A client of mine has asked me to set up a B and B for him. I have no experience in this but have taken it on to help him out, I will be advertising it on re.com.au as a normal furnished house as a back up incase the B & B does not work.
I have put it under holiday rentals on re.com.au
where else should I be advertising a B & B?
If anyone has any, do you have stats on how often I can expect it rented in a year?
anyone have a holiday rental contract they can send me?
thanks in advance X
We ran one for two years when we first moved down to the Peninsula in 1998. There are a number of them down here, and the networking between them is good as we found out over time.
I recommend that your client accesses this networking (it will already exist in the area they choose) immediately to help get more bookings - a number of the local B&B's near us would call us if they were full to see if we could take their enquiries, and vice-versa.
I recommend you contact a few of these local B&B's yourself Xen and ask them what they do for advertising. A simple google search of B&B's for that location will turn up a few.
The majority of B&B traffic is Fri, Sat night, and the odd midweekers. Holiday weekends attract a bit more traffic of course.
Many of the more established B&B's only offer 2-night stay minimums. The main reason is not having to change the bed linen each day as you would if you had two separate bookings each day, and of course; you get more money.
There are basically two ways to do it;
1. Full Service B&B - the hosts meet and greet the guests, and prepare their breakfast for them each morning.
2. Breakfast Ingredients Supplied only - the host still meets and greets if they wish, but if the rooms/cabins are separate from the host's residence arrangements can be made for the guests to collect the keys and let themselves in. The breakfast makings are supplied and the guests make their own. This is a lot more hands-off.
We ran Option 1 B&B, and tried to work full-time jobs as well. It was too bloody hard in the end, so we gave it away. The work was quite enjoyable, but the combination of B&B and other job is too much, and you don't make a lot of money from a B&B unless you have about 6 rooms or so, but then you are more like a hotel.
Most B&B owners have between 1 and 3 rooms. We had 3 in ours, and we had a no-child policy. So we could (and did) accommodate up to 6 adults (3 couples) per night.
In option 1, there is a lot of hands-on work compared to option 2. This is fine if you like that sort of thing and have the time to do it.
Websites like "Take A Break" are good for this industry, and also the local Tourism body.
Most of the customers looking for a B&B will initially be women.
Ads in glossy magazines are a waste of money; they don't work at all compared to the cost.
The best bet is fliers in local shops, or a sign/business card in their window if you get their permission, put an easy to see sign out on the roadside, and the rest will be word of mouth.
You can do a B&B operator's course through the local TAFE (I recommend the client does this), and call the local Council or Shire Office to get a pack of all the rules and regulations covering the operation of a B&B.
It is not as simple as hanging out a shingle and away you go. When we did it, you didn't need a food handlers certificate, but I reckon this will be the case now.
In hindsight, we would have run the "hands-off" type of B&B. Let the guests make their own meals, and all you have to do is replenish the supplies and clean the rooms.
Finally; be prepared to spend a lot of your weekends cleaning rooms.
