Troops stay free - Off Duty, travel - Navy Times

Troops stay free

A West Virginia innkeeper who started letting military families stay free for Veterans Day in 2008 has recruited 400 inns across the U.S. and Canada as part of an initiative to offer free rooms this fall.

B&Bs for Vets is a way to thank active and retired military members for their service and to raise awareness of the bed-and-breakfast industry, said Kathleen Panek, who runs the Gillum House in Shinnston, W.Va.

“People don’t understand that a bed and breakfast is about the warm and fuzzy feeling the innkeeper gets and a good experience for the guests,” she said. “Because we sure aren’t in it for the money.”

Nearly 400 independently owned inns, including five in Canada, have signed on to offer free rooms Nov. 10, the night before Veterans Day. Most of the establishments are small: The average size of a bed-and-breakfast in the U.S. is five or six rooms, according to an industry group. Some participants can spare just a single room, while The Colonial Inn in Smithville, N.J., is offering 20 of its 24.

A valid military ID or proof of prior service is required for each reservation.

Panek’s first Veterans Day guest was a young Navy officer visiting in-laws in Fairmont. Last year, she hosted a National Guardsman and his wife, and the West Virginia B&B Association embraced her idea. Ten inns made a total of 23 rooms available.

Panek, whose grandson is in the Navy and serving in Afghanistan, decided her personal expression of gratitude could also be good for business. “But the main object is to say thank you to the veterans,” she said.

Many of the participating innkeepers are former-military, including 20-year Army veteran Jess Beaty, who is making two rooms available at the 5 Continents Bed and Breakfast in New Orleans.

“I commanded a unit three times, and I just feel very strongly we should take care of the troops,” said Beaty, who offers discounts to veterans year-round.

Walt and Jean Hylander, who own Rosswood Plantation in Lorman, Miss., have taken Panek’s idea a step further, providing free accommodations in their four-room inn to active-duty service members year-round.

Walt Hylander is a West Point graduate who spent 29 years in the Army and earned a Silver Star for his service during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam.

“I know about the military life. I appreciate the soldiers, and I also appreciate the military wives and children. They make sacrifices, too,” Jean Hylander said.

“I love the Army, and when you’re in the military, they really are like family,” she said. Ë

— The Associated Press