Monique, a former Essence magazine editor-in-chief, has been pursuing her dream of running multiple successful B&Bs for 20 years. Checked Inn provides us with a first-hand look at Monique, her husband Glenn Pogue and daughter Glynn Pogue – it’s a team effort. Bringing to mind Bob Newhart as the loveable innkeeper, and his crew, in the 1980s hit TV series, Newhart, Monique and family host a real-life cast of characters at the inn.
Monique explains how her lightbulb moment to open a bed and breakfast in their Brooklyn neighborhood in 1995 put her dream in motion. There were those who thought she was crazy, but she wanted to build a legacy to leave her daughter. Now there are four Akwaaba locations: Brooklyn, NY; Washington, DC; Cape May, NJ; and Bethany, PA, making Akwaaba (which means welcome in a language of Ghana, West Africa), one of the most successful B&B businesses on the east coast.
Checked Inn is executive produced by Dave Caplan from Trooper Entertainment in association with Lionsgate Television. The show’s unique premise focuses on the comings and goings of travellers at the 25,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion, which is a former Woolworth estate on 22 lush acres.
A property of this caliber provides the ideal combination of luxury, style and facilities – 14 guest rooms, a seven-room spa, a ballroom, meeting spaces, a bar, and a separate 10,000-square-foot recreation building housing a state-of-the-art gym and an Olympic-sized heated swimming pool.
Expertly decorated, with a sophisticated chic style, the inn is ornate without being pretentious. You are invited to forget reality and embark on a fantastic escape. Guest rooms provide everything you could possibly need including flat screen TVs, fine linens, private bathrooms with rain showers and soaking or air-jetted tubs, custom bath amenities, mini refrigerators and coffeemakers, and Wi-Fi. Your stay includes a full, chef-prepared breakfast featuring locally sourced ingredients, healthy snacks, personal concierge services, and use of all resort facilities.
Akwaaba Bed and Breakfast Inns
The Mansion at Noble Lane
Monique Greenwood, Owner and CEO
866-INN-DULJ (866-466-3855)
37 Noble Lane
Bethany, PA
Monique Greenwood at Akwaaba’s Mansion at Noble Lane. Photo courtesy of the OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network