Cheryl Barron is a true veteran of the hospitality industry. She started her career in Denver in 1983, where she learned the ins and outs of the hotel business. During her decades in hospitality, she has traveled around the country opening hotels, worked for Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott and served as a general manager later on. Cheryl even met her husband when he was working as an engineer at Marriott. She left the corporate world in November of 2021. Cheryl is the current owner and operator of the Whispering Creek Bed & Breakfast in Uptown Sedona. “Being in the business this long, I think my specialty is taking care of people,” she says. “Some people need extra care. Some people want to be anonymous, and they just want to do their own things. The specialty is knowing when to be there and when to be invisible.” She gave us the example that if a guest is having a birthday or an anniversary, she might give the customer flowers, Champagne or chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Even though she worked for Marriott for many years, she always wanted to own a smaller property. She made that dream a reality in 2015 when she and her husband purchased the four-room Whispering Creek B&B. The couple remodeled the property, and she describes it as being comfortable and luxurious. She prides herself on really getting to know her customers. “They have amazing experiences. And quite frankly, everybody has a story to tell. And it’s amazing that they feel comfortable enough in our dining room to tell those stories,” she says. Some have even become her friends. She has visited friends in both Australia and Switzerland that started out as her guests. Sedona is where she and her husband wanted to retire.
Cheryl’s desire to take care of others has likely led to her deep involvement in the community. “I still love the small town feel,” she says, of Sedona. “And I’m really active in the community.” She serves as the president of the Sedona Lodging Council, is on the board of directors for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, has done trail restoration work and has volunteered with St. Andrews Episcopal Church. She also volunteers weekly at the visitor center. “There has to be an expectation that if you want to live in a community that is as beautiful as this with the kind of traffic that comes through here, you have to be a resident that gives back,” she says. – By Teresa K. Traverse
