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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sugar Hill Inn Art of Innkeeping" by Steven Allen.]

Sugar Hill Inn: The Art of Innkeeping by Steven Allen was surprisingly enjoyable. I thought it would be more of a how-to guide but it turned out to be more of an inspiration.

The book is non-fiction. It’s about an inn in New Hampshire owned by the author. He purchased the inn after his daughter went away to college. He was looking to change his life and learn new things. He knew he wanted an inn, and started looking at different properties. He tells you about several of these properties and why they weren’t good fits. I liked seeing this decision-making process. It told me that he didn’t just happen on this place, and that he put in considerable thought before purchasing. The book is divided into sections, which are then divided into chapters. Each chapter discusses a different aspect of the business and life because of it. Each chapter can stand on its own. One can open the book to any chapter and read it without missing any information. Let’s say you want to read the section about the restaurant. You can just skip to Section Three: The Restaurant and learn all about how he created a one-of-a-kind fine-dining experience without having to read any of the previous information about why he chose to purchase that particular building. This also lead to a lot of repeating, though. Chapter five starts with a whole paragraph surmising exactly what we have read from chapters one through four. At first, I was annoyed to have to reread this information, but then I realized this made the book easy to pick up and put down. Readers don’t have to be interested in everything to understand individual aspects.

This book also talks about how the author met his current wife. She took a job at the inn and, at first, they had a very professional relationship. Shared interests and romantic settings eventually lead them down the path of love. I really like that there isn’t a section in this book that doesn’t reference his wife, Karen. She’s such a major part of his life and you can tell how much he loves her. It was a sweet addition to this book.

This book made me see the hidden side of owning an inn. Everything is hands-on for him. He might step back and let a professional deal with certain things, like building, decorating, and bookkeeping, but he makes sure to be involved in all decision-making. I enjoyed how passionate he got about art and wine. I’ve never given much thought to the difference between a small inn and a brand name hotel. They’re both places to sleep on vacation, but your experiences will be completely different. Now, I desperately want to stay at the Sugar Hill Inn.

There were several mistakes in the editing of this book, most of these could have been avoided with a quick proofreading. Several words were misspelled. There were missing and extra words, and a few cases of bad punctuation. It wasn’t terribly disturbing but it did make me have to stop and reread sections, ruining the continuity. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. This book would have gotten a perfect score had it not been for the editing issues. I recommend this book to anyone interested in an easy read, even if you don’t want to read the whole book. I’d also recommend this book to anyone interested in owning their own business, even if that business has nothing to do with hospitality. The author’s attention to detail, foresight, and optimism will inspire you.

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Sugar Hill Inn Art of Innkeeping
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I would like to stay at this inn too. The author seems really passionate and he must really love his wife. It is nice to be able to pick the book and simply understand every chapter, but I think it will frustrate me too if I read it all and I found all this repeats. Great review!

All in all, this sounds like a unique book that's worth a look. I've always wanted to open my own bed and breakfast or something of the sort. It's too bad about the errors, but it sounds like it's easily fixable. Thanks so much!

This book seems worth checking out! It would be great to stay at his inn, like Laura has mentioned, as it is obvious that the author has much enthusiasm and passion about his work. Thank you for the beautiful review!

The topic seems like underwhelming material for a book, but it sounds like it has some hidden gems of information. Its nice that he hasn't forgotten to include his lovely wife! Hopefully the book will get a bit of editing been help.Thanks for a great review!

Generally, non-fiction and biographically referenced books aren't my cup of tea. Something about what you've described here though pulls me in. I think I would actually like following this owner's path. Thanks for this review!

This sounds like a pretty relaxing but informative book. Something anyone could pick up on a lazy Sunday afternoon that serves a purpose without making you think too hard and also having an enjoyable element. I think this is the type of book I would read one chapter at a time rather than reading multiple chapters in one sitting. I have a horrible memory so the repetition probably wouldn't bother me if I read it in that fashion. Nice review.

Thank you for review on nice informative non fiction book on authors experience of starting an inn and things he learn t form going into that bussiness