Other stories in "B & Bs"

• Hosts with the most
  At small inns, a knack for hospitality makes a few stand out.
• How to find a bed-and-breakfast
  To travelers, B&B usually means 'best bet.'
• Five things to look for in a B&B
  Here's how to find an inn you'll like.
• Dwelling in the past
  Around Lake Superior, overnight guests can try out life at a lighthouse.
• A view of a room
  On B&B tours, guests can see a prospective getaway for themselves.

Chocolate on the St. Croix

For a spring tour, inns overflow with goodies.

When the innkeepers of the St. Croix Valley were trying to think of a way to get prospective guests through their doors, they didn't have to think long.

Hmm, they thought. Chocolate would make people come running. Let's offer wine-tasting, too. And gifts and discounts for those who reserve rooms.

Oh, it's almost diabolical.

On Sundays in March, people who like chocolate and inns can tour the St. Croix Valley between Taylors Falls and Hastings, ogling antiques and tasting mousses, truffles and tortes. Tickets are $25, $21 in advance, and part of the proceeds will go to the Second Harvest Food Shelf.

Desserts are very nice, for sure. But touring B&Bs is a good idea even without them. A room that costs $150 or $200 is a significant investment, and many guests are celebrating honeymoons, anniversaries or birthdays. When it's a special event, people want to choose the most special inn.

But how? Most innkeepers are happy to show rooms to prospective guests. Yet it takes time to set up tours at more than one inn, and some rooms are likely to be occupied and unavailable for viewing.

That's why organized tours of B&Bs are such a good opportunity for guests (See A view of a room). Not only do they get to see every single room, they get to chat with owners who have set aside time to do just that.

That's what Sue Dorweiler of Minnetonka figured when she came for Chocolate March.

"Chocolate and old buildings, that's an unbeatable combination,'' she said. "To get inside a B&B without a reservation for a room is a lovely opportunity.''

But as much as she likes antiques and old buildings, she said, a friendly owner is more important.

"The difference between a hotel and a B&B is that the host is happy to see you, they're happy to chat you up for hours,'' Dorweiler said. "That's what I think of when I think of B&Bs. So if you don't get that, you could have stayed at a hotel for a lot less.''

My friend Cheryl and I met Dorweiler at the Asa Parker House in Marine on St. Croix, our third stop on the tour. We started in Center City at the Summit Inn. The 1905 home wasn't a grand mansion, but it overlooked North Center Lake, and when we walked in, we were greeted by a splendid centerpiece of stacked silver bowls and flowers, surrounded by plates of chocolate-raspberry brownies, chocolate toffee bars, chocolate-covered strawberries and trifle.

Upstairs, we toured the Aerie Suite, $145-$175, which had a high bed with lace coverlet, lots of pillows, a gas fireplace and a comfy reading nook with a nice view of the lake.

"What a special place,'' Cheryl said. "It's lovely, but not overdone."

Downstairs, we looked in on two other attractive rooms, $85-$135. On the sun porch, which was stocked with popcorn, cocoa and tea for guests, we met Liz Schmidt of Lindstrom, a friend of proprietor Elaine Sommer.

"Elaine won't tell you this, but she's a gourmet chef, so her breakfasts are extra good,'' Schmidt said. "This is her dream, it's always been her dream. Her philosophy is simple: She spoils guests as much as she can. She'll make you dinner if you want, and she washes all the sheets in lavender and soft water, and then she irons them."

Sommer was in her light-filled Arts and Crafts sun room. There was a piano and an organ, in part to pay tribute to the previous owners, Sommer said, a doctor who married a Metropolitan Opera diva and a lawyer whose wife gave piano lessons.

"We've had so many people come who said they were maids here,'' she said. "We've owned it 32 years, and people say, 'Oh, it's the Wennerberg house.' '' As soon as Sommer's last two children grew up and moved away, she turned the house into a B&B.

"I love it,'' she said. "I meet the most interesting people in the world.''

Our next stop was High Woods B&B, a newer home atop a wooded hill near Taylors Falls. Owner Mike Mandell gave us a tour of rooms and the stone patio at the edge of a ravine, where there's a hot tub for guests to use.

"See, this would be kind of fun,'' Cheryl said. "I always think of B&Bs as being old, but this has its charm, too.''

In the living room, a spotting scope was trained on an eagle nest, and when we looked through it, there was an eagle sitting in it. A bird feeder hung high on a pole, Mandell said, because bears try to tear it down.

The Mandells have had the B&B for eight years.

"After our four kids grew up, we thought, 'Let's give it a try,' '' Mary Jo Mandell said.

There was marble and polished wood, but nothing old. Two lower-level rooms have gas fireplaces and views of the woods, and there's a room upstairs; all are $169.

"This, it seems to me, would attract a completely different audience,'' Cheryl said. "I think it would be more in demand by people who aren't charmed by antiques.''

Our next stop was Marine on St. Croix and the 1856 Asa Parker House, one of the oldest buildings in the St. Croix Valley. The young owner, Tibbe Luell, was busy tending a long table piled with treats, but she told us she and her husband, Tim, had moved to the Asa Parker House only a year and half before.

"I thought, 'Hey, I can get out of corporate and run a B&B,' '' she said. "We love it.''

Upstairs, we met Sue Dorweiler and John Hagel of Rogers admiring the tin-look wallpaper and moldings of the four rooms, $129-$179.

"I have an 1890s farmhouse in constant need of renovation, so it's fun to see what other people have done,'' said Hagel, the fifth generation to live on the Hagel Family Farm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dorweiler's family also owns a home on the National Register, the 1887 Thompson Summer Cottage on Lake Minnetonka. Dorweiler calls it "a money pit.''

"The ravages of time are so much rougher on the physical structure,'' she says. "That's got more challenges than just passing on pieces of furniture.''

We didn't get to the Water Street Inn in downtown Stillwater until 4:55 p.m., five minutes before the tour closed, but owner Chuck Dougherty was behind the bar and had a plate of treats and a tray of Guinness beer waiting.

The big building facing the St. Croix was built in 1890 as offices for Stillwater's lumber barons, and some of the 41 rooms, $129-$229, feature walk-in vaults that now are bathrooms. We wandered among the rooms, painted in Victorian jewel tones. They were huge, with vast expanses of carpet separating double whirlpool from TV and gas fireplace from bed.

"I'd need binoculars to see my husband if he were in the tub,'' Cheryl said.

In the hall, we met housekeeper Donna Amundson, who told us the original innkeepers had worked hard to restore the building to its original look, keeping the interior skylight and ordering furniture hand-carved in Indonesia. The new section was built to look old, she said, and their rooms with balconies are requested first.

"It's beautiful in the fall, with the fall leaves,'' she said. "You can sit on your balcony and have coffee. They're already booked weekends through October.''

As Cheryl and I headed home, we discussed which B&Bs we liked best.

"The Summit Inn was my favorite,'' Cheryl said. "She turned her passion into a business, and her genuineness survived it.''

At the four inns we'd visited, we hadn't necessarily liked the most expensive rooms best. The upstairs suite at the Summit Inn was an obvious favorite, but at the Asa Parker House, I'd liked the cheapest room best.

So we might have chosen "wrong'' if we'd just looked at an inn's brochure or the Internet. Those can be misleading, anyway. For example, "private bath'' doesn't always mean attached bath; it may be down the hall or even across a foyer and through a laundry room. Or the bathtub might sit right in the bedroom, never a pleasing sight.

But the room itself is only part of the B&B experience. These days, guests usually can reserve on-line, without ever speaking to the innkeeper. That can be a mistake. At the Summit Inn, Elaine Sommer always calls to welcome guests who have reserved on-line and see if they have any questions for her.

"Each B&B does reflect the innkeeper's personality,'' she says. "I think that's the fun part of B&Bs, quite honestly.''

When reserving, don't hesitate to describe what you're looking for; after all, the innkeeper wants you to be happy with your stay, so you'll recommend the inn to all your friends.

Better yet, take a tour and chat with the innkeepers in person. Not only are they waiting for you, they're waiting with plates full of chocolate.

Trip Tips: Chocolate March of the St. Croix Valley

Getting there: It's an hour or less east of the Twin Cities.

Cost: $21 in advance at www.uptowntix.com, $25 at the door. A portion of the proceeds benefit Second Harvest Food Shelf. Ticket holders who book rooms in March also get such bonuses as bottles of champagne, gift baskets, soup suppers and free second nights.

March 2 tour: Phipps Inn (with wine tasting), Escape by the Lake and Octagon House museum in Hudson; Kinni Creek Lodge in River Falls, Wis.

March 9 tour: Asa Parker House in Marine on St. Croix; Water Street Inn (with wine tasting) and Warden House historic site in Stillwater; Cover Park Manor in Oak Park Heights; Outing Lodge in rural Stillwater. Ticket holders get a two-for-one brunch at the Water Street Inn.

March 16 tour: Summit Inn in Center City; High Woods and the Cottage in Taylors Falls; St. Croix River Inn (with wine tasting) and Pleasant Lake in Osceola.

March 30 tour: In Hastings, Rosewood Inn, LeDuc Mansion historic site and Creative Confectionaire chocolatier (truffle-making demonstrations and a chocolate fountain). In Afton, Afton House Inn (with wine tasting) and Afton Historical Society Museum. (The two historic sites will not have chocolate.)

Information: 651-998-0185, www.innsofthevalley.com.

Other St. Croix Valley B&Bs: The seven members of the Stillwater Bed and Breakfast Association hold two tours, Summer on the Porch on June 22 and the Victorian Homes Tour and Progressive High Tea on Dec. 7. For tickets, call 651-351-1187, www.stillwaterbb.com.

Last updated on June 6, 2008