Karen’s Column, Part 1 of 2 for April 2021, written by the Founder of the B and B Academy
It’s taken me 17 years in business to be comfortable with the fact that you can’t run a B&B that appeals to everyone. For every guest who loves your B&B, there’ll be another who just doesn’t get it.
I was very much reminded of this by some of my favourite repeat guests, who had an unusual approach to booking.
It’s 12.30pm on a changeover day; both the house and I are a total mess, when the doorbell rings, accompanied by loud barking.
Answering the door, I tried hard to muster a smile and not blurt out the “check in is at 4 and you didn’t tell me you were bringing a dog” welcome. But it wasn’t my guests.
“Hello, we want to visit Shropshire, so we’ve driven down to check out some B&Bs.”
I showed them round, then they left saying they’d check the other B&Bs and call me.
5 minutes later they were back, making a booking.
They became some of my favourite guests; staying 5 nights, at least 3 times a year. Ex hoteliers, they showered me with praise “this really is the best b&b we’ve ever stayed at”.
One day they turned up, unannounced again, this time with a friend – another day trip – so they could show her the B&B.
Afterwards they told me she’d hated the B&B and couldn’t see what the fuss was about.
How lucky they’d bought her for a day trip first!
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