Morning Star Bed and Breakfast is located on the southern side of the city of Corrales in the state of New Mexico. The bed and breakfast has a total of four suites available for guests to choose from for their stay. The owner of the B&B describes Corrales as being an art community, as well as having roots in agriculture and farming. Albuquerque is south of Corrales and is within a relatively short drive of the property. To help make check-in a little easier for their customers, Morning Star Bed and Breakfast has an app that can be download when a guest makes their reservation, providing helpful information regarding both the property and the surrounding attractions, activities, and restaurants in Corrales.
Morning Star Bed and Breakfast is one story tall and has four rooms available to visitors. John Casburn, a co-owner with his wife Carrol, describes it as "A quintessential, modern southwest bed and breakfast." Each of the rooms is uniquely named and decorated. Regardless of which room is chosen, each suite comes with bathroom supplies like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion, as well as a television and a private bathroom. Should guests need more space than just one or two rooms, the entire house can be rented out. One unique thing about the property is that when guests check in to their rooms, the owner will give them a link to an app that has an abundant amount of information, including nearby restaurants, attractions, museums, art galleries, and any events or festivals that are occurring during their stay. The first room is called Moonlight Suite. The Moonlight Suite comes with a king-sized bed, along with several chairs, a table, and an essential oil diffuser. Due to the directions the windows face, guests who stay in this room have a view of the Cottonwood trees, which are over 150 years old, and a field of Yerba Mansa, which are a type of flowers that are also nicknamed "lizard tail." Another room available for guests to choose from is named Starlight Suite. The Starlight Suite has a king-sized bed like the Moonlight Suite, but the bathroom is a little bit larger and comes with a soaking tub that can fit two people, as well as a rain head shower. The room overlooks the pool area. Albireo A is the name of the third room and can be rented out as a single room, or it can be combined with Albireo B, which is the fourth room. This makes the two Albireo rooms an ideal choice for guests with a party of more than two people in total. Albireo A has a queen-sized bed and an essential oil diffuser. Its windows face the pool area and some of the gardens. Albireo B has two twin beds and caters to guests with children or those who want an extra room for additional privacy. It also has windows overlooking the pool. Breakfast is included with each stay and starts sometime around 7:30, ending at about 9:30. If guests are up before breakfast starts, they can still take advantage of the coffee and juice that is set out while it is being made. The meals served are made from scratch and, whenever possible, from locally grown ingredients, including from things that are grown in the property's own gardens. The staff at the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast are able to accommodate guests who require specific diets and commonly make gluten-free food. During breakfast, John takes the time to interact with his guests if they would like. As the chef, he likes to talk to the visitors for a bit while they eat and ensure that they enjoy what he cooks, but only if they are comfortable with his presence. Once he is done cooking breakfast, John will sometimes sit down with them and chat. There have been a couple of occasions when he and the visitors have sat at the breakfast table and spoken for nearly two hours. On the outside of the property, there are several gardens and trees. The owner explains that a total of 38 cottonwood trees provide shade to the gardens and lawn during the day. A wide range of plants is grown in the gardens, including vegetables and flowers of various colors and shapes. Also outside is an abundance of outdoor seating, as well as umbrellas and fire pits. The pool is located in the backyard and is available to all guests staying at the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast. John and Carrol recommend several restaurants that can be found in the vicinity. The first one they like to mention to guests looking for a place to eat is the Indigo Crow, a fine dining cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. An additional one they recommend is Flying Star, another cafe that serves American dishes and an all-day breakfast. Finally, they suggest TEN 3—a unique restaurant, as the only way to get there is by a tram that takes visitors to the base of the Sandia Peak mountain. The restaurant allows guests to see the city from a higher elevation and gives more accessible access to a couple of hiking trails.
The owners of Morning Star Bed and Breakfast, whose names are Carrol and John Casburn, explain that the goals of the property are to create a space that is well-designed and welcoming. They want their building to be both functional and beautiful in an effort to help guests feel relaxed and enjoy their time at the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast. Carrol is an interior designer and has spent much of her time crafting the building and situating the decorations and furniture in ways that will help their visitors enjoy their stay. Morning Star Bed and Breakfast has several policies that they ask guests to abide by while they are staying at the bed and breakfast. A significant one is that they are unable to accommodate pets of any kind, including service animals. They also have a no-smoking policy. Guests are not allowed to smoke inside the building or outside on the grounds. Children under the age of six are also not allowed to be on the property. These policies are in place to help create an environment that is as clean as possible. There have been a number of reviews that previous guests have left regarding Morning Star Bed and Breakfast. Many of them mention the quality and care that John and Carrol put into the building's upkeep and how personable they are. One review, in particular, reads, "Stayed for Valentine's weekend, and it was wonderful. John and Carol were great hosts and conversationalists, and the breakfasts were delicious." Another common aspect mentioned among the reviews is the quality of the rooms and grounds. One person who recently stayed at Morning Star Bed and Breakfast writes, "Beautiful rooms, quiet location, extensive outdoors space to enjoy the trees. The food and hospitality were so good." The best season of operation for Morning Star Bed and Breakfast tends to be from the first of May through to the month of October. In October, an event takes place called The Balloon Festival, which is when there are hundreds of air balloons and air balloon enthusiasts that get together.
Morning Star Bed and Breakfast has been around since June of 2018, and Carrol and John have owned the building since 2017. Carrol's family has had personal ties to the property since the year 1990. That being said, the building itself has been around for a much longer time, with its construction having ended sometime around 1959. When Carrol and John took ownership of the property, they decided to put their skills together and turn it into a bed and breakfast. Before it became a B&B, it was just used as a home for the family. Carrol explains that she has loved her time owning and taking care of the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast. She was brought into the lodging industry because she enjoys hospitality design, which is also why she became an interior designer. Over time, she and her husband John have made a number of changes to the property. The primary change was a total remodeling project to restore the building, update, and fix everything. Due to the fact that the building is over 60 years old, they did their best to preserve some of that history while adding the modern touches to bring the Morning Star Bed and Breakfast to current standards of living. With all of the renovations that have already been made in the last few years, there are not that many future plans for the business. The exception to this is that Carrol plans on adding an online store.
384 Shaparral Lane
Corrales, New Mexico
United States
Bed and Breakfast
John & Carrol Casburn
