Small Business Continues to Rise Against Big Competition: Scarborough Fair B&B Wins TripAdvisor's Fourth Consecutive Certificate of Excllence

I thought you might be interested in hearing about a six room bed and breakfast in Baltimore, Maryland that continues to come out on top of the accommodations industry, despite the amount of competition posed by the big competition of big name properties such as the Four Seasons, Kimpton Hotels, Marriott, and many more. 

Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast is owned by Barry Werner and his husband Jeff Finlay.  From the time Werner and Finlay purchased the property from the former innkeepers, a short seven years ago, they have seen a steady increase in brand recognition, reputation, and customer loyalty due to their fresh and relaxed approach to the industry.   Their non-traditional urban bed and breakfast has just been awarded TripAdvisor’s prestigious Award of Excellence for 2014, making this their fourth consecutive year receiving the honor.

“TripAdvisor is pleased to honor exceptional hospitality businesses for consistent excellence,” said Marc Charron, President of TripAdvisor for Business. “The Certificate of Excellence award gives top performing establishments around the world the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers. From Australia to Zimbabwe, we want to applaud exceptional hospitality businesses for offering TripAdvisor travelers a great customer experience.”

“We like to think that we are offering something unique in the accommodations market, providing
surroundings and experiences that are comfortable, approachable, beautiful and fun,” Werner says. Gone is the stereotypical stuffiness of a traditional B&B.  At Scarborough Fair you find rooms that are more akin to what you would have in the home of great friend you wished you had.  High quality linens in both bed and bath have created such a buzz with guests that Werner and Finlay now offer the sheets for purchase.  Well thought out decor that is different in every room of what was once three separate row homes dating back to 1801 in the Federal Hill neighborhood is relaxed with just enough luxury to create the feeling of being pampered while never being fussy.  With the Edgar Allan Poe Suite, Brothers Grimm Room, and F. Scott Fitzgerald Room, half or their guest rooms give guests the opportunity to have an escape that moves literary inspiration from the pages of well known books into the reality surrounding them.  Rooms inspired by the life and works of Agatha Christie, Jules Verne, and Victor Hugo are to be completed within the next few years; making them the most well read accommodations where guests can literally get booked.

Werner’s care for his guests stems from the many years he spent learning the finer points of gracious hospitality, food, decor and the like from his grandmother when they would play bed and breakfast when he was a child.  He would make mock brochures with his crayons and markers and pretend to check his grandmother into her room. Then they would make up a batch of pancakes to share.

 “Genuine care for our guests combined with unique homemade breakfasts and a high level of cleanliness has become the hallmarks of a stay with us and this is reflected in our online reviews and repeat guests.   We also get calls from people begging to have breakfast with us without the need to spend the night,” Werner adds.  Offering such imaginative menus as double chocolate bacon waffles with briar berry sauce, lemon poppy seed waffles with homemade limoncello sauce, duck egg frittatas with farmer’s market tomatoes and zucchini and much more ensures guests seldom leave the breakfast table hungry.  The kitchen at Scarborough Fair is constantly creating new recipes featuring locally sourced goods that transform
breakfast from a meal that is needed to one that is craved.

Winning the Certificate of Excellence is no surprise when you read Scarborough Fair B&B’s many perfect reviews on TripAdvisor’s website.  Only two other accommodations have more perfect scores on TripAdvisor than the petite &  unpretentious accommodations of Scarborough Fair, both having far greater number of rooms and marketing dollars to spend per guest.  “Despite our literally being the small guy on the block, our rooms are so much larger than any guests ever expect.  We are so grateful that our guests love us as much as we love them,” Werner says.  With 430 perfect reviews, most mentioning Scarborough Fair’s whimsical and delectable homemade breakfasts/afternoon snacks, high level of cleanliness and grand hospitality, their continued growth and rise in the accommodations markets is nearly assured.  Maintaining their reputation as the most award winning Bed & Breakfast in the city of Baltimore seems a given once you have enjoyed the creative and satisfying food, hospitable nature, and relaxing rooms of Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast for yourself.

Please let us know if you would like any more information, photos or recipes and we will be happy to oblige.

Thanks so very much for your time.

It's another great day here in Baltimore,

Barry
Visit a Neighborhood, Not a Hotel

Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast
801 South Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
(410)837-0010
barry@scarboroughfairbandb.com

The most award winning B&B in the city:
Awarded The Certificate of Excellence for 2013, 2012 & 2011 by TripAdvisor.com
Winner: "a Best Bed & Breakfast 2010" -Baltimore Magazine
"Best Urban Inn 2009-2010" -BedAndBreakfast.com
First B&B in the city awarded membership to Select Registry; Distinguished Inns of North America

ONLY 17 MORE FACEBOOK PAGE LIKES TO GO Until we have our First WINNER!

 
Would you like a Free Night's Stay at our B&B?

We are starting a new contest for Facebook Fans ONLY! And the winning is EASY!

All you need to do is: a) Be a fan of our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Scarboroughfairbandb, b) Like the post that reads much like this one  & c) Share that same post in Facebook. 

Every time we gain 100 more likes for our Facebook page we will draw one winner at random from those who have done all of the 3 above to win a one night stay!

Sound good? Then get to liking, and sharing folks because this contest ends on June 19th!

Top List of the Best Kids' Actvities and Things to do with Children in Baltimore City, Maryland

Thankfully, at Scarborough FairBed & Breakfast, we get many more families than you might expect.    Perhaps most surprising of all is not how much we love having the little ones stay with us, but how greatly they enjoy staying in a B&B!  Some boys have said it is like   being in a Harry Potter Book; other tikes have loved staying here so much because they simply felt what the adults feel, incredibly and completely comfortable.  Having hot cocoa and cookies at the ready every afternoon certainly doesn’t hurt either. 

One of the most often asked questions from our family guests is what we suggest for is to do in the city.  Below are our top picks for kids’ activities in Baltimore City.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore: www.marylandzoo.org/. 

Who doesn’t love seeing thousands of animals?  Feed giraffes, groom the goats, enjoy a scavenger hunt trough the park and even chat it up with real zookeepers!  Sounds like a day full of learning and fun to us! 

The National Aquarium in Baltimore: www.aqua.org/.

Learn about and watch thousands of aquatic creatures, big and small.  Walk through an Australian river gorge.  Explore the Black Tip Sharks as they swim in their small school around beautiful coral.  Discover unusual varieties of jellyfish.  And this is just a bit of what awaits you in this amazing aquarium.

Port Discovery Children’s Museum: www.portdiscovery.org/.

Here they invite you to “Play with Purpose.”  What better way for the little ones to learn than by experiencing this first hand.  With an array of permanent exhibits and fantastic visiting exhibits, children will have so much fun learning they won’t even realize all the knowledge they are soaking up!  Port Discovery, the Children's Museum in Baltimore offers three floors of educational and interactive exhibits, programs and activities for children ages birth to 10 years old. Ranked among the top five children's museum in the United States.

Maryland Science Center: www.mdsci.org/.

The planetarium, IMAX Theater, Science Encounters, exhibits and much more.  This is another great way to entertain their brain with the added bonus of fun.

The Walters Art Museum: www.thewalters.org/family/.  

Teach your kids about the importance of creativity, history and other cultures with a visit to this astounding museum.  They offer several special ways to heighten your children’s experiences to get the most out of your next visit.  Experience 55 centuries of art featuring Egyptian mummies, medieval armor, illustrated manuscripts, Asian art and European masterpieces, plus an audio tour and Saturday children’s activities.

Fort McHenry: www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm.

Explore where the Star Spangled Banner was written and the history behind our National Anthem.

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture: www.rflewismuseum.org/.

A major Inner Harbor tourist destination, this museum highlights the history and accomplishments of Maryland’s African American community.