Would you stay?

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red_slr

Original Poster:

17,279 posts

190 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
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Thinking of starting a business venture in the next year or so and looking for a bit of market research.
I might be buying a house in an area very popular with tourists, which we will be living in, which has a kind of self contained area which is ideal for holiday rental.

The room is decent size (its the master bedroom), has a good size en suite and also a utility room which we would set up as a small area with kettle/coffee machine, microwave etc.
There is a patio directly outside the room so access to garden and also parking for guests. (its a reverse level house)

It would be aimed at couples, short stay - i.e 2-3 nights. Would probably be going for the higher end of the market, which is where the market research comes in. I would provide good quality linens and towels / toiletries etc. Good quality table and chairs outside, nice lighting etc.

However, we would also be there. Thats the catch - would that put you off? We dont have kids so its just us and other than us coming and going via the front door guests would not actually have to interact with us.

The positives are, 60 second walk to beach, 20 second walk to shops, pubs and restaurants and free parking (it can be difficult to park in the area). Also the property is new, so would have that new property feel.

Thoughts, good idea? Might it be annoying having people roll in at 3am drunk? (us or them LOL)

Any suggestions welcome.

bigandclever

13,806 posts

239 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
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Doesn’t bother me (though it is usually just me, rather than a couple). Whenever I Airbnb I prefer places where the owner is there.

mike80

2,248 posts

217 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
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I've stayed in Air B&B places where the owner lives there. For me I'd want my own entrance and bathroom facilities, but otherwise I don't mind. I'm usually travelling for work so not rolling in drunk!

mercedeslimos

1,660 posts

170 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
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Stayed in many places in Germany where it is part of the main house, turned into a granny flat/ apartment thing. Having the person on-site makes it so much easier too.

leyorkie

1,642 posts

177 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
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If you are on site then expect the usual questions and interruptions from your guests. What ever you do and how much information you supply you will still get requests. It can range from people who can’t leave you alone to those who will completely ignore you.

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,279 posts

190 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
quotequote all
ok not the responses I was expecting so thats good. I was expecting people to say they would want to be the only people in the property.


red_slr

Original Poster:

17,279 posts

190 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
quotequote all
leyorkie said:
If you are on site then expect the usual questions and interruptions from your guests. What ever you do and how much information you supply you will still get requests. It can range from people who can’t leave you alone to those who will completely ignore you.
Thanks, yes I am kind of expecting this could be one of the (many) little issues we might have to try and iron out!

I guess at the end of the day if it does not work out we have not lost anything. We are planning to HL the entire property anyway, just not all year round so if the one room thing does not work out then no big deal it will just become our bedroom.

gregs656

10,917 posts

182 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
quotequote all
red_slr said:
ok not the responses I was expecting so thats good. I was expecting people to say they would want to be the only people in the property.
Considering you have thought about doing this you don't seem too familiar with AirBnB. Set ups like you are describing are common, and not uncommon for them to offer breakfast options etc.


red_slr

Original Poster:

17,279 posts

190 months

Thursday 22nd October 2020
quotequote all
gregs656 said:
red_slr said:
ok not the responses I was expecting so thats good. I was expecting people to say they would want to be the only people in the property.
Considering you have thought about doing this you don't seem too familiar with AirBnB. Set ups like you are describing are common, and not uncommon for them to offer breakfast options etc.
Never used it myself so no I am not that familiar with it. I have stayed in B&Bs but not ones that are actually in peoples own houses - rather than a house converted to B&B use. IYSWIM. So wasnt sure.

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

262 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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You say upmarket with quality linen, etc. I would expect that no matter what. Unless you are very cheap.

You need to provide quality to distinguish yourself from your competitors. If it's mediocre, you won't succeed.

Bill

52,843 posts

256 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
quotequote all
leyorkie said:
If you are on site then expect the usual questions and interruptions from your guests. What ever you do and how much information you supply you will still get requests. It can range from people who can’t leave you alone to those who will completely ignore you.
We have a slightly different set up in that our holiday let is detached and just the other side of our driveway, but we get very little hassle. They do occasionally like a chat when I go and say hello though. biggrin

I'd want more of a kitchenette. A couple of jobs and a combi microwave/oven at least, particularly at the moment when restaurants are busy due to reduced capacity etc.

Adenauer

18,581 posts

237 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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You say it's a 60 second walk to the beach. Where actually is it?

If the beach is the main attraction surely potential guests would want something more than just a bedroom, more like a flat, if it's a rainy day what are they going to do?

If there are a lot of businesses around and you can use it as a better and cheaper option than a hotel for visitors to said businesses, that would make more sense to me.

red_slr

Original Poster:

17,279 posts

190 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
quotequote all
There are no hotels, well none that I know of. Quite a few B&Bs but mostly HLs.

I am fairly up to speed on the holiday let market in the area, as I have been a customer for quite a few years.
We have an agent lined up and I think it will do well as a whole property.

I was more just wondering about the single room aspect.

One of the things we can use to our advantage is most of the HLs only do 7 days at a time. So doing 1-2-3 night stays might work well. Looking on AirBNB there are maybe 30-40 providers in the area. So a bit of competition for short stays but not much.

I think having the free parking is a big advantage as so many of the AirBNB places dont have any and you would have to find on street parking which is virtually impossible or pay and walk to the property which is not ideal.

As for the kitchen, its a utility room. I was thinking kettle and microwave at the most tbh as there is not space for anything else. The other option would be just a kettle / coffee machine in the room. Perhaps that would be better as not to encourage people to try making a 3 course meal in a microwave?

Locally, as in within 100m walk there are many places to eat during the day and a very good selection at night for "proper" food so perhaps kitchen is not needed?

The other thing I was thinking is perhaps an outside shower is a good idea? Or a shoe washing area just for the sand?

Where we stay there is an outside shower and we use it for shoes / boots.

Making it "premium" should not be too much of an issue. Its a nice large room, we would have bottled water, tea and coffee. Wifi is a given. Maybe robes and slippers? Small welcome gift, maybe some chocolates and some local alcohol, gin and tonic or something. However that would need a fridge. So plenty to think about.


Bill

52,843 posts

256 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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You may well be right. In normal times plenty of ours barely use the kitchen at all and we're 2 miles from the nearest pub and in high season only do full weeks.

greygoose

8,271 posts

196 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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I am not sure there is much point in something that isn’t really a kitchen, just have tea/coffee available.

bigandclever

13,806 posts

239 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
quotequote all
If you went down an Airbnb type route, I’d expect to have access to your main kitchen anyway. A decent coffee pod machine, a kettle and tea/hot chocolate/etc, in the room would be enough.

If the parking around is as awkward as you say, then having it available is a good draw. You’d have to make it clear in your property profile, of course. I expect that will be more of a differentiator than ‘premium’ toiletries or whatever anyway, because, like WiFi, they’re probably an expectation.

survivalist

5,687 posts

191 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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Sounds like it’s somewhere that is more of a tourist attraction rather than somewhere people would normally stay for work.

For it’d would depend what the alternatives are and the pricing. I’d expect to be paying significantly less than a house/cottage/apartment or an equivalent hotel.


J6542

1,645 posts

45 months

Friday 23rd October 2020
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Try having a few nights away in Airbnb’s that are similar to what you are planning. This should give you ideas of what does and doesn’t work.

imck

783 posts

108 months

Saturday 24th October 2020
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Not something that would appeal to me personally. Prefer Self Catering in a Cottage or Apartment.
Plenty of setups like this so must appeal to plenty of people.

Don't know if people would expect some sort of Breakfast arrangement?
I enjoy watching 4 in a Bed on CH4 and see similar Establishments that give a Voucher/Discount to a local Café/Restaurant for Breakfast.

spikeyhead

17,352 posts

198 months

Sunday 25th October 2020
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I'd want an option for breakfast, and preferably without heading to a local cafe.