Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

B&B looks lovely, but you're tied to the house.


I am anyway..might as well earn something for that!
You have to think about where the bookings are coming from, you're inundated with sales calls and people wanting you to advertise on their website/directory.

Only if you are relying on it: for me it ould be a second added extra income, jam rather than bread and butter.

Then, somebody's actually booked .... you have to be there when they arrive, you have to have aired the room/made the bed, you have to have gone out shopping for breakfast stuff. Then they turn up and you have to be there for questions they have etc.

Sounds about right..I'm usually pretty organised about having food in...and nicer to be airing rooms for use than empty ones! I don't think I'd use my favourite linen in them though.

Then they go out - what do you do? What security do you have?
Dog-dog.
And CCTV coming soon.
Do you give them a key?Is the B&B address on it? Who ARE these people? When will they be back? Do you wait up? What if they don't shut the door properly?

No need to give them a key thanks to dog dog. I would probably wake up when they come in, but not wake up..,..if they don't shut the door properly then there will be a draught for a few hours.
What if they stagger in at 3am, drunk, with friends ... and wake you up - you're going to have to get up and tell them to !!!!!! and chuck their mates/birds out.

staggaring drunk I think would be part of it (I would mainy expect wedding guests for local churches). If they brought friends home I would charge more and they'd have to share breakfast

Then you get up early for breakfast, make it all .... no show. They're hungover. All that effort/food wasted... and you never got to sleep after the 3am wakeup.
sounds like right now anyway. Feral cat likes to chat to me from 2-5 am, I get up at 6. I'm guessing most times I'd me coming in to make breakfast at about the right time with not to much change to routine.
Then they leave, great.... except one's peed the bed. Should have checked that before they left. Maybe you can chase them up the road if you're fast enough. And they've broken the bed leg - need to get that fixed immediately, there's somebody else arriving at 2pm..... chase or mend, chase or mend....

Yes, those things do worry me a little. I guess the thing is to expect some damage, not put your best things in guest rooms and be philosophical.
Then strip the beds, remove the peed on mattress and replace with your handy stock of new ones, do the washing. Clear away the breakfast things.

And ... go shopping for more bread as the next lot are due in just 2 hours....

Its interesting that some of the things that lots of people fear are the bits I think I'd like. I don't think I'm in the high pressure tourist area that I was, so wouldn't expect too many heated changeovers. I've done breakfasts and changeovers a few times for my neighbours who did B and B. I quite liked it, and it fits in well at weekends if you want it, you don't have to take bookings if you are busy/have plans or just don't fancy it that week. If its not income you rely on that is!

I've finished most of the grass, everything I planned to do anyway.

michaels

Remind me that if I ever do run a B&B and PN tries to book to suddenly remember a prior booking and thus have no room available...

PasturesNew wrote: »

B&B looks lovely, but you're tied to the house.

You have to think about where the bookings are coming from, you're inundated with sales calls and people wanting you to advertise on their website/directory.

Then, somebody's actually booked .... you have to be there when they arrive, you have to have aired the room/made the bed, you have to have gone out shopping for breakfast stuff. Then they turn up and you have to be there for questions they have etc.

Then they go out - what do you do? What security do you have? Do you give them a key? Is the B&B address on it? Who ARE these people? When will they be back? Do you wait up? What if they don't shut the door properly?

What if they stagger in at 3am, drunk, with friends ... and wake you up - you're going to have to get up and tell them to !!!!!! and chuck their mates/birds out.

Then you get up early for breakfast, make it all .... no show. They're hungover. All that effort/food wasted... and you never got to sleep after the 3am wakeup.

Then they leave, great.... except one's peed the bed. Should have checked that before they left. Maybe you can chase them up the road if you're fast enough. And they've broken the bed leg - need to get that fixed immediately, there's somebody else arriving at 2pm..... chase or mend, chase or mend....

Then strip the beds, remove the peed on mattress and replace with your handy stock of new ones, do the washing. Clear away the breakfast things.

And ... go shopping for more bread as the next lot are due in just 2 hours....

lostinrates

PN doesn't strike me as the type who'd pee in the bed with a chum or wreck things deliberately. I think she'd FREAK here though Dogs and all. IIRC correctly she likes cats, so maybe I'd do something I rarely do and put the dogs out for a guest. (Usually I'm of the opinion that the dogs live here and anyone who comes knows it).

Anyone tried and solar powered outdoor christmas lights? I'm thinking of some for an outdoor tree to make a good effort for Christmas. But not if they are useless. If they are useless I won't bother. I have plans for future Christmas decor and charity fundraising, but not yet...can't afford it and am too new to the area for people to realise any tackiness is ironic. Besides, the cats are arguing over which one wants to be baby J in the living nativity scene.

Also, does anyone know if you can varnish popcorn? If so with what?

tomterm8

lostinrates wrote: »

Anyone tried and solar powered outdoor christmas lights? I'm thinking of some for an outdoor tree to make a good effort for Christmas.

I think they are probably useless. We have solar powered lights for outside, but we take them in during september, because the thing is there is barely a few hours of decent sun at this time of year, so they don't charge enough.

tomterm8

Oh, yeah, and popcorn.... http://www.ehow.com/way_5379919_homemade-caramel-popcorn-honey.html .

lostinrates

tomterm8 wrote: »

Oh, yeah, and popcorn.... http://www.ehow.com/way_5379919_homemade-caramel-popcorn-honey.html .

Yum, yum..but, umm, I want to varnish it...to make it into garlands!

lostinrates

tomterm8 wrote: »

I think they are probably useless. We have solar powered lights for outside, but we take them in during september, because the thing is there is barely a few hours of decent sun at this time of year, so they don't charge enough.

OK, I thought that might be the answer. I'll have to reconsider then.

tomterm8

lostinrates wrote: »

Yum, yum..but, umm, I want to varnish it...to make it into garlands!

Oh. Well, ok, if you want to varnish it, head down to ye local art store, and ask their advice. I think http://www.londongraphics.co.uk/acatalog/Aerosol_Varnishes.html (the matt finish) would probably work. However, I have never varnished popcorn.

p.s. why are you varnishing popcorn?

silvercar

lostinrates wrote: »

Anyone tried and solar powered outdoor christmas lights? I'm thinking of some for an outdoor tree to make a good effort for Christmas. But not if they are useless. If they are useless I won't bother.

Depends on the quality. I picked one up at a petrol station and it was useless. Bought a set recently from Tesco when they were half price (17.50 instead of 35) and they work well. Bright enough to be seen from the house. In winter they last for a shorter time than Summer.

I can try and take a photo if you want.

They were meant to outline the rose arch in the Summer rather than as Xmas lights, but I haven't bothered taking them down.

Malcolm.

Running a B&B's is cool, especially for people persons. Meeting all the different characters that pass through, and learning from their stories. Obviously, if in a party town, there's a not insignificant chance drinkers (e.g. stag do's and hen nights) making a mess of the place. However a rural setting should be fine.

I'd like to own a B&B, if it paid well, that is.

Full english anyone?