Pamela Lanier started out in the Bed & Breakfast industry upon returning from a post college adventure in Europe. During her travels she stayed at a combination of Bed & Breakfasts, country inns and pensiones and fell in love with these charming personalized lodgings. It was 1982 and the Bed and Breakfast concept was just beginning to take off in the United States.

Pamela felt the industry needed a comprehensive resource directory similar to those "well thumbed" guidebooks of Europe, and she set out to create one. She certainly succeeded! Upon release of the first edition, the New York Times said,

"All necessary information about facilities, prices, pets, children, amenities, credit cards and the like. Like France's Michelin …"

The project developed a life of its own, gowing to include a website, and increasing exponentially from 1,200 inns in the first edition to over 30,000 in North America alone on the website today, including over 8,500 member inns to date.

Today Pamela is delighted with the growth of the industry and very committed to representing and promoting small and independent lodging in many ways, including:

• Representing California on the American Hotel and Lodging Association's Small and Independent Lodging Advisory Council, which meets twice a year and relays information about the needs of the sector to national and governmental bodies.
• Frequent articles and public appearances to promote the industry in multimedia venues as diverse as the Internet World Conference, Travel Media Showcase, CNN, and periodicals like Family Circle, Bride and The Cornell Quarterly, as well as interviews appearing in publications like The Houston Chronicle and the Wall Street Journal.