Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Baldassarri.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My husband Matt, originally from Topsfield, and I were living in Washington, D.C., and were wanting to move back up to New England, but had trouble finding jobs worthy enough to sell our condo and move. Matt had been Matt the Cat on XM Satellite Radio’s 50s on 5 until Sirius took over and laid him and hundreds of others off. I was working for a lobbying firm with California-based clients. So we decided to make our own jobs. We’d always stayed in B&Bs and we love old houses, so we did some research and a lot of reconnaissance and ultimately found this Inn for sale in downtown Salem, Mass.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has been mostly smooth overall, but there were some obstacles that seemed huge at the time, including the initial licensing process with the City of Salem. At our hearing, we actually had a neighbor object to our taking over the Inn because she thought we’d turn this beautiful old home into a halfway house. Once we assured her attorney we would not, we were granted our license.
It was also a major undertaking to redecorate the entire Inn with getting rid of the mounds of fake flowers, which we donated to the local middle school’s drama department for props, painting the guest rooms, furnishing the parlor and generally breathing new life into this 171-year-old home.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Stepping Stone Inn story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a small B&B in the heart of downtown Salem, Mass. We have a unique style that highlights all the eras this 171-year-old house has seen with chesterfield sofas, arts & crafts furniture, photography from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, and we provide music from 1940s jump blues to today’s alt-rock in our dining room during breakfast from our own Stepping Stone Inn playlist on Spotify streamed through our vintage 1953 Telefunken Concertino tube radio.
We are proud of our new city and love sharing it with people who stay with us from all over the world, whether making suggestions for dinner, which walking tours to take, what to do if they’re going into Boston for the day and where to eat on their way up to Maine to continue their New England adventures.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
With the growth of sharing economy services like Airbnb, we need to be innovative with our outreach and services we provide to our guests to stand out from the people who are just renting out their spare rooms and pull-out sofas. We have a historic house to offer, with queen beds and private bathrooms, but the best way we can stand out is our personal service. Whether it be concierge-like with recommendations and reservations or making a special trip even more memorable with offering extra amenities, such as wine and cheese trays or specialized chocolates and flowers in the room.
Contact Info:
- Address: 19 Washington Square
Salem, MA 01970 - Website: Www.thesteppingstoneinn.com
- Phone: 978-741-8900
- Email: reservations@thesteppingstoneinn.com
- Facebook: @steppingstoneinn
- Twitter: @steppingstonebb
- Other: http://www.tripadvisor.com/121005?m=19905
Image Credit:
Kelly Baldassarri, Stepping Stone Inn
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