Barry Cusick's  Spring 99 Newsletter

A B&B Broker Goes Abroad

The past year of business on the Mendocino Coast can be described as a year of extremes. The drenching of El Nino followed by a drenching of visitors. On the whole the year was up over previous years. When the visitors came they came armed with increased equity in homes and portfolios to change their lifestyles and buy inns on the coast. In the past year the Philo Pottery, Schoolhouse Creek, Victorian Farmhouse, Harbor House and Captain's Cove inns were sold. My inventory at year's end was low. So I did what any self-driving inn broker would do: I got out my bike, flew to Europe and pedaled 2960 miles through eight countries staying at the inns of the Czeck and Slovak Republics, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France.

Besides reducing a slight wine-induced paunch and putting stretch marks on my credit card, I learned a lot about inns and reinforced a lot of assumptions that I already had.

The experiences showed me the diversity of mankind, their inns (it ain't McDonalds folks are looking for), and what an innkeeper is willing to put up with to survive and prosper. The Czeck Republic has leapt from the Velvet Revolution and embraced the micro capitalism that innkeeping is. Small hotels and inns abound in Prague and just east in Kutna Hora. I stayed in an inn next to a Benedictine Monastery where the furnishings and fixtures were made of human bones. The inn took on a brighter light with private gardens and a view of the monastery. In the Slovak and Ukraine Republics the half century of Communism had obliterated all signs of previous cultural significance in a micro scale. After the revolutions the tasteless concrete hotels were sold to the highest bidder or the city. Personal attention and details are all that make these properties warm and receptive. In Hungary many fine properties have opened with a wealth of architectural and regional merit. My favorites were the inns of the Tokay where every innkeeper also makes wine which is available for a tour, taste and purchase. If you like the wine it goes right from the barrel to a pitcher to your room or patio. While at an inn in Tapolca I asked to store my bike. They opened the cellar and in addition to wine were wonderful pickles and preserves which were served in the inn: the best I have ever tasted.

Westward to Krems in the Wachau I stayed in a small property that flooded regularly. Saw horses with planks atop were put down the street and into the houses and inns. Everyone walks about the wooden planks a few inches above the water. Stoop under the door, walk across the common room, level with the stove and you find yourself on the fourth step going up to the room. No problem, "Breakfast will be served on the second floor today."

One of the finest inns is Schloss Matzen in Austria. Inherited by the owners of Mendocino's Cafe Beaujolais, the 57-room, 2000-year-old castle has been inhabited continuously for five hundred years. The knights walked out and left their armor hanging about. The owners are still finding treasures as they renovate and open more of the castle to the public.

Italy has many villages and inns that are accessible only by foot or bike. Riomaggiore on the Cinca Terra is only accessible by foot. I pushed my bike down a steep hill for a mile to get to it. There were sturdy innkeepers who walked in everything consumed. The hills are incredibly steep and most paths can't decide whether to be a steep path or stairs. Many trips a day are required by keeper and guests.

The inns of France ran the extremes from haut culture to so simple that I was part of the family. In St. Semin, near where Roquefort cheese is made, I was the only guest. After serving me a fine dinner and local wine the innkeeper handed me the keys and showed me how to lock up the place and drop the keys through the mail slot when I left in the morning. He wanted to visit his girlfriend for the night. I asked about the bar which was open. He shrugged a Gaulic shrug and said, "How much can you drink?" and walked out. The end of the trip found me in Gascony in the lap of luxury on a hundred year old canal barge converted to an inn afloat. I sat on the deck and watched the richness of this heart of gastronomy float by. Visit markets in the villages along the canals and return to cook up a meal of a lifetime, every meal of the day.

It had to end and it ended well with several new and equally beautiful inns here on the coast coming on the market.

Take a look at our commercial listings and contact me if you would like to have a closer look.