As a hotel general manager's daughter, travel photojournalist Jackie Caradonio has always loved staying in hotels. But not just any lodging--she seeks out bed-and-breakfasts that are one of a kind. After discovering that many of these properties have owners with extraordinary passion and vision, Caradonio has collected their stories in the sumptuous The Inn Crowd: Artistic Getaways and the Modern Innkeepers Who Crafted Them, with a foreword by cosmetics mogul Bobbi Brown and her husband, Steven Plofker.
Elegant photographs lounge beside the innkeepers' fascinating accounts of overcoming nearly insurmountable odds to create happy, restful spaces, often with special treats for visitors--like a secret closet containing a generous variety of candy, all complimentary, at Brown and Plofker's the George in New Jersey. Want to sleep in a former castle? Head to Maine and check into the Norumbega Inn, whose Library Suite--with a library on a mezzanine above the bed--is a dream for book lovers. No budget for a vacation? No problem. Just brew a cuppa and get swept away by Caradonio's gorgeous photography. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, freelance editor at The Edit Ninja