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Your Innkeepers at Casa de Sueños
We enjoy welcoming guests to our downtown St Augustine Bed and Breakfast and shaping stays that feel warm and personal. This page shares a bit about who we are and how we came to love the work we do. We enjoy introducing guests to the historic district, local restaurants, and the simple pace of the area. Many visitors return each year, and getting to know them is one of the things we enjoy most about being innkeepers in St Augustine Florida.
Your Innkeepers
Meet the owners of Casa de Sueños, Joe and Margaret Finnegan, of St. Augustine. For nearly three decades, the Finnegan Family has owned and successfully operated numerous lodging properties in the St. Augustine area. Casa de Sueños joined the Finnegans’ unique offerings for area visitors in 2015. Like its sister property, St. Francis Inn on St. George Street, Casa de Sueños is a historic building that offers modern comforts and amenities amidst the reminders of days gone by.
Upon purchasing the Inn in 2015, the Finnegans converted the former gift shop and owner’s quarters into two new guest rooms, so Casa de Sueños has a total of seven guest rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms. Nothing is boiler-plate about these comfortable rooms. Each has its unique personality; several have whirlpool tubs and private balconies. One first-floor room is ADA compliant with a private ramp entrance, an oversized shower, and grab rails throughout the bathroom.
“It was a natural choice for us to purchase Casa de Sueños,” said Joe Finnegan, “And we looked forward to the opportunity to further enhance the excellent reputation which Kathleen Hurley had created for Casa during her 14 year ownership.”
A Select Registry Distinguished Inn
Casa de Sueños has earned the distinction of being a “Select Registry Distinguished Inn” property. As an elite Select Registry Distinguished Inn, Casa de Sueños Bed & Breakfast has achieved and maintained stringent quality assurance standards, which only a select few independent properties have attained.
Our Story
Like many, Joe and Margaret fell in love with St. Augustine. When they married in 1976, both were full-time teachers in the field of deaf education. Although they had a taste of the Ancient City when Joe was principal at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, their careers took them away. But they kept their ties with St. Augustine and dreamed of returning as full-time residents someday.
Fast-forward to Thanksgiving 1984: While vacationing with friends from St. Augustine, the Finnegans learned that the St. Francis Inn’s owners would soon be putting the Inn on the market. Joe and Margaret had enjoyed staying at bed and breakfasts and had entertained thoughts of someday owning one themselves.
They were familiar with the St. Francis: Joe’s parents had vacationed there when visiting from New England. They realized the St. Francis Inn could be the vehicle to get them back to St. Augustine eventually, and in June 1985, they became the new owners of the oldest inn in town.
In 1996, Joe resigned from his position as school president in South Carolina, and he, Margaret, and their two children returned to St. Augustine. The family relocated to the house next door to the Inn as their full-time residence.
Joe became a consultant to educational administrators of schools and programs for the deaf, and this more flexible schedule allowed him to finally become active as the owner and innkeeper of St. Francis Inn. Margaret, Joe’s constant sounding board, became active in the décor and menu design for both inns while serving as a Professor and Deaf Education Coordinator at Flagler College.
Young son Patrick eventually became involved in the business, starting at the age of 8 as a dishwasher, working under the guidance of Margaret’s sister, Terry, in food preparation at the Inn, and filling various roles during the next few years. Patrick’s experience at the St Francis Inn influenced his eventual path to a career in the hospitality business. He has lived and worked in a number of beautiful resorts but grew to miss the personal touch that the St. Francis provides its Guests. He left the gorgeous town of Aspen, Colorado to return home and join the staff, helping his parents with their business. He now serves as the manager of both the St. Francis Inn and Casa de Suenos. Their daughter, Elizabeth, also works at the St. Francis Inn and is an important member of the service team with skills in several different departments.
The Finnegans attribute their combined careers as innkeepers and educators/consultants outside the inn to eliminating the “burn-out” that many 24/7 innkeepers experience. Their dual careers have allowed them to establish and maintain a large staff to assist in the day-to-day running of two historic inns.
The years have taught them many things about Innkeeping, and Joe and Margaret have good advice for those thinking of becoming bed and breakfast owners:
- Participate in an Aspiring Innkeeper Workshop.
- Volunteer to work for at least one week at an inn of the size you expect to own.
- Hire qualified staff to help with the day-to-day routine of running the inn; spend your time with guests, not making beds.
- Vigorously pursue a marketing strategy.
- Organize your time to allow at least one day a week completely away from the business.
Joe and Margaret Finnegan are now retired from their outside jobs, which gives them more time to focus on their inns. They still enjoy being guests at bed and breakfasts during their travels.
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Perfect location in Old Town St. Augustine.
Easy stroll to everything. Top quality B and B with everything one expects. Wonderful historic building, small number of rooms, quiet, on-site parking, happy hour drinks and snacks, a real breakfast, dessert each eve, passes to attractions, bicycles, inn keeper always there to help.