Starfire B&B sees upgrades

The Millers Bed & Breakfast recently saw some upgrades to their four rooms, including a new website. 

 

Located on the third floor of the Miller Armstrong Building and part of the Starfire Event Center, the bed and breakfast started around 2006, according to events and lodging manager Mindy Jimenez. 

 

The business offers four rooms — three standard and one referred to as “the honeymoon suite.” Each room features a king bed, private restroom, cable TV, a sitting area and fireplaces. The honeymoon suite offers the added bonus of a bathtub. 

 

“We redecorated and changed who is taking care of it,” Jimenez said. Their website and lobby have also seen some updates with the renovation. 

 

Jimenez mentions the rooms are often booked by wedding parties or guests who use the Starfire Event Center. The honeymoon suite is offered to the bride and groom at no extra cost on their wedding night, so a lot of times the family or the wedding party stays nearby in the bed and breakfast. 

 

“It is great to have these as a fun option for all of our event guests,” Jimenez said, mentioning the rooms draw a wide variety of customers including travelling business people and visiting family members of local residents who are looking for an alternative to a traditional hotel. Many, she said, appreciate the character and uniqueness of staying in a historic building.

 

The Miller-Armstrong Building was originally constructed in 1900 and used as the WJ Armstrong Wholesale Grocers. The grocery warehouse served the community until the 1980s. In 1981, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites “as the best preserved building and unaltered business representing an important historical link to the railroad,” according to the building’s website. 

 

Why the bed and breakfast? General Manager Tom Linde said the idea simply evolved as travelers and family members expressed a need.  

 

In the basement is the breakfast, lunch and coffee bar Jonnie Beans. Club ‘57 is on the main level, serving dinner and happy hours during the week and on Saturdays. Jimenez said guests are given a voucher to use anywhere in the building. Either for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even to use as at the golf simulator across the street in the Event Center. 

 

“We try to get it so it’s a one stop shop basically,” Linde said. 

 

But running a bed and breakfast isn’t always easy. Jimenez said trying to stay similar with other lodgings in town and keeping up with the times can be difficult. Linde said he finds it strange that some people still don’t know that Jonnie Beans is in the building, let alone the bed and breakfast. 

 

“You would think people would know, but it’s not really on Main, so it’s off a couple blocks. That might be a reason,” Linde said. 

 

But there’s always the fun part of being in charge of lodgings, meeting new people. Linde said they meet people from all over, from New York to California. 

 

“It’s been fun so far to kind of get to take care of and set up and speak with all the guests and hear their fun plans,” Jimenez said.

 

More information about Millers Bed & Breakfast and other amenities in the Miller-Armstrong Building can be found at their website at wasecamac.com.