open year-round like we are, you are going to look at your slow times and consider ways to get people to stay at your property. Which leaves you with less and less time for yourself. That is a super hard challenge that all innkeepers have to consider - how are they going to balance work and life at their property.

Some innkeepers will say that they are off duty at 6pm or will just leave the check-in information in an envelope for their arriving guests. Those are all things you need to think about when you are putting together how you want your property to be, because that's not how we wanted our property to be. We are all about exceptional levels of service. We're never not available. We will never not personally check you in.

If you're a new innkeeper, it is a huge time commitment that you have to figure out.

Also, go in with an exit strategy. Know how and when you plan to get out of the business. We came into the Captain Swift Inn knowing that we would only be here for about 5 years. We know for the most part that we are not in it for the long run. That allows us to make decisions with that in mind.

What #1 skill do you think you need to run a B&B?

Have a disposition for customer service, that's your business. One of the skills an innkeeper must have is tolerance. You have to be engaging; leave your ego behind. You also need to have patience since you are dealing with all types of people and situations and requests.

If you are a private person or introverted, this isn't for you. If you are a rule-oriented person this job isn't for you. I don't think there is any individual skill that you need to be an innkeeper but it's important to take an inventory of your skillset.

Key Findings

Average Annual ADR Increase Since 2017 is 48%

Revenue has increased over 300% over the past two years.

The Mercantile
Their most popular room is a Luxury King Suite, which was occupied 85% of the time this last summer season. This room features it's own private exterior entrance off the parking lot. It is well equipped with refreshment bar, microwave and keurig.

open living space with bed, seating area and bathtub

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