The Classic Victorian B&B in Nazareth offers three rooms to a steady
stream of visitors.
By Kurt Blumenau Of The
Morning Call
December 1, 2003
If the holiday rush of relatives
coming to visit seems overwhelming, think of what Irene Sokolowski does every
day.
Sokolowski and her husband, Dan, opened their Victorian home at 35
N. New St. in Nazareth as a bed and breakfast 11 years ago. While most people
have visitors in the house a few days a year, the Sokolowskis are nearly always
waiting on guests — and strangers, to boot.
But life at the Classic
Victorian Bed & Breakfast suits Sokolowski, who said she learned the
domestic skills needed for the job as one of seven children growing up in the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region.
''I was Martha Stewart before she was ever
heard of,'' she said. ''We all knew how to paint and paper, and cook and
sew.''
She attributes the inn's ongoing success to that early training,
and to her longtime love of entertaining. The inn, with only three rooms, is
booked solid most of the year with travelers coming for college graduations,
honeymoons, getaways, corporate trips and auto races.
''It's a natural
thing for me to have 30 people over for a holiday dinner,'' she said. ''I just
love to put out the linens, and the Wedgwood, and the
crystal.''
Sokolowski's days may be filled with crystal and linen, but
the birth of the Classic Victorian wasn't entirely glamorous. The Sokolowskis
were looking for extra money because their daughter Denise was in medical
school.
They ran a card and gift shop at 15th and Allen streets in
Allentown. They began mulling the idea of turning their recently purchased home
into a bed and breakfast, taking advantage of Irene's fondness for cooking,
cleaning and hospitality. In 1992, they decided to take the jump into
innkeeping.
When the inn is full, Irene is on call. But during the slow
months of January through March, or the early afternoon hours before guests
arrive, she has more free time.
At a conventional job, ''you can't leave
work in the middle of the day to go out for lunch for three hours, and not come
back,'' she said. ''I still have flexibility, but not every day.''
The
business developed well enough for the couple to leave the greeting card
business three years ago. Dan Sokolowski also runs a painting and remodeling
firm, making money that helps keep the inn afloat during the slow months of the
year.
From the start, community connections helped the inn succeed. The
Classic Victorian became a stop on Nazareth's annual Towne Open House, serving
hot cider to visitors on the borough's December walking and driving
tour.
The bed and breakfast also built relationships with companies such
as the nearby Essroc Cement Corp. and guitar maker C.F. Martin & Co., which
began to recommend the Classic Victorian to out-of-town guests.
At
Martin, administrative service manager Sylvia Fehnel said visitors regularly
praise the inn. Many like to walk around the neighborhood and into the borough
center — something they might not be able to do at a bigger hotel on a
highway.
''The food is very good, from what I understand,'' Fehnel added.
''They're very nice to the people.…We've done business with them almost from the
time they opened.''
Rooms at the Classic Victorian rent from $95 to $130
per night, including breakfast and a private bath.
The inn offers fax and
Internet access on the first floor, added about four years ago in response to
growing customer demand. Sokolowski said more guests are also asking for special
food to match particular diets.
The Classic Victorian is far from the
only intimate inn in the Lehigh Valley. But Irene Sokolowski said she's friendly
with other innkeepers, and sometimes refers guests to them when she's booked
full.
''It doesn't take long for me to get filled,'' she said. ''We all
have our own special interests and ways of greeting our guests.''
Some
business comes from repeat customers: For some events, a single group comes back
each year and books all the rooms. Other guests find the bed and breakfast
through its basic Web site.
''Many of the guests say we don't have enough
on the Web site,'' Sokolowski said. ''They say, 'You should put your guestbook
up.' I'd rather you be pleasantly surprised and feel you had a nice
weekend.''
According to Sokolowski, the key to success in the bed and
breakfast business is giving guests personal attention, but also knowing when to
give them space. She said some guests are wary of coming to a bed and breakfast
because they worry about coming into someone's house.
''Gentlemen, more
than ladies, are being coerced over that threshold,'' she said, laughing. ''They
think you're going to be in their face.''
At breakfast, she stops in to
chat with guests, but won't sit down at their table unless they ask. That's one
way to pay attention to guests without smothering them, she said.
As for
welcoming strangers into her home, Sokolowski says an innkeeper needs ''an
inborn trust'' of guests. Nothing has ever been taken from the Classic
Victorian, she said.
From a bottom-line business perspective, the Classic
Victorian doesn't have much growth potential. The Sokolowskis aren't interested
in adding rooms, nor do they want to pick up and re-start the business at a
bigger house.
That's fine with Irene Sokolowski.
''I like the spot
I'm in in life,'' she said. ''When you like what you do, that's half the
battle.''
