B and B Secrets

Looking for a great B&B?

2009-10-22T18:52:00.000+01:00

If you're looking for a great bed and breakfast, this may be useful.

How To Find Great Budget Accommodation

Plan for low season with local events

2009-10-14T08:49:00.000+01:00

Bed and breakfast owners usually know what's going on in the local area. The smart ones are using local events to plan in advance and ensure high occupancy in low season.

When people don't feel like travelling, perhaps because it's the middle of the school term or they've just spent all their money after Christmas, give them a reason to come and stay.

There are many events you can keep any eye out for and promote them to your list of previous satisfied guests including:

Literary festivals
Film festivals
Centenaries
Anniversaries
Carnivals
Local events

You'll know what's going on locally, but the point is to give potential guests a reason to book when they might otherwise have stayed at home.

Do Everything You Can To Let People Find Your B&B

2009-10-12T09:13:00.004+01:00

Have you done everything you can to enable prospective guests to find out about your bed and breakfast or hotel?

In addition to having a website as a showcase for your establishment, it's vital that it's laid out in a manner friendly to search engines so that you can be found with a relevant search. If your website is not performing well in search results, you should consider speaking with an SEO consultant who can help resolve this problem.

Once you have an optimised website you should then consider the following avenues of marketing:

Trip Advisor - Do you have a listing and have you taken control of it? Respond to guest comments to show how responsive you are to feedback. There are other travel, review and hotel sites like TripAdvisor. Are you listed by any of them?
Directory Websites - Do you know which directory websites have the best performance for your area? Find the ones that have the highest search ranking and get a listing. If they're paid for, set a budget and don't exceed it.
Squidoo - Build a page about your local area and attractions like this Squidoo page about Hunstanton, being sure to feature your bed and breakfast or guest house. Write a Squidoo page about the history of your B&B or business like this one about a driving school. It doesn't need to be fancy, just informative and link back to your site.
Blog - Write regular updates about what's going on in the area or even about the guests you have coming to stay. Incorporate one into your website or sign up to an account with Blogger or Wordpress.
Flickr - sites like Flickr allow you to share pictures with others easily whilst promoting your B&B website
Facebook - A great way to connect with past and future guests
Bookmarking - There are many bookmarking websites like delicious.com and Digg that enable you to share with others links to your site and other sites you bookmark whilst promoting your website.
Comments - Take the time to comment on any blogs you read with a suitable anchor for your link. Even blogs with use the "nofollow" attribute may still drive traffic to your site.
Forums - Add a signature to your profile when using profiles for a link back to your website. It also gets you interacting with other people and telling them about what you do.
Email List - Are you keeping in regular contact with your previous guests?
Talk to the local newspapers - Whenever you do something different or interesting, let the local newspapers know about it.
Twitter - Some people like using Twitter. It helps if you have something interesting to say.
Article writing - In addition to Squidoo, there are other sites out there for posting articles with a credit link back to your website. What can you write articles about? Running a hotel or bed and breakfast for example.

Ruth Watson Shows How To Get A Hotel Right

2009-10-11T12:00:00.006+01:00

Ruth Watson, the original Hotel Inspector is back on television and this time she's showing new hoteliers how to get their hotels and guest houses right from the beginning.

Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue on Channel 4 parachutes Ruth into the development of a new hotel
or bed and breakfast and gives her advice on what they need to do to make their establishment a success.

In addition to gaining the benefit of Ruth Watson's experience, the hoteliers featured also get loads of free publicity from being in the programme.

She says that when it comes to the standard of hotels, the "public deserves better". Let's hope that the programme inspires all hoteliers to aim high in their standards.

The other lesson here for existing hoteliers is to keep an eye out for oppotunities to market your business for free.

Link:
Ruth Watson's Top Tips for starting up and running a hotel

Cleanliness is next to Godliness: 9 Tips for Beaming Bathrooms

2009-08-18T18:31:00.000+01:00

Marketing doesn't always mean advertising or web-sites. You can successfully market a business with a good reputation. In the competitive bed and breakfast or guest accommodation market, a good reputation can mean the difference between your business thriving or dying.

A spotless bedroom and bathroom shows that you care about guest's experience and you will develop a reputation for being a bed and breakfast with attention to detail.

There are clean bathrooms and there are bathrooms that glimmer and shine. When cleaning a guest bathroom, you want the guest to feel like they are the first ever person to have used that bathroom.

Keeping bathrooms up-t0-date can be expensive, but a thorough cleaning routine can make established sinks, taps and bowls look like new.

Our top tips for an impressive bathroom:

Don't ignore the smallest detail. Shift those lime and grime stains.
Sit on the toilet and look up, down and around, as any guest would do when paying a visit.
Invest in an electric toothbrush for exclusive use on hard-to-reach spots like the edges of taps and dusty corners
Polish 'til it shines.
Don't stint on towels. Invest in quality fluffy towels and provide plenty of them.
Nail kits, skin lotions and conditioners are extras that make guests feel pampered
Test the shower for water-flow and temperature. A satisfying shower means a satisfied guest.
Bathroom carpets get mouldy (moldy) and stained. A floor with tiles or lino is easier to keep looking immaculate.
Improvement should always be the aim of a successful innkeeper, so ask guests for feedback. Everyone makes mistakes occasionally and and showing guests you care about their opinion allows them to point out room for improvement in a relaxed environment.

Even if a guest doesn't remember your B&B for a clean bathroom, you will surely be remembered if it's dirty.

What are your tips for Bed and Breakfast Marketing?

Promoting your B&B on Google

2009-08-17T19:07:00.000+01:00

To run a successful bed and breakfast you need a steady stream of guests. Low occupancy means death for any guest accommodation business.

Today it is taken for granted that a B&B or guest house needs a good website which can be found through search engines to attract new guests. However many businesses are unfamiliar with Google Local Business Search.

Google Local Business Search appears above organic web results as shown in the example above.

Performing a search for "B&B Hunstanton" shows a number of results for B&Bs in the Hunstanton area next to a map showing their location.

By listing your business with Google in this section, you enable your business to be listed again in a different part of the Google results page. If your B&B appears in the first ten Google results, then by adding a listing in the business search your bed and breakfast could appear twice on the page instead of once, doubling your chance of attracting more guests.

Anna and Jane who run The Bays Guest House in Hunstanton have tell us that their Google Business listing vital for driving traffic to their website and attracting more guests. A search for terms like "B and B in Hunstanton" brings up their Google Business listing in a good position in addition to their organic search results, ensuring a steady trade of paying customers.

If you want to know more about Google Local Business and how to set up your listing then get in touch to discuss our Bed and Breakfast Marketing services.

Great B&B in Hunstanton, Norfolk

2009-08-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

The Bays Guest House is a fantastic example of a Bed and Breakfast success story.

Anna and Jane run this successful B&B in Hunstanton, Norfolk, UK.

A quick look at the TripAdvisor Profile for The Bays shows that guests are delighted with every aspect of their stay at this Five Star Gold Award bed and breakfast, from the standard of the rooms to choice on offer for breakfast.

In future posts we'll look at how this Hunstanton bed and breakfast achieved such raving reviews.

If you run a bed and breakfast and have a success story to share with others, please get in touch.

Are you the owner of a great Bed and Breakfast?

2009-08-15T10:40:00.000+01:00

Are you the owner of a great Bed and Breakfast?

We want to hear your success story and we want all the details!

How long have you been in the business? Where is your B&B and what are your top tips for high occupancy?