With the busiest airport in the world and headquarters for many international corporations, Atlanta draws business travelers from all over the world. In fact, the city of Atlanta has the third highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. As many business travelers know, Atlanta is home to Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Airlines, AT&T Mobility, UPS and many others.

Health nuts have known how beneficial local honey is for a very long time.  Among other benefits, consuming local honey is a great way to fight off seasonal allergies.

How does local honey help you to fight off allergies? Think about the way that a vaccine works. When you are vaccinated, you are injected with a tiny amount of virus or a look-alike virus. Your immune system notices this enemy and develops antibodies to fight it off. The vaccination is essentially a “practice round” for the body, preparing it for the real fight ahead.  Later, when you are exposed to the full-fledged virus, your body recognizes it and is able to produce the necessary antibodies to ward it off.

Eating local honey works the same way against seasonal allergies. Bees collect pollen and nectar from the same flowers and weeds that make your eyes water and your nose run. When you eat the honey those bees produce from that pollen, the honey functions the same way as a vaccination. This benefit is one of many that local honey provides.

Stonehurst Place Honey is as Local as It Gets

Besides the fact that Stonehurst Place is an oasis in the middle of the busy city of Atlanta, besides the fact that we’re located just minutes from some of the most enjoyable attractions Atlanta has to offer and besides the fact that each of our rooms and suites provide guests with the height of luxury, at Stonehurst Place we also feature our own on-site beehives to provide guests with the best local honey available.  A few times per year our local master beekeeper, Linda Tillman, swings by Stonehurst Place to check on our bees and later, harvest the honey. The resulting honey has so far been delicious and undiluted.

You might think that the middle of Atlanta wouldn’t be a good place for beehives to flourish. In fact, several of Linda the beekeeper’s hives are located in more rural areas outside of Atlanta. The bees at Stonehurst Place, however, are thriving. They’re doing so well that Linda even allowed a local university graduate student to use our hives as part of a study he conducted.

A Brief History of Stonehurst Place Honey

Linda first installed Stonehurst Place’s beehives in the spring of 2011. She placed the beehives carefully behind the Innkeeper’s Cottage so that they wouldn’t be a bother to any of our guests. The hives themselves were constructed by Gary, the life partner of our  innkeeper, Caroline. For her part, Caroline whipped up some sugar syrup for the bees as a welcome meal when they first arrived. At Stonehurst Place we don’t let any guests go hungry, not even our bees!

Linda’s first harvest of the honey at the Stonehurst Place hives came in August of 2011. The bees had only been at Stonehurst for about four months, but during that time, they had been busy bees. She was able to harvest several jars of honey from the hives while still leaving the bees enough honey to last them through the colder winter months. Per our agreement with Linda, she keeps half the honey and Stonehurst Place guests get to enjoy the other half.

We think our fresh honey is one more reason why you should consider Stonehurst Place for your next Atlanta vacation or business trip. The next time you’re in town, we hope you’ll come by for a visit and sample the best local honey Atlanta has to offer.

Eliminate Wedding Stress

Weddings are notoriously challenging events to orchestrate. Between reserving multiple venues, hiring entertainment and getting just the right wedding cake, brides and grooms often find that the day meant to be the best in their life also turns out to be one of the most stressful.

A Stonehurst Place Effortless Elopement takes the stress out of wedding planning… allow us to handle the details! Our inn permits couples to have both the ceremony itself and a small cake cutting and celebratory toast in one  beautiful location. By choosing Stonehurst Place as your wedding destination, there will be no hassle with booking a chapel close to a certain restaurant or coordinating events between multiple locations.

For the ceremony, couples can choose between an outdoor wedding in our intimate rear garden, or an indoor wedding in our Music Room by the fireplace and Mason & Hamlin grand piano. Our exclusive white chocolate signature wedding cake is by Elegant Cheese Cakes® that supply to Saks Fifth Avenue customers!

Intimate and Private

We might be a little biased, but we think Stonehurst Place is the best spot in Atlanta for a small, intimate wedding. We have two Effortless Elopement package to choose from, both with two nights in a gorgeous suite for the couple. We can accommodate up to twelve overnight guests within our inn; choices for the wedding ceremony itself include an additional 10 or 20 non-resident guests depending on the package. Also included is the white chocolate wedding cake mentioned above, keepsake champagne flutes, a bridal bouquet of roses and a non-denominational wedding ceremony.

Minutes from the Heart of Atlanta

Staying at Stonehurst Place means staying a stone’s throw from the best that Atlanta, GA, has to offer. Located in Midtown Atlanta, we are just minutes from several famous Atlanta landmarks, including the Fabulous Fox Theatre; Centennial Olympic Park; the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell’s house and museum; and the Georgia Aquarium You and your guests will be able to easily enjoy all of the most fun and memorable sites in the city of Atlanta.

Contact Stonehurst Place today to find out more about our wedding packages. We know with us you’ll find the intimate and romantic small wedding of your dreams!

I think I am now becoming the queen of poached eggs since my last three recipes we’ve blogged have poached eggs on them …

Innkeeper Sarah

… and just what is Piperade?  Piperade (Gascon) or Piperrada (Basque), from piper (pepper in Gascon and Basque) is a typical Basque dish prepared with onion, green peppers, and tomatoes sautéd and flavoured with red Espelette pepper.^[1] The colours coincidentally reflect the colours of the Basque flag (red, green and white).^[1] It may be served as a main course or as a side dish. Typical additions include egg, garlic or meats such as ham. This is a traditional French dish and is served in restaurants and cafés throughout France.

~ Innkeeper Caroline

Where did the name Eggs Benedict come from?  Here is one version, from Wikipedia:

Mabel C. Butler of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts in a November 1967 letter printed in The New York Times Magazine responded to Montgomery’s claim by correcting that the “true story, well known to the relations of Mrs. Le Grand Benedict”:  Mr. and Mrs. Benedict, when they lived in New York around the turn of the century, dined every Saturday at Delmonico’s. One day Mrs. Benedict said to the maitre d’hotel, “Haven’t you anything new or different to suggest?” On his reply that he would like to hear something from her, she suggested poached eggs on toasted English muffins with a thin slice of ham, hollandaise sauce and a truffle on top.^[1]

~ Innkeeper Caroline

Puff Pastry … where did this originate?  Here is some information from Wikipedia … surprisingly in might not be from France!

Puff pastry seems to be a relative of the Middle Eastern phyllo, and is used in a similar manner to create layered pastries. While traditionally ascribed to the French painter and cook Claude Gellée who lived in the 17th century (the story goes that Gelée was making a type of very buttery bread for his sick father, and the process of rolling the butter into the bread dough created a croissant-like finished product), references appear before the 17th century, indicating a history that came originally through Muslim Spain and was converted from thin sheets of dough spread with olive oil to laminated dough with layers of butter, perhaps in Italy or Germany.

~ Innkeeper Caroline

This from Maria and Michael: “Magical. Best of the Best B&B. Loved every moment, what a wonderful place for our wedding. Thank you for making our day special.”

Many couples these days are choosing to have their Atlanta weddings on a much smaller scale than in years past.  The Effortless Elopement package at Stonehurst Place includes an intimate and private ceremony followed by cake cutting and toast. Stonehurst Place offers several private spaces for your ceremony and reception including the Music Room by the baby grand piano and fireplace, or outside by the pond in our small rear garden:

• Two nights in your choice of our romantic suites
• Satin ribbon-tied bridal bouquet of roses and boutonniere
• Non-denominational ceremony, inside or outdoors
• Music of your selection
• Stonehurst Place keepsake crystal champagne flutes
• White chocolate ribbon-tied Stonehurst Place signature wedding cake by Elegant Cheesecakes®
• $1,500 Two night stay for wedding couple; up to 10 non-resident guests for the 60-90 minute ceremony, cake cutting and toast
• $3,000 Two night stay for wedding couple; up to 20 non-resident guests for the 60-90 minute ceremony, cake cutting and toast
• For the ceremony only, to allow for flower girls or ring bearers, children under the age of 12 are permitted
• For larger gatherings consider our whole house rental
• Please call us to arrange this very personal package

However, as comfortable as your stay may be, whichever of the Atlanta luxury hotels you choose will be nearly identical to and as impersonal as every other hotel you’ve ever stayed in. You’ll see the same generic floral wallpaper, the same fancy but uncomfortable couches in the lobby, and the same overpriced-but-bland restaurant meals that you’re used to seeing in the hotels in Atlanta Ga. If you are a frequent traveler, you may even wake up inside your generic luxury hotel room and find it difficult to remember which city you’re in. (“Atlanta? Denver? What day is today…?”)

A Different Kind of Accommodation

At Stonehurst Place Bed & Breakfast, we’re not a hotel — we don’t even want to be compared to a hotel.  Call us an “inn” if you like, but we really prefer the term B&B, because you’ll be delighted by your bed and your room and even more delighted by the incredible breakfast that our Innkeepers will create for you in the morning.

Once you stay with us, you’ll understand why so many of our guests say they’ll never return to any of the look-alike luxury hotels in Atlanta, and why our business travelers insist on only Stonehurst Place when they travel to Atlanta. The fact that Stonehurst Place was voted Citysearch Best Atlanta, GA Business Hotel is no surprise to them.

The Bed

Each room is one-of-a-kind at Stonehurst Place, but certain amenities come standard no matter which room or suite you choose. No matter which room you’re in, you’ll sleep on 1,000 thread-count Egyptian cotton, enjoy plush bathrobes, find a desk with a comfortable chair, and get connected easily with free wifi. Guests love Stonehurst Place bedding so much that they buy it to take home. Why, you can even buy our exclusive-to-the-hotel-trade exceptional mattress sets to create the Stonehurst Place Sleep Experience in your home, through our mattress purchase program.

The Breakfast

Have we mentioned what good cooks our Innkeepers are? Caroline Holder is an Atlanta native whose gourmet Southern meals easily beat any continental breakfast you’d have at a regular hotel. Her cooking alone will be enough to keep you coming back to Stonehurst Place B&B year after year. She is assisted by Sarah Dudys, whose catering background and beautiful food presentation make her breakfasts a feast for the eyes and the soul.

A Still Point in a Busy City

Stonehurst, a turn-of-the-century southern manor, is located in the center of Midtown Atlanta, on Piedmont Avenue between 8th Street and 10th Street. If you know the Atlanta area, you’ll know that Stonehurst Place’s location means it’s right in the middle of everywhere you want to be in the city.

Things to do in Atlanta, places you’ll be minutes away from, include:

• CNN Center and Studio Tour
• Atlanta Aquarium
• World of Coca-Cola
• Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Piedmont Park
• AmericasMart
• Plus, a number of tourist attractions and universities including the High Museum of Art, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Georgia Tech and Emory University, and more.

We’ll Charm You with Our Southern Hospitality

The next time you plan a trip to Atlanta, bypass the Atlanta luxury hotels and book with Stonehurst Place Bed & Breakfast. Whether you come for a romantic getaway or for an extended business trip, we’ll make sure that you’re as comfortable as you would be in your own home, only with better breakfasts!

Nice little restaurant; seafood, raw bar, sushi and they have dedicated a dining space in the rear of the restaurant – people were asking for seating there because it is so nice and quiet.  Lure has complimentary valet parking and we found their pricing to be very good; Gary had a salad with fresh herbs $8 and wine $10.  My “on tap prosecco” was surprisingly good and $6, a pound of mussels was $14.

Lure is definitely one we will recommend to Stonehurst Place guests because they can walk there or use the free parking, it has an outdoor terrace, and the front of the restaurant is young and trendy, while the rear space is for us old folks.  Service was excellent!”

~ Innkeeper Caroline

~ Innkeeper Sarah

I stayed in the Master Suite and along with the wonderful bed, I really enjoyed my luxurious bath.  Along with the great room, was the most gracious Caroline. She made two memorable breakfasts and fantastic snacks.  So good I begged to take home a few of her recipes.

You will not be disappointed!”

Posted on TripAdvisor by Ronaelle C  “BEST Bed & Breakfast ever!” July 1, 2012

A few months ago, Innkeeper Caroline wrote and told me it was time to source new accent pillows for the Piedmont and Farnsworth bedrooms.  I knew immediately where I wanted to find them.  Two years ago I had one wonderful week at the Gatehouse of Chateau d’Arnac in the Dordogne region of the South of France.  Lady Sarah Tetley Hall owns the chateau and has lovely taste which shows in every turn through the small, romantic Gatehouse.  In our bedroom there she had selected pillows from Designers Guild, and I remembered the feel of them, the heaviness of them, and knew that sumptuousness was what I wanted in our new pillows.

The Designers Guild pillows I selected have browns that tie into the wood of the bed frame and silver to go with the bedspread and Euro pillows guests use for propping up and reading or watching tv.  The pillows are slightly larger than I wanted, but I’m getting used to them and love them more every time I see them.

~  Barb

Resources:

Designers Guild pillows:  http://www.designersguild.com/usa-shop-online/shop-home/

Chateau d’Arnac:  http://www.chateauarnac.co.uk/pages/romantic-retreats/the-gatehouse.php

~ Innkeeper Caroline

This is a good way to use a basic pancake recipe and then get creative with the toppings.  The bananas and walnuts are heated in a sauce made with 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon light kayro syrup, and ½ cup brown sugar; melt and stir over low heat until smooth, then lightly coat banana and walnuts.  Spoon this topping over the pancakes and top off with some of the syrup.”

~ Innkeeper Caroline

Caroline’s basic pancake recipe here:  http://www.stonehurstplace.com/pdf/recipes/stonehurst-place-signature-pancakes.pdf

Our main course was fresh blackberry pancakes with my homemade blackberry syrup, our favorite Edwards of Surry black peppered bacon, and sweetened whipped cream.

Guests can find my tried and true pancake recipe on the Innkeeper’s Kitchen page of StonehurstPlace.com”

~  Innkeeper Caroline

http://www.stonehurstplace.com/kitchen.php

Then I served the main course of fresh mushroom, spinach and cheese CRUSTLESS quiche with a slice of ham, sliced fresh tomatoes and our homemade dill bread.

The gluten free ‘crust’ is made with hash brown potatoes; baked first and then the quiche mixture is poured in and baked. We had a gluten intolerant guest so instead of dill bread, I served them a fresh pineapple slice on their plate.”

~ Innkeeper Caroline

“I was in Atlanta for a one week training course. I am on a restricted diet, so I was searching for a place that would cater to my needs. I read the reviews on Trip Advisor and thought  ’This place cannot be as good as everyone says.’  Well, it was. I was impressed from the moment I walked in and saw the photos of the house as it was 100 years ago. Gary showed me my room, the Farnsworth, which has a newly renovated bathroom.

The breakfasts were fantastic and met my taste and dietary needs. There was wine and cheese or cheese straws every evening; homemade pies, cookies, candy, soft drinks, coffee and tea available 24 hours. Gary and Caroline knew the best places to eat, and the conversation was wonderful. The owners are apparently very environmentally concious, even to the point of using grey water in the toilet!

The inn is located near the Mid-town area, but very close to Virginia Highlands, the Arts Center, and Georgia Tech. Piedmont Park is 3 blocks away. It is very quiet in the evenings.

The inn offers per diem rates for government employees traveling on business. Stonehurst is great option if you are on business or traveling for pleasure in Atlanta.  And, after nearly 50 reviews, I believe this is the first 5 star review I have ever given.”

Caroline, with her quick-wit and Southern charm, is perfectly suited to Stonehurst.  Her food was scrumptious every morning and we enjoyed many great conversations with her.

We feel so lucky to have stumbled upon this amazing place tucked away in beautiful Atlanta!”

Posted on www.BedandBreakfast.com by KC & Lindsey,June 15, 2012

The grounds are breathtaking and the attention to detail is amazing! The decor inside is beautiful, cozy and chic. There are many areas to sit in privacy and in every room there are water stations, and a few things to munch on as well. The bedrooms are exquisite, the mattresses are so very comfortable, the bedding luxurious. The bathrooms are quite amazing, they are completely modern and every comfort provided for.

The innkeepers, Caroline and Gary are friendly and informative. Caroline is a master gardener and wrote out some tips for me to improve my rose growing! There are places to walk and to eat very nearby as well.

We will be back!  Thank you!”

Posted on TripAdvisor by Tulip0320 “Stonehurst Haven” June 9, 2012