June 3rd marks one year since the Grand Opening of Laurel Manor House Bed and Breakfast. I love my job as Innkeeper! I love sharing this grand house and telling its stories, and I love meeting people from all over the country (and beyond!) and hearing their stories. Having lived in the DC/Baltimore region for all of our thirty-plus years together, Dave and I have knowledge of the area beyond Laurel’s city limits and our guests appreciate the “local perspective” advice we provide. And while visitors might learn a thing or two during their stay with us, I am always learning, too, and take note when a guest offers a suggestion. During your next visit perhaps you’ll notice a few changes we’ve made in the past year. For instance, all of the guest rooms now have charging stations, providing easy access to a USB port and electrical outlets. We moved the Keurig coffee station from the dining room up to the second floor hallway, and you’ll find coasters in all of the bedrooms. The television in each guest room is equipped with Chromecast, so guests can cast their own Netflix or streaming service from their personal devices onto the TV. Also– at the request of a guest– the Dogwood room with its king-sized bed now has a footstool for the convenience of its occupants who find the bed too tall.
We continually strive to enhance our property. Outdoors, improvements we’ve made in the past year include more flowers and shrubs, two more redbud trees, and an oak– and removal of a sickly ash. Also, having grown weary of raising tomatoes for the enjoyment of squirrels, I transformed my vegetable garden into an herb-and-flower garden. Take a walk around our property and you will find a new bee-and-butterfly house (near the butterfly bush, of course) and a bluebird house –currently home to a pair of nesting bluebirds!
Dave and I enjoy the process of improving our little corner of Old Town Laurel; receiving recognition for our labors is especially gratifying. Preservation Maryland presented us with a Community Choice Award at the 2019 “Best of Maryland” awards ceremony held at Glen Echo Park on May 16. We greatly appreciate the City of Laurel Department of Economic and Community Development for nominating us for this honor!
We look forward to our second summer of innkeeping! Visit our website LaurelManorHouse.com and reserve a room to experience comfortable lodging and scrumptious morning meals. You will discover that your experience at Laurel Manor House Bed and Breakfast is so much more than just a “bed” and “breakfast”.