Welcoming New Members Over Dinner at the Rainforest Inn
PRB&BA members enjoying Renée's dinner at the Rainforest Inn
The main purpose of our second PRB&BA meeting was to welcome our newest potential members; Lisa Masters of Tres Sirenas Beach Inn in Rincón and Casa Flamboyant bed & breakfast in Naguabo. As our membership grows, it may seem like we went around Puerto Rico and purposely picked the best bed & breakfasts on the island to welcome into our association...but we did no such thing! Perhaps the PRB&BA attracts top tier bed & breakfasts on its own. Once we welcomed our new members, we commenced the meeting, as recounted by Eddie Ramirez of Casa Sol Bed & Breakfast...
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In the rainforest, the sun was setting and the rain was falling hard on a cool summer afternoon. A group of innkeepers met at the Rainforest Inn, and the newly-organized association appeared to be taking shape. There was sharing of ideas, best practices and, most important of all, support for each other. We are working on social media strategies, marketing and promotional packages to enhance bed & breakfasts all over Puerto Rico. The main idea is to create a very strong brand with very strict entrance guidelines and requirements. Packages will include 6-10 day tours of Puerto Rico with lodging in bed & breakfasts in Old San Juan, Condado, El Yunque, Naguabo, Isabela, San Sebastián and Rincón to enjoy the local flare, experience the culture, learn local history and taste our exquisite food. We want to create experiences to last a lifetime, those that are hard to match and especially those that you can only find in Puerto Rico.
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After the meeting, we were served Renée's wonderful dinner featuring grilled salmon, a vegan "meat" loaf (which was devoured in no time by everyone including the meat-eaters!), feta-sprinkled asparagus, apple-cherry kale salad and roasted red peppers. Chocolate cake with berries was a sweet ending to the night.