Sunday 28 January 2007

Staying in a B&B - What's it like?

We stayed in a LOT of B&Bs before we went into the business ourselves (at Dowfold House), so here are some thoughts - please add your own.

The range of offerings is VAST. We've stayed in some wonderful places - and some shockers. That's part of the charm - or risk - of choosing to stay in B&Bs. They strongly reflect the owner's personality, so it's worth calling up and talking for a bit, not just about the B&B but also about the area, or your reason for coming, or almost anything. A good B&B host will know the area and will be interested in your reasons for wanting to come to stay. A short chat will tell you whether you "click" or are uncomfortable. If you are comfortable with the people, then you will be comfortable with the B&B.

You (sadly, perhaps) don't always get what you pay for. Identical apparent facilities, at a similar price, can be presented in VERY different ways. For example: "electric shower" can be a 7Kw dribbler in a 700mm cubicle with cheap plastic shower surround - or even WORSE, a shower curtain - or a 10-11Kw gusher in a 900mm or bigger shower, with proper glass panels. If these thngs worry you, ask. We try to offer really good facilities, well-maintained - but we do charge for it. We'd rather ask a fair price, then strive for customer satisfaction, than price low and resent every penny, every minute each guest "costs".

Look at the visitor book, if it's available on-line. people hardly ever write poor reviews in these, but the colour and frequency of the praise says a lot about the establishment. Look for comments on the food, the hosts, the room, the convenience, or for any particular thing you are interested in - near shops, or lost in the middle of nowhere, for example. Few are the hosts that will "make up" reviews; it's too easy to be rumbled, so they are generally reliable, if somewhat rose-tinted.

Inevitably, decide what you want, and ask if it's important to you. Good hosts will answer any questions willingly and frankly; thay don't want an unhappy guest any more than you do. For example, we've had a couple of small problems, when people haven't realised exactly where we are, and what travelling is like in the area. If you want to be 5 minutes from your destination, then deep in the country, up a muddy track won't do. (we're not, by the way; we're on the edge of Crook, with GREAT parking and APPALLING public transport). If you want buzzing night life, you won't want to come to Crook, anyway. If, on the other hand, you like seeing horses and sheep and rolling countryside when you wake up, then we might be right for you.

Do use the facilities; the hosts have made them available and are (usually) happy for you to do so. If there's a lounge, or a garden, check them out. If there's a wide-ranging breakfast menu, experiment. There's nothing I like better than a challenging breakfast guest! It means I can show off! We had one set of guests who ordered the works - full breakfast, porridge, pastries and all - then didn't eat a THING. If they want to come back, frankly, we probably won't take them. Others have scoured the menus, picked new and interesting combinations and almost always have savoured the result. We want more of those!

Saturday 27 January 2007

What's it like running a bed & breakfast?

Good question. If you enjoy meeting people and don't mind a bit of hard work, then it can be great fun. Over the past 6 months, we've had literally hundreds of guests and fried/ poached/ scrambled/ boiled over 400 eggs! We've not had one bad guest; they've ranged from delightful to acceptable. Of course, they are different and we get on better with some than with others, but the difference in itself is part of the charm of the business. You get new perspectives, new ideas, new ways of thinking. You'll never get in a rut!

The biggest effort has been on the laundry side - it just never stops, and makes people who stay for more than one night VERY attractive! The cleaning and fettling side is not a problem, since there are two of us, and the breakfasts are just fun. We have a wide variety of breakfast options and frankly it's nice when people break away from "full English, please" and test us with demands for smoked salmon, porridge, fresh baked croissants, exotic juices and the like. We haven't been beaten yet!

The biggest tie is waiting in for arriving guests. If you get one lot out by say 10:30 and then next ones are coming in at 3:30-5:00pm, after you have changed the rooms and cleaned the house, you don't get that much time for you, in your own home, or time to go out.

Overall, however, the experience has been very positive. We really like the people, enjoy (most) of the work, and it allows us to live in a house, and to enjoy a lifestyle, which otherwise we could not afford. And, if it all gets too much, we just put a line through the diary and tell enquirors "sorry; we're full".