Når gæstfrihed er en livsstil

When hospitality is a lifestyle - host article

Lise is full of life. Joy of life and kindness flow towards you - when you meet her.

It has been a dream for her, from the age of 12 years, at one point to create a Bed and Breakfast. She thought, as a little girl, that when she turned 64 years of age, she would have a Bed and Breakfast - not far from the water.

Lise was a teacher at a school in Odense for many, many years. She loved her job and the many happy children that surrounded her. But after a long period during which she helped her sick mother through 8 difficult years, she herself became ill. And then she made the decision to stop working as a teacher and start her Bed and Breakfast.

Lise found the house in Svendborg - 3 years ago - and it just fitted her like a glove. Here her Bed and Breakfast was to be built. And life as a Bed and Breakfast hostess is as fun as Lise dreamed of it. With lots of happy guests. Lise tells about the sweet, newly-fallen-in-love couple of 84 years - Alice and Leif - who became regulars and called from Ærø last week to get an overnight stay. But Lise had to refuse them, as all the beds were occupied. There was complete silence on the phone, after which Alice asked: Do you have a tent? Then we will just sleep there! Lise surrendered and moved into a tent in the garden. And Alice and Leif slept in her bed.

We sit outside in Lise’s lovely front garden, where small seating groups with tables and chairs are arranged. There is a tablecloth on all tables - and on ours - where coffee is served in fine old porcelain. A small vase with a wild rose and a marigold shine towards the sun.

It actually is the essence of who Lise is, and how she lives with her Bed and Breakfast. She eats breakfast with her guests. There are flowers on the tables. Its cozy. Lise says that this is also what her guests tell is their experience. That Lise is hospitable and personal in her help and dealings with her guests.

She enjoys the presence and the conversation - if desired - with her guests. She is very happy to help with booking excursions, good advice and transport, serves breakfast every morning in per- son, in her private dining room or outdoors in nice weather - and prepares packed lunches for guests who are going on a trip.

Lise is an active person, who is deeply involved in the small community she lives in. In addition to running her Bed and Breakfast as her livelihood, both with guests who stays for longer periods or on small getaways, she is a volunteer in many con- texts.

Among other things in Svendborg Town Hall where she helps creating road dances and community singing events - music and theater. She works in a farm shop in the neighborhood, as a volunteer, selling all the local products known under the concept of Slow Food. Especially at Christmas time, where there is momentum in that part of the activities. Lise has cultivated the living in social housing communities all her life. Maybe, she says, that’s why the closeness with Bed and Breakfast guests suits me so fine. I have chosen not to remarry. Not to live with a man. Not opted out of it - it just suits me so well, as it is.

Lise proudly shows me around the beautiful house she has created. There are two rooms in the high basement, guests can stay in. From the windows you look directly out on a sea of flowers in the garden. There are two shared bathrooms, one downstairs and one on the first floor - where the last double room for rent is also located. There is a shared kitchen, a small shop with wine, beer, and water. Brochures with information about Svendborg, and angels galore, beautiful decorations and tranquility - in Lise’s deeply personal and inviting Bed and Breakfast.

I am absolutely sure you will be most welcome to visit Lise

Lises Bed and Breakfast
Tre værelser med plads til to personer i hver. Sengene er gode og sunde. I det ene værelse kan der redes op til et barn. Barne-seng og barnestol. Der er mulighed for at parkere bilen i carport og ved fortorvet. God økologisk morgenmad serveres i spise-stuen.Lise spiser morgenmad sam-men med gæsterne. Haven rummer små hyggepladser til 2-4 personer, når vejret indbyder til det. Der kan serveres kaffe eller te og kage som eftermiddagshygge efter aftale. Madpakker kan tilkøbes. Der er fri adgang til kaffe eller te ved værelserne.

Lises Bed and Breakfast
Bakkevej 21, Høje Bøge
5700 Svendborg
Telefon +45 29 41 82 03
E-mail: lisemoestrup@gmail.com
www.lisesbedandbreakfast.dk