Small Business Profile: Chez Amis

When you walk inside Chez Amis Bed and Breakfast on East Street in Annapolis it’s easy to forget you’re away from home.

Soon after meeting innkeepers Joe and Elly Tierney, it feels like you’re talking to old friends. And that’s not surprising for a place that’s nicknamed “the friendliest bed and breakfast in Maryland.”

Everything from the cozy leather couches to the communal tables for shared meals, the bed and breakfast exudes comfort.

This “warm friendly atmosphere” was noted by recent visitors on Tripadvisor.

Elly Tierney said she remembers the exact moment she knew she wanted to become an innkeeper.

She and Joe often vacationed in Cape Cod and during one particular trip they stayed in a bed and breakfast they both enjoyed. Elly Tierney said she started talking to the innkeeper—a single mom who left her corporate job after 9/11—about the business.

"She said to me, ‘I’m doing what I love and getting paid for it.’ And I said, ‘That’s it Joe,'’’ Elly Tierney said.

“I remember that day,” Joe Tierney said.

At the time, she was working a demanding, high-paying job as a pre-construction manager for a company in the Washington, D.C., area.

Describing herself as “Martha Stewart-ish in a way,” Elly Tierney said she had always loved arts and crafts and decorating, but because of her career had never really had a domestic life.

On the advice of the innkeeper in Massachusetts, she started cold-calling inns and working as an inn-sitter on weekends. She would inn sit in Lancaster, PA, and the Baltimore area.

Before long, she found herself with about six clients in the Lancaster, PA, and the Baltimore area. One day, one of those clients—an inkkeeper in Baltimore—contacted her about inn-sitting for three weeks.

“That’s when I realized I could make a break from my career,” Elly Tierney said.

“After she got bitten by the bug of bed and breakfasts....we thought it would be responsible to go out and take some courses in running your own bed and breakfast and your own business," Joe Tierney said.

She also had a mentor in Ellicott City who gave her some advice.

Later she began introducing herself to different innkeepers in Annapolis and soon met the former owners of Chez Amis, who ran the inn for 17 years. As noted on the inn's website, Elly Tierney inn sat for about three years.

Once the Tierneys decided to run their own bed and breakfast, they began focusing their search on the Cape Cod area. But a change in fate led them to Annapolis. In June, they became the inn sitters of Chez Amis and in September, officially became the new owners.

The Tierneys also try to support local businesses in the downtown area. They serve City Dock coffee at their coffee bar during breakfast and sell coffee mugs made from The Annapolis Pottery. They also offer a variety of packages highlighting local establishments.

To learn more about Chez Amis and the history of the building, visit the inn's website.