Anyone run a B&B or small hotel?
Discussion
Have taken early retirement [53] but starting to go a bit stir crazy. Thought about moving abroad but don't really think we've got the balls to do it just yet.
Anyway. Have always hankered after living in the Lake District and have just started looking at small hotels up there that are for sale.
Ideally looking at around 6 bedrooms which we will 'convert' to a pretty upmarket boutique hotel type set up. Plus points, on the surface, seem to be that by midday all is done and dusted, as we wouldn't be offering dinner. Looking at others in the area they seem to charge in the region of £120.00 per room per night, which taking in to account a 10% room change and breakfast cost, would leave us about £600.00 per day nett. We wouldn't need to borrow hopefully.
Perhaps we've overlooked some huge negative about running such an establishment, but can't really see many as yet. Obviously not everyone is a 'riot of fun' to deal with, judging by some of the inane reviews on TripAdvisor.
So if anyone can point out where we're going wrong, please do!
Anyway. Have always hankered after living in the Lake District and have just started looking at small hotels up there that are for sale.
Ideally looking at around 6 bedrooms which we will 'convert' to a pretty upmarket boutique hotel type set up. Plus points, on the surface, seem to be that by midday all is done and dusted, as we wouldn't be offering dinner. Looking at others in the area they seem to charge in the region of £120.00 per room per night, which taking in to account a 10% room change and breakfast cost, would leave us about £600.00 per day nett. We wouldn't need to borrow hopefully.
Perhaps we've overlooked some huge negative about running such an establishment, but can't really see many as yet. Obviously not everyone is a 'riot of fun' to deal with, judging by some of the inane reviews on TripAdvisor.
So if anyone can point out where we're going wrong, please do!
Lots of additional costs - a few off the top of my head:
Cleaning (daily - about 1 to 2 hours per room when people are arriving/departing)
Laundry
Insurance
Cook - unless your doing this yourself
Health & Safety
Maintenance
Replacing faulty/damaged/stolen items
Advertising
Website
Internet
Placing add on other websites/magazines (e.g. laterooms.com, booking.com etc - percentage lost to sites or discount you need to allow)
Telephone(s)
Electrical testing
Gas safety Inspection (needed on yearly basis)
Fire risk assessment
Payment methods (credit card/debit card and their costs)
Trips to suppliers
Gardening (if you have a garden of any size)
Accounts/Accountant
Occupancy rates (what do similar B&Bs get around the area and price range your looking at - probably 100% in high season but maybe much lower in low season - are there business nearby which could be a source of guests during quieter times?).
I doubt if you would only be working a short day. Expect it to be longer working times per day - you are on call to your guests 24 hours per day and have more things to do than things in the morning.
Cleaning (daily - about 1 to 2 hours per room when people are arriving/departing)
Laundry
Insurance
Cook - unless your doing this yourself
Health & Safety
Maintenance
Replacing faulty/damaged/stolen items
Advertising
Website
Internet
Placing add on other websites/magazines (e.g. laterooms.com, booking.com etc - percentage lost to sites or discount you need to allow)
Telephone(s)
Electrical testing
Gas safety Inspection (needed on yearly basis)
Fire risk assessment
Payment methods (credit card/debit card and their costs)
Trips to suppliers
Gardening (if you have a garden of any size)
Accounts/Accountant
Occupancy rates (what do similar B&Bs get around the area and price range your looking at - probably 100% in high season but maybe much lower in low season - are there business nearby which could be a source of guests during quieter times?).
I doubt if you would only be working a short day. Expect it to be longer working times per day - you are on call to your guests 24 hours per day and have more things to do than things in the morning.
It can be done. My parents run a 5 bedroom hotel.
The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a small growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and Four in a Bed think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Overall its a nice living, and you meet lots of nice people.
The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a small growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and Four in a Bed think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Overall its a nice living, and you meet lots of nice people.
Edited by wormburner on Sunday 10th June 12:01
Edited by wormburner on Sunday 10th June 12:03
wormburner said:
It can be done. My parents run a 5 bedroom hotel.
The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Cheers. I think my thoughts of putting my feet up at midday, are perhaps a bit presumptuous! It does look like bloody hard work but as you say, some of the tedious tasks could be outsourced.The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Edited by wormburner on Sunday 10th June 12:01
It would just seem to combine our love of the Lakes, a place to live and a means of providing a small income. On top of this I love dealing face to face with people.
What room occupancy percentage do they enjoy? Are they in a touristy area?
Thanks for info
This has been covered several times on here.
Having run small hotels, be prepared for lots of hard work as mentioned. People arriving when they want to, not the time they have said they would arrive!!
Any operation in the lakes or any tourist area will be turning people away in the summer, but you have bills to pay in the out of season months too. Heating etc will be far higher in these months and the revenue will be lowor none existent.
It can be fun but keep your eyes open wide and why not try and work in one for a couple of weeks to see how they operate rather than buying and regretting. Lots of people think it will be easy and sell up within a short period of time.
caveat emptor.
Having run small hotels, be prepared for lots of hard work as mentioned. People arriving when they want to, not the time they have said they would arrive!!
Any operation in the lakes or any tourist area will be turning people away in the summer, but you have bills to pay in the out of season months too. Heating etc will be far higher in these months and the revenue will be lowor none existent.
It can be fun but keep your eyes open wide and why not try and work in one for a couple of weeks to see how they operate rather than buying and regretting. Lots of people think it will be easy and sell up within a short period of time.
caveat emptor.
Noble Anonymous said:
It can be fun but keep your eyes open wide and why not try and work in one for a couple of weeks to see how they operate rather than buying and regretting. Lots of people think it will be easy and sell up within a short period of time.
caveat emptor.
Damn fine idea that one.caveat emptor.
E31Shrew said:
Looking at others in the area they seem to charge in the region of £120.00 per room per night, which taking in to account a 10% room change and breakfast cost, would leave us about £600.00 per day nett.
You might gross £600/night regularly in peak season, but that might only be 8 weeks of the year. Out of season you might not have any bookings at all, my inlaws used to close their B&B for 3-4 months over winter, because it just wasn't worthwhile being open. You have to make sure you take enough in the summer to keep you going through the winter.E31Shrew said:
wormburner said:
It can be done. My parents run a 5 bedroom hotel.
The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Cheers. I think my thoughts of putting my feet up at midday, are perhaps a bit presumptuous! It does look like bloody hard work but as you say, some of the tedious tasks could be outsourced.The easy bit is multiplying the number of rooms by the rate and thinking "ooh, that's a big number".
Everything else is much harder work than it sounds. Either you work your socks off and make good money, or outsource here and there and give a lot away.
In the epoch of Tripadviser, any mistakes can stay with you a long time. And a growing band of guests have seen the Hotel Inspector and think behaving like Alex Polizzi in a bad mood is the way to "test" the establishment and proprietors.
Edited by wormburner on Sunday 10th June 12:01
It would just seem to combine our love of the Lakes, a place to live and a means of providing a small income. On top of this I love dealing face to face with people.
What room occupancy percentage do they enjoy? Are they in a touristy area?
Thanks for info
£120 a night is 'proper treat' only territory for the vast majority. You won't see many twice.
E31Shrew said:
Thanks for the replies. Up there in a couple of weeks having a scout around
Started one from scratch myself 7 years ago. Too much information too put on here without knowing exactly what you want to know. In a nutshell i found it a very rewarding lifestyle - loved it in fact, although much harder work than i expected!If there is anything you want to ask more than happy to try and help. Feel free to pm me anytime.
Be prepared for a lot of hard graft, running any B&B or hotel is not an easy job, (if you do it right)
The lake district can be very quiet in places off season, do your research properly as to where you plan to move to. Bowness, Ambleside Keswick etc should be OK, but obviously property is far more expensive in these kind of towns.
Good luck, just don't jump into anything too hastily...
The lake district can be very quiet in places off season, do your research properly as to where you plan to move to. Bowness, Ambleside Keswick etc should be OK, but obviously property is far more expensive in these kind of towns.
Good luck, just don't jump into anything too hastily...
I can't vouch for the lake district as i don't know the market - i chose a resort in Cornwall where the season was pretty much March through to October - with trade if you wanted in the quiet months (November, Jan and Feb) and December was always a real bonus and busy, especially Christmas and New Year. With the right property you could get good business all year round - no kidding.
Like anything it comes down to location, location , location (Sorry, but true!) and the market you aim for. I chose the mid to high market and priced accordingly (mainly because i had a hunch there was a gap in the market and thankfully it paid off).
Do the research, spot any opportunity and go for it. A lot of places make a good living and offer very little - at least it appeared that way when i started out.
It's a great life if you like interacting. Good friends can be made and when you start to get the reviews and the recognition like any other business i guess you get a real sense of achievement.
Like anything it comes down to location, location , location (Sorry, but true!) and the market you aim for. I chose the mid to high market and priced accordingly (mainly because i had a hunch there was a gap in the market and thankfully it paid off).
Do the research, spot any opportunity and go for it. A lot of places make a good living and offer very little - at least it appeared that way when i started out.
It's a great life if you like interacting. Good friends can be made and when you start to get the reviews and the recognition like any other business i guess you get a real sense of achievement.
Thanks again.
I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
E31Shrew said:
Thanks again.
I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
Anytime...I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
rsole said:
E31Shrew said:
Thanks again.
I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
Anytime...I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
rsole said:
E31Shrew said:
Thanks again.
I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
Anytime...I guess the Lake District was the main area as we both know it pretty well, and have a few friends up there who have small businesses. Wifey also spent most years water skiing up there, from about the age of 4-18, as her old man had an assortment of statics at Bowness [ Fallbarrow ]
Prices vary substantially from £50.00 up to £250.00 for the typical bed and breakfast up to larger country houses. The season is nigh on full year due to walkers in the Autumn and the normal tourists in the Spring/ Summer...
rsole...May drop you a line if I could?
Would you mind if I dropped you a line as well? I'm particuarly intrested in the costs that i might not have thought of.
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