Innkeeper extraordinaire Nikki Moon is selling the iconic BSL business to Jim MacPhaille in what both call a win-win for the town.
- by Ellis Anderson 
Owner Nikki Moon at the Bay Town Inn. Photo courtesy Nikki Moon
The stately one-story house fronting Beach Boulevard at the inn is currently Moon’s private residence. A pool separates the back of her home from the rest of the 12-room inn, each of its suite-like accommodations featuring a kitchenette, living area and bedroom.
The innkeeper sees the sale of the boutique hotel to MacPhaille as a win-win and says that she has “absolutely no doubt Jim MacPhaille will operate a great inn.” 
Nikki Moon and her pals in the inn's garden, photo courtesy Nikki Moon
“After all, they’re already experienced in the hospitality business – owning 200 North Beach [next door to the inn], as well as PJ’s Coffee and Creole Creamery on Main Street, the Shops of Century Hall and the BBQ Depot in the Depot District.” “I’ll be working with the MacPhailles for a while at the inn to ensure a smooth transition,” says Moon. “And our same great team will continue to work with guests to enhance their stay, as they have for years.” Moon notes that the current incarnation of the Bay Town Inn is actually the second one. The first inn was established in the 1990s when Bay resident Ann Tidwell transformed the historic DeMontluzin House into what became one of the premier bed and breakfasts in the region. New Orleans tourism executive Moon (then Nikki Nicholson) purchased the building and the business in 2003. The inn’s reputation spread nationally as it became the darling of travel magazines, featured in publications like Southern Living. 
The original Bay Town Inn, the historic DeMontluzin House, photo courtesy Nikki Moon.
Then, Hurricane Katrina charged ashore in August 2005. Moon and six friends took refuge in the stout historic building, which had faced off some of the worst storms in history without much damage. But Katrina’s unprecedented fury sucked the inn, bit by bit, into the churning surge, forcing its occupants to swim for their lives. Moon and two of her friends made it to a massive live oak tree and clung to its branches as both waves and winds threatened to tear them from their precarious perches. Fortunately, all seven of the group survived – along with Moon’s small terrier – but the stately historic house was utterly destroyed. As the storm receded, all that remained of the original inn was an empty lot and the life-saving oak. To regroup post-storm, Moon returned to her former job as Vice President of Sales for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, though she maintained a residence in the Bay and dreamed of returning to build a new inn – after the town had completed the necessary and arduous process of reconstructing its infrastructure. 
Nikki Moon at the site of the Bay Town Inn post-Katrina. Photo by Joe Tomasovsky from the book "Under Surge, Under Siege," by Ellis Anderson, published 2010 by University Press of Mississippi.
In 2010 she married John Moon, who quickly fell under the spell of Bay St. Louis and began thinking of the town as his home. The newlyweds spent two years envisioning a new Bay Town Inn. The couple broke ground on the project in 2012. Sadly, John was diagnosed with malignant melanoma soon after and passed away in May 2013, just four months before the new inn was completed. Nikki made the decision to continue onward, seeing the inn as a tribute to their devotion. For the past nine years, Moon has not only built back the sterling hospitality reputation of the original Bay Town Inn, but she’s also expanded it exponentially. Many national and international travel writers and bloggers zero in on the Bay’s idyllic character, and rarely do they fail to highlight Bay Town Inn. The inn won Bay St. Louis Business of the Year in 2014 and between word of mouth, stellar reviews on travel sites and a loyal local business clientele, its occupancy rates have far exceeded Moon’s original projections. 
In addition to running the inn with crackerjack efficiency, Moon has offered her years of tourism experience to the coast community, volunteering as president of Hancock County Tourism (2015 – 2016) and as board member (2015 – present) and president (2019 – 2020) of the regional tourism organization Coastal Mississippi. The Hancock Chamber has benefited from her expertise as well. She’s been on the Chamber’s board since 2014, serving as president in 2019. Moon’s many contributions to the community were acknowledged in 2019 when she was named Hancock County’s Citizen of the Year. Yet, the time spent volunteering never diminished her attention to detail at the beachfront inn.
According to Jim MacPhaille, those high standards factored into his attraction to the Bay Town Inn. Another big factor was the proximity to his flagship restaurant, 200 North Beach.
“[To buy] it was an easy decision,” he said. “There is obviously a synergy between our other businesses here in Bay St. Louis and the inn. We employee over 100 people here in Bay St. Louis, and I’m very committed to the city.” Like many Bay St. Louis residents, MacPhaille and his wife Catherine had other plans when they fell for the town. In early 2005, the New Orleans couple were kicking off a development in Biloxi’s Back Bay and shopping for a house in Ocean Springs. All that changed dramatically when friends gave them a tour of “the Bay.” “We fell in love,” recalls MacPhaille. “The rest is history.” The couple soon purchased Elmwood Manor on North Beach Boulevard in the Bay. The historic house, built in early 1800s, was part of the Cowand-Fields plantation and one of the oldest structures in Hancock County. The couple planned a meticulous restoration of the manor house and the guest house, which would be used as a bed and breakfast. They also began designing a new home for themselves on the acreage. 
Jim and Catherine MacPhaille, photo courtesy Jim MacPhaille
Three months later, after Katrina swept away the venerable historic buildings, the MacPailles pivoted, subdividing the property into nine residential lots. The nine-home development offers a common play area, a pool and a pier for use by the homeowners. Fast forward ten years, when “Ms. Ann” Tidwell approached her regular customers and friends the MacPhailles about buying the restaurant she founded and ran, 200 North Beach. “Although we weren't in the restaurant business, Ms. Ann entrusted us to carry on her traditions and her legacy there,” says MacPhaille. “And now we are so appreciative and honored that Nikki has given us the same opportunity with the inn, which Ms. Ann also established.” The closing on the Bay Town Inn is slated for March 24. MacPhaille says there are no plans to change anything, “as there is nothing to improve on.” “Eventually, we will be able to add room service for our guests,” he says. “We’d also like to build access through the fence between 200 North Beach and the inn to allow for easier access between the two. Another property that we own behind the restaurant will also become part of the inn’s lodging options.” Those rental options will soon include the main house facing Beach Boulevard. Now Moon’s private residence, the MacPhailles say they couldn’t convince her to stay on. Moon has purchased another home in the city’s Fourth Ward and after she moves, the main house will also be available to rent. 
The front house at the Bay Town Inn over the 2021 holidays. Photo courtesy Nikki Moon
“Nikki will be a hard act to follow,” MacPhaille says. “She’s run a first-class operation and we’ll work hard to maintain all her systems, her gardens and her extraordinary level of hospitality. “We’re also going to try and hold her hostage to stay on as long as possible at the inn,” MacPhaille added, laughing. Even with her duties at the inn lessening dramatically, don’t expect to find Moon lounging on a beach chair with her signature flip-flops — at least not often. This community dynamo will simply be shifting the focus of her legendary energy. “I’ll have lots more time now to volunteer, travel and enjoy my new garden and house, about a mile away,” Moon says. “What I feel most now is gratitude,” she continues. “For people supporting me, and the inn, and our beautiful town.” 
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