Community Interview: Mike and Grace (Tabletop Inn)

I recently had a chance to catch up with Mike Belsole and Grace Kendall the proprietors of the Tabletop Inn in Marion, North Carolina. The Tabletop Inn is a board game themed bed and breakfast. Mike and Grace live and breath board games! Mike is the General Manager of Well Played Board Game Cafe in Asheville NC. Both Grace and Mike have designed the game Smug Owls (Origins' 2024 Party Game of the Year).

Mike Belsole and Grace Kendall

What is the concept of Tabletop Inn?

We are a traditional bed and breakfast with a board game twist! We integrate board games into every part of the experience. Breakfast is served with an unobtrusive game to play while you eat, bedrooms are nature themed with a board game to match (think birds and Wingspan), and we have a library of over 800 games for guests to enjoy. There are lots of big and little touches to the space that guests love to discover upon first arriving. As innkeepers, we live on site and are happy to act as board game butlers as we teach, recommend, and even play games with guests if they want. The best way we've heard it described is it's like a sleepover at your favorite board game cafe.

Where did you get the inspiration to combine gaming with a B&B experience?

Interior

Once you have 800 games, you need to make a business out of them. Ha. In reality, we are both avid gamers and travelers, and this was a way to combine both of the things we love. We don't travel much anymore except to board game conventions. So this is a nice way to let travelers come to us, and to honor all the hosts who have ever taken us in. When thinking about how to set us apart as a bed and breakfast, we thought we could do some really fun things with the idea that board games were at the core of the experience. So we have extra things like an expansive marble run on the wall, a dinner spinner that chooses your evening meal spot, and a candy-dispensing rocket ship that is motion-activated. All of these things would feel out of place at a normal bed and breakfast, but with games at the center of the experience, it affords us the room to have these experiences of play throughout the house.

What moment did you realize that gaming could be more than a hobby?

It was a slow and steady discovery. Playing games led us to designing games which led to working at conventions and board game cafes which led us to creating a board game industry mentorship program which led us to where we are now. We have always been the type of people to create the things we want to see and experience. We never set out to make board games our entire professional life, but we kept following the fun and ended up there anyway.

How do you figure out what goes on the suggestion selves?

Thank you for asking about it! This is Mike's favorite feature of the BnB, and it's one thing we've never seen anyone else do. We rotate games based on what we currently like or are excited about and what type of games we think our incoming guests might especially enjoy. So the games get heavier if we know we have hobby gamers coming to stay.

Where did you get this idea?

Grace loves curating small areas of the house, so that led us to wanting to create a space that we could change frequently and at our whim. It was also born out of the fact that 800 games are intimidating, and we wanted an easy way to make recommendations when we weren't around.

What do the guests think of it?

They love it! Every guest has commented on it and how unique and cool it is. A lot of that has to do with how great the art and design is, which is thanks to our friend Rachel Wyatt who painted the canvas and brought our vision to life.

Smug Owls

How did you design the B&B to be the ultimate game destination? What design considerations did you have when putting it all together?

Well that is quite the compliment! We wanted to make a place that's the kind the getaway we ourselves would be delighted by. We wanted the game collection to be accessible, the home to feel cozy, the bedrooms to be relaxing, and the whole experience to be full of little surprises. We were renovating and updating an old house, so there were some limitations we were up against. In the end, we let the house help us design the bed and breakfast. There were rooms and spaces that had no real function in a bed and breakfast, which forced us to think outside the box and create spaces like a reading nook and creativity closet. The house was already built in a way that lent itself to two-bedroom suites, so we leaned into that. At every step along the way, we asked ourselves the same question: "Is this fun?" It helped guide every decision and led us to create a truly unique space.

What's the biggest challenge you face running a themed B&B?

Great question. Initially, we were worried that the theme might turn some people off who were looking for a more traditional bed and breakfast experience, but those guests have in fact been delighted by all the fun touches even if they don't play a ton of games. The great thing about board games is that almost everyone has fond memories of playing them as a kid with their friends and family. So it becomes a nostalgic space for people who maybe haven't touched a board game in years. Honestly, the biggest challenge we have is people thinking we are an AirBnB. In the US especially, people are not familiar with what a bed and breakfast is supposed to offer since their experiences have mostly been in hotels or home rentals. Because we are innkeepers who live on site, we make an incredible from-scratch breakfast every morning and are present to create a special experience. Just the fact that we live here surprises a lot of guests. Thankfully, it's a delightful surprise and most of our guests end up taking advantage of that and having a richer experience than they expected.

Who polishes all those meeples?

Thankfully, the butlers from Clue take care of most of the dusting and polishing. And we have quite a few versions of Clue so it doesn't take them very long.

The Game Room

There are thousands of games out there, how do you decide what makes it to your shelves for guests to play?

First of all, we have to like the game. Like most gamers, we have (more than) a few games that we have yet to play. But it's our goal for the bed and breakfast to get to a place where we've either played every game or at least know enough to recommend it. We try to have games for all types of experiences. So everything from solo games to big group games, from dexterity games to 2-hour Euros, and from nostalgic family classics to games that aren't even available to buy yet.

Do you have any hidden gems in your collection?

One of our hidden gems is Blood Bowl: Team Manager. It's Mike's favorite game that he never gets to play, but it's amazing and hopelessly out of print. Another is the gold edition of Dragoon. This is Grace's favorite game and it has all deluxe metal components and beautiful fabric boards. And Bling Bling Gemstone, which we picked up in South Korea. Most people know it's older brother, Tok Tok Woodman. But this is the superior version. It is literally a hidden gem.

Where do you see the future of this concept heading? Would you ever expand?

We have a million ideas for the Tabletop Inn that we are slowly implementing. In the future, we see us hosting retreats for publishers, game designers, and others. We want to host elopements and other special events. We'd love to see the concept of board game bed and breakfasts expand. If anyone wants to open a franchise let us know!

What's next for you as hosts and game designers (shameless self promotion part)

We will be at PAX Unplugged working at the Runaway Parade booth demoing and selling our game Smug Owls. And our new game, Bullseye, from 25th Century Games will debut there as well. If anyone reading this is local to Western North Carolina, we also host lots of events in Marion, NC, including monthly community game nights at the Tabletop Inn. Stop by, we'd love to meet you!

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

6 7 (as the youth would say).