Blog at Port Washington Inn – Milwaukee-Area B&B

Scaffolding, which has been visible around Port Washington Inn since November, is disappearing today, February 4th!

It’s time to celebrate the inn’s fresh new look, most especially on the exterior but evident as well on the interior where we’ve been painting and finessing. Far from feeling its age (107 and counting), the inn’s exterior now matches the tasteful interior. The careful attention to the trim details of the building have taken time and patience to replicate but not to do so would have been to lose the integrity of this historic Port Washington landmark.

George and Eva Blessing, who built this home in 1903 would, we believe, be pleased to see how it has been preserved and shared as a bed and breakfast inn. They came to Port Washington from Chicago when George purchased the Port Brewing Company. Their house on Sweetcake Hill was situated to take advantage of the views and the breezes of Lake Michigan just four blocks down the hill. What an idyllic setting they chose and what a wonderful home they built! We are proud and happy to share the Port Washington Inn bed and breakfast with our guests.

In our lifetime we’ve experienced summer Saturday nights when small Iowa communities gathered outside to watch a movie projected on a screen, drive-in movie theaters, small town theaters where a single movie might be featured for a week or more, big city theaters in NYC where it seemed not only the building but the patrons might qualify for the historic registry, the video stores where people flocked to rent their favorites to watch on their VCR’s and now……Netflix.

Movies are great (the best of them are) and our movie video collection at the Port Washington Inn has always been popular with our guests. But the collection is becoming a piece of history as it is completely on VCR format. Now, not only does each of our guestrooms have a VCR but it also has a DVD player! So bring your Netflix movie with you to watch uninterrupted.

Many a gift was wrapped and unwrapped this holiday season and here at Port Washington Inn, the wrapping has been happening in a grand way as the inn’s old siding is replaced with new and insulation is added to this 100+ year old building.

The first stage of this project began in late August when the remaining original windows were replaced with new energy efficient windows! That was accomplished quickly by a large crew in between busy guest times.

November was the earliest we could allow the siding work to commence since October is a busy guest month here and we didn’t want guests to be negatively impacted by this work. In November and December, we blocked out all midweek dates and many weekends as well. We spent parts of both months visiting family and friends!

As 2010 begins, the siding project is winding down. A final coat of paint will be applied in the spring and then we’ll be eager to get new pictures for our website!

Little did we realize when we purchased the inn 14-1/2 years ago, that a significant part of our accomplishment here would be the careful restoration of the building. It feels good to have seen such a wonderfully designed house through this process so that it can accommodate guests (and the innkeepers!) comfortably and efficiently.

We invite you to come and enjoy the Serenity, Elegance, & Comfort of Port Washington Inn where you will find peaceful privacy and generous hospitality!

We never know from whence our next guests will come! In these days of exorbitant gas prices, we tend to assume our guests will not have traveled so far, but that is not always true. We’ve had guests from the Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, England, and Scotland within the past two months and several guests from California, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa. Increasingly, our accessibility from both the Milwaukee and Chicago airports makes a stay at the Port Washington Inn an easy choice, with rental cars and/or airport limousines readily available. Port Washington is a walkable community so a stay here does not require a car.

June 5, 2010 will be the 15th anniversary of our arrival at the Port Washington Inn. We had purchased an existing bed and breakfast and our first guests arrived days after we moved in. By June 5, 2010, Port Washington Inn will be clad in new siding and trim, a huge project that has involved insulation and energy efficient windows as well. Truly, our fifteen years here have cast us in the role of stewards of this historic property alongside our roles as innkeepers. Our Travel Green Wisconsin certification makes us justifiably proud to have brought the inn into the 21st century with significant eco-friendly enhancements while making every effort to maintain it’s historic references.

Looking back to those pre-internet days, we recall trying to describe the guestrooms over the phone (and hoping our descriptions improved with time)! So much has changed in twelve years, and so much remains the same. We spend much less time on the telephone now and much more time on our website blog!

Looking back, we know that the operating of the inn in those early years was accomplished with the most modest of means compared to our current standards. Hospitality is, however, the common thread woven throughout the tapestry of innkeeping. Offering gracous hospitality that puts guests at ease is the goal of every innkeeper. Behind the scenes innkeepers juggle a vast arena of priorities and when they do it well, their guests experience seamless hospitality.

These days our guests and we enjoy the benefits of a vastly renovated bed and breakfast inn that retains its historic references while offering all the modern comforts. Our kitchen is our pride and joy and has allowed us to offer gourmet picnics May through October as well as the full “from scratch” breakfast we serve our guests.

In today’s world we tend to assume that people have found us on the internet but we are always pleased to hear that Port Washington Inn gets good press in travel books and magazines that spotlight Wisconsin, Lake Michigan, and the greater Milwaukee/Chicago area. Scenes of the inn are currently appearing on a television commercial promoting B&B’s throughout Wisconsin. Travel Green Wisconsin helps us get the word out about our eco-friendly practices and VISIT Milwaukee has featured us on their ECO visits rack card. Discover Wisconsin did a show highlighting Ozaukee County and we are now represented on their website as well. The Wisconsin Bed & Breakfast Association, Port Washington and Cedarburg Chambers, and the Ozaukee County Tourism Council are valued partners.