When we opened the Old Caledonian Bed & Breakfast, we knew we wanted our standards to be high. We wanted top notch service, top notch food and a top notch property to feature it all.
Well, the high quality of the service and the food comes with Penny’s and my combined decades of experience in those areas. The property, of course, is amazing; full of history, beauty and amazing spaces. We are thankful that the historic Ruggles-Evans-Dent house has been so lovingly cared for over generations, and we are proud to continue to show love to this place.
The above standards are evident with a stay at the Old Caledonian. But, we hold to other standards, too—ones that aren’t necessarily required of us, but which we feel we are obligated to keep for the safety, comfort and accessibility of our guests.
For example: an inn such as ours, housed in an historic building, is not required to be accessible to people with physical disabilities. However, we felt it was important to accommodate where we were able once we bought the house. So many older homes remain inaccessible to many with wheelchairs and other disabilities. Before we ever opened, we put in an accessible entrance to the Old Caledonian, and also made our Hawthorn Room fully ADA compliant, including features such as a roll-in shower and a roll-up sink. Not because we had to, but because it was the right thing to do for our guests.
Another way we demonstrate high standards is by belonging to an organization called Bed & Breakfast Inns of Missouri. You can find our membership badge at the bottom of this page. All properties belonging to this group are rigorously inspected and approved in the areas of safety, quality, comfort and professionalism. We passed on our first inspection with flying colors and were quickly admitted to a very select association of fellow independent lodging professionals. We are proud to be in the company of such amazing Missouri inns and B&Bs. Our membership is demonstrative of our high standards and pride in our industry.
Added to my decades of culinary experience, both as an executive chef and as a culinary instructor, we have other top standards of cuisine that we enjoy just by being located in Caledonia. We go to either the Potosi, Farmington or Caledonia Farmers Markets (sometimes all three!) each week during the season for the freshest, local produce we can find. This not only makes our food that much more special, but we are supporting local farmers in the process. We are also able to grow some of our food ourselves in our gardens, as well as buying direct from growers here in our town. We also keep bees! Hopefully we should be enjoying some honey later in the summer right from the hive located here at the Old Caledonian!
Want to see some these high standards in action for yourself? We would love to have you as our guest here at the Old Caledonian Bed & Breakfast. Cheers!