Honey Farm Bed and Breakfast owner Sherry Nickels also sells jars of raw honey that are produced on her farm.[/caption]
Waking up every morning to a view of a spacious farm that is home to llamas, chickens and a donkey is not a typical morning for most people. That is a typical morning at Honey Farm Bed and Breakfast in Katy.
When Sherry Nickels retired from selling insurance in 2010, she said she realized she had more than just free time on her hands—she had some unoccupied rooms to work with, too.
“I was an empty nester, and I had all this space since I had raised kids,” Nickels said.
Six months later, Nickels decided on opening a bed and breakfast. After another six months of renovations and trial runs with friends and family, she officially opened for business in 2011.
“Everybody told me it’ll never work,” Nickels said. “For four years now, it’s still been popping.”
Honey Farm Bed and Breakfast offers more than lodging for a night. It offers a window into life on a working farm, giving guests the feeling of seclusion, Nickels said.
“Even though we’re in the city proper, people feel like they’re out in the country,” she said. “We have 17 woodland acres behind us and a horse pasture in front of us. That won’t change any time soon.”
Five rooms are available for rent at Honey Farm Bed and Breakfast, each designed with different themes in mind.
Nickels said she worked with each room’s original design, making few changes during renovation.
“[The rooms] sort of decorated themselves,” Nickels said.
No room is rented out more often than the barn apartment. With three bedrooms and full furnishings, the barn apartment is rented out to families of up to eight people for weeks or months at a time, Nickels said.
“It stays booked,” she said. “Fully furnished short-term leasing is unheard of around here.”
The sights and sounds of the farm are only half of the experience. The other half comes from breakfast, Nickels said.
She prepares a five-course breakfast for her guests every morning. The breakfast includes food that comes straight from the farm, including eggs from the chicken coop and honey from the bee hives on the property.
“It’s an ample good breakfast,” Nickels said. “The comments I get always include something about breakfast, so [guests] like it very much.”
Guests tend to come together and exchange stories while they enjoy their breakfast, she said.
“I love it when we have a full table of guests,” Nickels said. “Sometimes we can end up sitting there for hours.”
That is what Nickels takes away from the experience of running a bed and breakfast: the relationships she establishes.
“I love it,” she said. “I make a new friend every morning.”
6537 Manorwood Drive, Katy 832-265-0008 www.honeyfarmbedandbreakfast.com
