Artfully
Escape by Owning a B&B
A Beautiful Czech Villa
Looking For You ~ by Ronald Winkles
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| My
wife and I have escaped for the past eight years while operating and
owning a Bohemian B&B called Villa Favorite. It has been a wonderful
experience living in the heart of Europe and making friends from all over
the world.
As a retired
US Army officer, I had the chance to live and work on four continents.
However, Europe always held the greatest fascination for me. Of the
16 countries I lived in, the Czech Republic has been the country
with the most magical magnetism to keep drawing back again and again since
1990.
Our fascination
caused us to immediately search for a place of our own after our first
trip to Czech in 1990. We looked at properties for three years
until we accidentally found the right one for us.
The right one
turned out to be a stone country villa built in 1864. It had been
owned by a Bohemian baron who used it as his retreat between his business
interests in Prague and Karlsbad.
Over 40 years
of communist neglect had sorely tarnished the villa by the time we bought
it in 1993. Consequently, we spent nearly two years restoring and
refurnishing the 12-room villa. The acre and a half of terraced grounds
provided a challenge too! |
| Villa Favorite
is a 19th century stone country villa surrounded by woods and hopfields
and located between Prague and Karlsbad. |
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Finally, we
opened for business as a B&B in 1995. We were able to divide
the 4000 sq. ft. villa into four apartments. For guests, we had a
two bedroom unit and a one bedroom unit both with separate living and dining
areas.
We were able
to provide a couple who serve as our house and grounds keepers a two bedroom
apartment. We ended up with a two bedroom apartment offering a large
eat-in kitchen, living room and a sunny balcony. All of our apartments
have their own bath and a washer and dryer to accommodate lengthy stays.
Today, it is
hard for us to decide what brought us the most satisfaction with the villa.
The renovation was difficult but fun.
Refinishing
the beech and oak parquet floors wasn't easy but the results were gratifying.
Painting the 11-foot ceilings was a stretch, but they looked so good when
we hung our antique light fixtures.
It was a real
treat to scour all the bazars and shops in a 20-mile radius to find the
furnishings and hunting trophies we needed to compliment the villa's age
and country style.
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| The villa
has 12 rooms that have been fully restored and are divided into 4 apartments.
Each apartment comes with either one or two bedrooms and every apartment
has its own living and dining areas. |
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It
wasn't too hard to get guests to come by given or excellent location along
Czech's primary east-west corridor, B-6/E-48 or the Prague-Karlsbad highway.
All we needed was plenty of road signs. These signs brought us plenty of
Dutch and German tourists who usually stayed only two nights.
In an effort
to gain longer staying guests, we advertized with Dutch and German tourist
agencies. The guests then stayed for a week or longer, but
we had to give up 30 percent of our fees for the referrals.
We wanted more
international guests and Americans to start visiting our B&B, so I
started writing articles for magazines like International Living, Retreat
and Revele and Living Abroad. These articles helped a great deal.
We began to have guests who truly loved our quiet, country B&B. Our
great central location allowed guests to access Prague, Karlsbad and the
northern and southern regions of Czech within an hour's drive or
less.
Our greatest
boon came through the internet. It is amazing what a web-page can
do. About three years ago, I hooked up with Escape from America and
then EscapeArtist.Com. Since then, our results have been great. |
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The internet
has cut our advertizing costs in half. We no longer use roadside
advertizing. We no longer cater to drive-by guests. Their two-night
stays were working us to death. Now, our internet guests stay on
average for five nights.
These longer
stays and our small size allows us to really develop a friendly and leisurely
relationship with our guests. We have the opportunity to really show
them beautiful Bohemia at its best.
They get to
enjoy the wooded hills and hopfields surrounding the villa. They get to
explore our small village and enjoy our local pub. Our wonderful
Czech neighbors often stop by for a visit and often invite our guests to
their homes.
This is what
helps our B&B to really earn its name, Villa Favorite. We
have only been open for seven years, but we have had a dozen guests make
their fourth return visit.
With the help
of EscapeArtist.Com, the 2002 season has been our best ever. We have
had
guests from America, Canada, England, Holland, Ireland, Russia and South
Africa all as a result from seeing us on EscapeArtist.Com.
My wife and
I only hope the next owners of Villa Favorite enjoy it as much as we have.
As an inducement, we are offering the villa fully furnished down to the
towels and sheets for $160,000. A 2000 sq. ft. two apartment, unrestored
servants quarters is included as well as one
and a half
acres of gated, fenced and terraced grounds.
In thanks for
their great assistance during the past few years, we are listing Villa
Favorite exclusively and solely with EscapeArtist.Com. Interested parties
are welcome to contact Dr. & Mrs. Winkles at czwinkles@webtv.net
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| Villa Favorite
is located 30 miles (55 km) West of Prague just off Hwy 6 or E-48 in the
village of Hredle. After passing the village of Krusovice famous
for its brewery, turn right (North) on Hwy 229 toward Louny, go 1.5 miles
(2.7 km) villa is on the left. For more information go to http://community-2.webtv.net/czwinkles/CzechBedBreakfast/index.html |
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