Bed and breakfast inn outside Cleveland has Amish flavor

By Mike Kelly
Toledo Blade Travel Writer

BURTON, Ohio - For more than three decades, Gordon Safran's primary focus was on eyes, as owner of the E.B. Brown optical chain, with stores in three states.

These days, the 68-year-old Safran is more interested in sighs - the kind that come with complete relaxation - as the owner, with his wife Evie, of the Red Maple Inn, a lavish, 18-room bed and breakfast inn in this rural community in northeast Ohio's Geauga County.

"This is a retreat where people can come and really relax," he said.

After 35 years as owner and president of E.B. Brown, Safran sold all 42 of his stores - including a few in Toledo - in 1996. He then began looking for a place where he and his wife might open a country inn, but one that could double as a small business conference center as well.

"We used to have meetings at a place in Holmes County, and we found that we could get a lot more work done in that type of surroundings," he said.

Plus, he was a savvy enough businessman to know that leisure travelers alone normally don't keep a bed and breakfast full, particularly during the week.

Safran, a Clevelander, was already familiar with the rural area around Burton, having visited it often when his family was younger. It's located near one of the largest concentrations of Amish people in the country, and the scenery and nearby recreational offerings make it an ideal spot for a getaway.

"When the children were small, we used to come here for events - apple butter festivals and maple festivals, things like that - and I decided this might be a nice place to spend our retirement years," he said.

Burton is also home to Century Village, a cluster of 21 historic buildings representing a restored 19th-century village. Operated by the Geauga Historical Society, the living history museum includes a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, church, marshal's office, homes, and more. Inside one of its houses is the nationally known Thoburn toy soldier collection, with 9,000 pieces.

After considering a few places that he might be able to convert into a bed and breakfast, Safran eventually decided to build his own, and he selected a three-acre parcel of land right next to Century Village. It took him a year to close the deal on the land, and another year to convince local officials to rezone the property to allow him to build his inn.

"They wanted to keep the town low-key," he said, "and they didn't think we'd make it, and they'd wind up with an empty building sitting here. But they were finally convinced that it would be good for the area."

The two-story inn, which cost almost $2 million to build, was constructed and furnished by Amish builders and craftsmen. Built in Western Reserve style, the inn's exterior is white, with dark shutters. The first floor's outside wall is covered with fieldstones, and the circular drive that leads to the front door runs beneath a large portico that doubles as an oversized porch for the inn's one suite.

Actually, to call the Red Maple Inn a bed-and-breakfast is a bit misleading; it's more like a small hotel, with an elevator, fitness center, and computer modem hook-ups in all the guest rooms. But the friendly staff and some of its amenities set it apart from the typical hotel.

The front desk has a plate of cookies or pastries waiting for guests when they arrive to check in, or whenever they happen to wander by. There's a cozy, well-stocked library with a fireplace just down the hall from the main dining room, and a big covered veranda out behind the banquet room with a row of chairs where guests can sit and look out at the rolling countryside. Near the veranda is a small putting green, with putters and golf balls available for the asking at the front desk.

On weekday evenings, complimentary wine and cheese is served.

And of course, there are those hearty buffet breakfasts each morning, which might include fresh fruit, eggs, casseroles, pancakes or waffles served with locally produced maple syrup, and more.

All of the guest rooms are on the second floor; some have gas fireplaces and balconies, and all provide nice views of woodlands, Amish farms, or Century Village. Each room has its own bathroom with Jacuzzi tub, and also a nightlight that stays on all the time.

"If it bothers you when you're trying to sleep, you just close the bathroom door," said Safran.

The rooms are decorated in soft florals and filled with handcrafted Amish furniture. TVs and VCRs in each room are tucked away in armoires, and soft music is piped into the room through a small speaker in the telephone that can be turned on and off by the guest.

Most of the rooms have king or queen-sized beds, and many have pull-out couches for extra guests. Nice little touches include blankets sandwiched between clean sheets and imported Gilchrist and Soames toiletries, including bath gel for the Jacuzzis.

Down in the basement, or "Lower Level," as its called, the small fitness center has a treadmill, elliptical trainer, and stationary bike. There is also a Ping-Pong table and a bumper pool table.

About 70 percent of the inn's business is leisure, with the rest business travelers or groups, Safran says. The banquet room, which holds up to 100 people, can be used for meetings, rehearsal dinners, small weddings, class reunions, and other events.

There's plenty to do in the Burton area at any time of the year. For shoppers, the local Amish community operates several furniture, gift, and craft stores, and there are antique stores, wineries, farm markets, and outlet malls nearby. Guests can also visit cheese factories, a buffalo-breeding farm, and an alpaca farm.

Safran compares the area to north central Ohio's Holmes County, the largest Amish community in the world - but says there's a big difference, too. "We've got 10,000 Amish around here, but it's so much less commercial than Holmes County, which gets 4 million visitors a year," he said. "Other than the big theme parks, that's the biggest tourist attraction in Ohio."

Safran has a deep interest in the Amish culture, and tries to share it with his guests. Each of the inn's guest rooms has a collection of books and videos about the Amish. There are Amish dinners each Wednesday night at the inn, and Safran says he plans to bring in experts from time to time to speak about the Amish community and answer questions.

Many of the inn's 20 employees, including the cooks, are Amish women.

During warm-weather months, seven nearby golf courses offer discounts to guests of the inn, and boating and fishing are minutes away at Headwater Park, LaDue Reservoir, and Punderson State Park. Inn guests can also use the pool facilities at Punderson at no charge.

Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, one of Ohio's largest theme parks, is a 20-minute drive away in Aurora.

In the winter, there's downhill skiing at Alpine Valley ski resort, and cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and hiking at several nearby locations.

All year round, the inn provides maps with suggested driving and hiking itineraries on it, along with a list of area attractions. But even with all the options available, Safran said some guests prefer to simply "enjoy the slowness that life can have."

The inn welcomes families, Safran said, but that's not the demographic it's trying to attract. "A lot of people come here just to get away, for the quiet," he said.

An upscale restaurant at the inn might seem like a natural addition, but Safran said there are no plans for that. "A high-end restaurant would probably do well here," he said, "but we don't want to undertake it. Remember, this is supposed to be a retirement project."

There are a number of good dining spots within a few minutes drive of the inn, including John Palmer's Restaurant in Chardon, Grandview Restaurant in Middlefield, and Ferrante Winery in Geneva.

Another option, of course, is the inn's weekly Amish dinner ($25 per person, reservations required), a bountiful family style spread that includes chicken and roast beef, plus all the trimmings. A local group of balloonists often fire up their colorful balloons and launch them behind the inn during the Wednesday evening dinner, and guests get a front-row seat for the spectacle.

There are a handful of eateries within walking distance in downtown Burton. One that's certainly worth a visit is Cogan's, which boasts of its "bad food and lousy service."

We stopped in one night shortly before the 9 p.m. closing time, hoping for a quick bite, and asked the cook, a burly young guy in a white T-shirt and apron, if he could accommodate us. "Sure, if you don't mind a terrible meal."

The meal we ordered, chicken parmesan with rigatoni, was anything but terrible, which might be why the menu brags about it: "Believe it or not, it's excellent! We rarely screw this one up!"

There's a journal in each of the inn's rooms where guests can leave comments before they depart. One entry from the guest book in our room was written by a woman from Salt Lake City:

"I've stayed on business at some fine hotels - the Palmer House in Chicago, the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco. For a beautiful room, comfort, service and hospitality, the Red Maple Inn beats them - hands down!"

AAA apparently agrees, awarding the inn its coveted 4-diamond rating earlier this year - the only large B&B in the state to receive the designation.

Back to Media page