Inn Vogue

By Laura Koss-Feder/New York

Every May since 1996, Ieola Bakr, her two sisters and their mother have enjoyed a weekend getaway at the Akwaaba Mansion. The four-room inn, in a quaint Italian villa-style home, offers a peaceful retreat where the women talk and relax--they walk in the gardens, soak in the Jacuzzi and savor a Southern breakfast with homemade grits and biscuits. But the Akwaaba isn't burrowed deep in the heart of Dixie or even in some bucolic New England town. The inn, dating to the 1860s, is smack in the middle of Brooklyn, N.Y., just 10 blocks from Bakr's apartment. "Our mom loves the place, so we always go back," Bakr says. "You feel like you're in the country, but you have all the conveniences of the city."

About half of the Akwaaba's clientele are baby boomers like Bakr who hail from the environs. City dwellers in search of a change of venue, a bit of pampering and possibly a living space larger than their cramped apartments regularly book rooms with Monique Greenwood, the inn's co-owner, who lives on the top floor with her husband and daughter. The couple own similar bed-and-breakfasts in Cape May, N.J., and Washington.

For many travelers, a trip to a B&B is an opportunity to delve into the nooks and crannies of small-town, rural life--to get acquainted with quirky characters, little shops and lively cafes. That's half the fun. For a different set of people, a small town represents something else entirely: a cultural dead end with little to offer beyond the historic walls of the inn where they happen to be trapped. For those folks, who want to enjoy a country-home feel and personalized service but don't want to miss out on museum exhibits and theater tickets, the urban bed-and-breakfast is fast becoming the perfect solution.

Of the 20,000 to 25,000 bed-and-breakfasts in the U.S., 20% are in urban areas, says Pat Hardy, co-founder of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International. They tend to be converted 19th and early 20th century houses, mansions, brownstones and town houses. Popular metropolitan areas for B&Bs include Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington and New York. And they appear to be gaining recognition. There has been a 10% to 20% growth annually in the number of urban B&Bs posted on Placestostay.com a travel website, according to Eric Christensen, its president and founder.

In addition to their warmth and charm, urban B&Bs often offer a more welcoming price, 10% to 20% less than standard hotels with similar services, Hardy says. That price may include such extras as a fireplace in your room and a whirlpool tub. And it's not uncommon to get Internet access, which is especially convenient for business travelers.

Getting work done may not be your top priority, but visitors to a city are usually far busier than the typical country tourist. And city inns reflect that difference. For openers, they tend to be located closer to the attractions that visitors want to see. That's often perfect for an active city tourist, who is likely to be sight-seeing, attending special events or spending time with family or friends. Also, security is a major issue for innkeepers in the city--a big difference between urban inns and their country counterparts. "A rural bed-and-breakfast owner may not even lock the front door. This is not the case in the big cities," Hardy says.

Marc and Linda Ecker of Fountain Valley, Calif., enjoy the Robin's Nest in Houston precisely because it is close to shops, museums and restaurants. They have stayed there several times over the past couple of years while visiting their daughter and son-in-law. The location, coupled with the inn's down-home appeal, keeps them coming back. "There's a real neighborhood feeling at this B&B, like you're back in time, sitting and chatting on someone's front porch," says Marc, 54, a school superintendent. "I also appreciate the fact that there is no one with their hand out waiting for a tip because they help you with your luggage or operate the elevator."

A look inside many of these inns reveals not only a more personalized atmosphere but also an homage to the cities in which they are located. The Windy City Urban Inn in Chicago's trendy Lincoln Park features such memorabilia of the city as old photographs and World's Fair items. The inn consists of two separate buildings that date to 1886, with four guest rooms in the main building and three apartments in the coach house. Rates range from $145 to $225 a night, including breakfast, and about 70% of the guests are 50 or older.

The feel of the Chicago inn was so appealing to Marion and Jack McCartney of Washington that they selected it to accommodate seven family members who were in town for their daughter's wedding in February. "You're in the heart of this big, bustling city, but you feel like you're staying at a friend's house," says Marion, 59, a nurse and midwife.

In some instances, urban B&Bs aren't just small structures with limited numbers of rooms available. The Hopkins Inn in Baltimore, Md., which is a converted Spanish Revival apartment building dating to 1911, features 25 guest rooms, according to Mike Marshall, president of Marshall Management Inc. in Salisbury, Md., which operates the property. A management company called Joie de Vivre runs four B&Bs in San Francisco, ranging in size from 10 rooms to 23 rooms, says Greg Horner, brand marketing manager.

Large or small, urban B&Bs almost always have one thing in common: personal service. An innkeeper can get to know you and over time develop a sense of what you like and don't like. Yes, at a large hotel there is a record of your last visit and whether you lodged a complaint, but that's altogether different from arriving in a city and finding someone who remembers you and your taste in art or food or wine. Barry Knox, 63, a retired investment banker from New Canaan, Conn., says everyone knows him when he walks in the door at the 10-room Jackson Court, one of the four Joie de Vivre inns in San Francisco. He has been back to the property half a dozen times since 1998, paying about $180 a night. "It's a nice feeling when you're on a first-name basis with the staff even though you're in the heart of a big city," Knox says. Giving guests those nice feelings is what urban B&Bs are all about.