Finding Joie
Ashley Petrone is a wife, mother, lifestyle blogger, and DIY-er who, this year, took a huge leap into the hotel business. The idea of opening up an Inn started as a passing comment to her husband, Dino, and it has turned into a new venture for their whole family. The Joie Inn can be found tucked away on Anna Maria, a small island off the coast of Florida and is the perfect holiday spot calling to you all year round.
The Joie Inn has four unique rooms that are perfect for anyone looking for that relaxing beach holiday. Each room has its own theme that you can see brought to life throughout the rooms and other public spaces. As a mother of four, she made it her goal to create the ultimate vacation spot for couples, friends and families, and she has done just that. On the property you can also find a heated pool, everything you would need for the beach, necessities for the little ones, and even electric bikes.
The Joie Inn opened up in Fall 2021 and we were able to chat with Ashley about this new project and get some insight into what it was really like to become an Inn owner.
Growing up did you ever think that being the owner of an Inn would be in the cards for you?
I always had a love for design and rearranging my room. I’ve always been a dreamer and a hard worker. I would have never thought that I would be someone to own and design an Inn, but looking back I am not surprised since I have always been surrounded by creativity and motivation. I was raised to believe that nothing is impossible.
The design and flow of the whole building is so beautiful, where did you take your inspiration from? Especially being a DIY expert do you find it difficult to find new inspiration?
I love allowing my design inspiration to come from where we currently are at in life. Whether it’s from our latest travels, where the home or business is located that we’re designing, or simply the stage of life we are in as a family - it all inspires the final design. I do pull inspiration from things I find online, but so much of it is just a part of who I am at that moment. With the Inn specifically, I wanted to embody what Anna Maria Island is, but with a fresh perspective.
Can you give us a little insight on the name “Joie Inn” and how you came to pick it?
Our family of 5 sold everything we owned a few years ago to live in a trailer. I designed and renovated it all in 3 weeks and then we lived there for 17 months, in hopes to also build a home. We thought it would be a fun adventure for our family. Well, we never built the house. It was a lot of money spent in work and utilities, the stuff you don’t always see so, it was a season of life that I learned to find joy in the “in-between.” Instead of racing to the next thing for my joy, I figured why not find joy in the current moment, today. We later renovated a large French chateau style home and the word 'joie' was used in the kids bathroom for their tile design. It’s a word that has always resonated with me and appears often. My hope is that our little Inn on the island will bring joie to those that stay there.
Family is obviously a very important factor in your life, do you think this influenced many of your choices when building the Inn?
Family absolutely impacted a lot of my decisions. While the Inn is perfect for a single person or a couple to come and enjoy, I couldn’t forget about families. As a mother of 4 I know how stressful it is to travel and also how frustrating it is when hotels or airbnbs don’t have the proper accommodations for families. I put a lot of effort in to go above and beyond with the Inn’s amenities for everyone to enjoy. Each room has everything I would ever want as a mother and more!
What do you hope Joie Inn grows into?
I hope Joie Inn continues to be filled with guests that feel the love we put into it and the joy it holds. We want all of our guests to come, relax and fall in love with the island like we did. And you never know, we may expand over the years so more people can enjoy your JOIE.
Words by Ayanoh Nakamoto
Photos provided by Ashley Petrone
