This was our first experience in a bed and breakfast and it was great! Bonnie and Bill are gracious, hospitable, friendly hosts who really care about your stay. On checking in, they met us at the door and welcomed us in, introduced themselves and their other guest and showed us around the house. They let us know that we could feel free to make ourselves at home and let them know if there was anything that they could do to help us out or make our stay better. They also welcomed us to knock at their private rooms at any time if we needed anything, no matter when that might be. After the tour of the B&B, we mentioned we were on our way out to tour Old Mission Peninsula and Bonnie recommended wineries to visit, a restaurant (the Jolly Pumpkin) to have dinner at and a quilt barn trail to follow and pulled out some flyers and booklets about the things she mentioned. They seem to have a good amount of information on the area that they are more than willing to share and unlike most hotels, they also offer their own personal knowledge – and inquire about your experience when you come back.

As for the room, we originally reserved one of the rooms upstairs and opted to share the upstairs bath with the other guests rather than paying a bit more and having it to ourselves. As luck would have it, the guests who reserved the other room cancelled at the last minute and we ended up with the upper floor to ourselves. Along with the bedroom and bathroom, there's also a small room at the top of the stairs and a small sitting room/kitchenette with a fridge and microwave (and some popcorn, coffee and tea we could make). The bedroom was a good size with a large (king?) bed, table, TV, closet, two bedside tables and some nice decorations. The beds are comfortable and we slept well both nights that we stayed. The bathroom was a good size but of note was that there’s no tub upstairs (I don’t know about downstairs), just a shower, albeit a good size one. The B&B is a nice, clean place in a quiet neighborhood. You can park on the street during the day if you like but at night, street parking is prohibited and there are parking spaces around the back of the house to use at night.

Breakfast was quite good both mornings. Bonnie and Bill offered a bowl of fruit and a cherry oatmeal scone (yum!) each morning along with a different egg and vegetable dish and sausage. And just as good as the food was the conversation. The first morning, another guest was there and we all talked for a bit before going our separate ways. The second morning, it was just us, Bonnie and Bill and we sat for quite a while talking. They're great people who obviously really care about the guests who stay with them.

All in all, we’d definitely opt to stay here again. We had a very pleasant stay and Bonnie and Bill made our visit to Traverse City that much better by opening their home to us and offering their local expertise and their company. As I said, we’d never stayed in a B&B before and they made our first experience a positive one that we look forward to repeating.