Any B&B owners on the Forum?

[redfox]

Ok, One of my long time dreams is to own & run a B&B. Here's the idea: buy one, and offer it on a quarterly basis to non-profits for retreats, capacity building sessions, etc., as a line of business, in addition to regular clients. I would conduct the sessions as well as be the host, with my DH.

Luckily, he's interested! Good thing, too, 'cause he'd be the cook, grounds dude, and do his photography on the side. I would continue my non-profit consulting as well.

I've found a place for sale that we're going to scope out. Now, I am trying to educate myself about the business side. Any and all assistance would be awesome. I've found sites on the net that offer logs, etc., and a few owners I am going to quiz.

Would love your feedback!

[iris lily]

One good way to get a feel for innkeeping is to cover an inn while the owners are on vacation. Michael and Jeff had several people in our neighborhood set up as their relief, and it cured those people of wanting to have a B & B.

Early in the game you need to talk to those in the biz in the area you are considering. Hopefully they will be honest and be able to articulate the pros and cons of owning a B & B in that area. The professional innkeepers are a pretty tight group and they all know each other, so it's unlikely that anyone will dish dirt about another inn for sale or that innkeeper. All of our friends were active in the statewide B & B association and were officers throughout their innkeeping life, everyone knows everyone in that world, the pros, anyway. There are plenty of amateurs who come and go frequently, seeming to expect to do it part-time or with only a room or two, but they do not last. Sustained professional operation is the only way to get and keep clientele.

[Float On]

I've known several people who owned B&Bs in Eureka Springs. 10 years seems about the max any of those kept the B&Bs.
Locally I know one family that owns a retreat center with meeting cabin and 5 cabins that will each house around 12 people. We've used it for a retreat. She has a hard time keeping cleaning staff because it's such a random schedule.
I've also known several small lakeside resort owners some stayed in it for 20 years some 5-10.

Dealing with ungrateful people always gets old - most common complaint.

But it's something I've always wanted to try too!

[sweetana3]

Expensive, time consuming, sometimes soulsucking. Location is EVERYTHING. Be sure and understand the business costs that are significantly higher than personal expenses for various utilities, insurance, advertising, etc.

Research if the most important thing that you can do. Are you a morning person? That is when a lot of activity is required.

Developing a comprehensive business plan would be a good place to start before plunking down a single dollar. Just how many nonprofits are interested? Etc.

[Float On]

I looked at a property 2 years ago that is an old house, a church (beautiful), and a meeting hall with kitchen.
It was set up for small weddings.
Could of been so much more.
I wanted to add a row of rail cars or vintage trailers for overnight guests. The church needed a little work. The meeting hall/kitchen needed a lot of work. Restrooms needed to be moved to main floor instead of basement.
I had all sorts of cool plans drawn up for it.
Couldn't get DH on board also couldn't come up with enough money for all the repairs and udates it needed.
Dreaming sometimes is more fun than doing.

[Zoebird]

First, I would 'second' the suggestion of doing relief work for B&B owners.

Second to this, you might consider looking into what the legal situation is for taking on guests. A common thing in Europe and here is to rent out your house's spare room to guests as a B&B style, with the understanding that they are basically "staying with you as a guest." It's legal here -- there are things that you have to do to meet the standards. Sofa Surfers are also an option -- as you literally just offer your sofa to people. And sometimes a guest room. There are all kinds of online groups where you bring guests into your home for small amounts of money (or free). This will get you "used to" whether or not this is the sort of business for you. I have stayed in a lot of these places, and they are my favorites. They are homey and the people are super friendly. Also, you can say no to anyone, as you're not trying to make a living from it.

From there, you'll want to start working with SCORE. They have free classes and free mentors and great newsletters. They can help you with business plans, getting your finances in order, even marketing research and strategies.

[Zoebird]

Also, while I have considered running a B&B, for me location is everything.

My idea is to purchase one at Penn State, which would then be managed by a friend of mine (who would live on the premises as part of his payment, plus get paid). Bookings for football weekends, graduation, and all of the major event weekends are there. I would also likely take on 1-3 boarders -- visiting professors, artists in residence, and so on. But again, as a side-line business, rather than a live-in experience.

A friend of mine runs a B&B/boarding house in Nelson. She bought the house after finishing university and lived there with roommates.

When she bought the house, it was a nifty victorian in the down town that needed some work. With the help of her father, she was able to do that work on weekends. She had 4 roommates, and their 'rent' covered most of the costs of the mortgage, and since she had a job as well, she wasn't hurting for cash which allowed her to reno.

But, living with room mates was a pain. They didn't clean up after themselves, for example. So, when those moved out and new ones moved in, she'd switched it a bit. Rent included her cooking and cleaning -- because she wanted to control the spaces a little bit better. This worked out well for her, and then when one room became available, she started taking in guests (in that european style that I mentioned above). Her house was effectively paid for at this point, her roommates were bringing in income, and then she would have guests for several days at a time for various things happening in and around Nelson.

After a roommate would leave, she would fix up that room nicely and make it available, and ultimately all of the roommates left. she ran it as a B&B for a couple of years, which was as side-line to her normal work. Through a friend, she was able to connect with a local concert venue, and so most of the people who came to sing, dance, or what have you, would stay with her. So, most of her weekends were full, but she seemed to have week-days rather empty.

She didn't want to go into the hostel market (which is huge here), but she also found that the B&B was hard to maintain income from on an on-going basis. So, she began to market it as a boarding house for short and long-term stays, as well as a B&B. She currently has two rooms tenanted for several months at a time (usually visiting professionals), and then the remaining two rooms are for B&B guests.

This has worked quite well for her overall, and now she's purchased another house (much smaller than the current one) where she is living, which means that her room is now opened up for the B&B and/or for a tenant. She can afford to pay a cleaning person for her home since she still works a day job. While this second place is smaller, she is taking on a roommate to help cover the new mortgage.

She's thinking about going into property management as well -- buying another house after this one to use as a regular rental property. It's an interesting idea.

But -- it's all a side line.

[jennipurrr]

Nothing helpful to add...but there is an old nasty motel here that houses laborers and such...but underneath it is soooo cool. It has a neat neon sign and could be fabulously retro looking. Its in a great location and I have a dream I could turn it into a retro themed B&B...DH says absolutely not, stop right there, that it would his personal hell. But, I still drive by it and sigh sometimes.

[mtnlaurel]

No experience with B&Bs, but my husband and I are both in Leisure/Hospitality related fields .... life since fall of 2008 has been challenging money-wise & I think has cleared a lot of riff-raff out of the business.
Thankfully I had learned a lot about gov. sector business (which is what most other sales people ran from during good times), per diem rates, gov. packages, etc .... it saved me to have that knowledge over the past few years.
You have to be good at handling ticked off people (and even worse, irrational unjustifiably ticked off people).

I have enjoyed watching Hotel Impossible on the Travel Channel.
Although it's on a bigger scale than a B&B - it really does show what it's like to slave away at a property and the headaches.
http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/hotel-impossible

I am blown away by how many people purchase these smaller lodges/hotels without having ever having even worked at a motel.
There is definitely a lot to learn and an art to making it successful --- not to mention luck.

[Indie Traveler]

"One couple, Michael and Jeff, bailed after 17 years. They are 57 years old. While that's a pretty long time in the biz, Jeff was miserable for about 7 of those 17 years. He referred to guests as "the mthrfkers." It was the winter of 2011 that convinced Michael to get out--we had lots of ice storms he had to chip ice off of the steps and sidewalks again and again. They ran this B & B and sold it last fall to someone who had stayed there some years ago"

Hello - I am the "someone" mentioned above who recently purchased the B&B from Michael & Jeff. While I cannot speak to their experience, it is dismaying to think that when I stayed with them years ago that they thought of me as a "mthrfker". It is difficult to imagine that a small business owner in a career of their own choosing would be miserable for a number of years. I slogged away in the corporate world for decades. While my experience as a B&B owner is limited, so far this has been the most amazingly rewarding job I've ever had! Never in my career have I experienced 6 solid months of praises. My guest books are filled with heartwarming sentiments -- something that NO ONE working in a corporation will ever receive. Can you imagine having hundreds of positive comments on your work? I am 100% positive that if I were to add up all of the time spent with challenging guests over the next 17 years, it will not even come close to the time I've spent in the past 17 years reporting to terrible managers and hating my previous jobs.

As for the other B&B owners near me, they enjoy their job a lot, too. They love having the chance to exceed each guest's expectations and make each visit to St. Louis memorable.

[herbgeek]

Reminds me of the first B+B we ever stayed at, its amazing we ever tried another. We arrived in the afternoon, as stated and the door was locked with a note that said to come back at 5. OK, we don't know the area but we'll poke around. We came back at the appointed time, and the person "greeting" us said "You people! You all come at the same time." Hey, thanks for the great welcome. Maybe you could have staggered guest arrivals if you'd been open in the afternoon? Host never told us about the breakfast arrangements, and we didn't think to ask since it was our first time at a B+B. Since the host didn't mention anything then or throughout the evening, we found a local diner to have breakfast at. When we got back, we got chewed out by the host for keeping other people waiting for /their/ breakfast-- apparently all sat down together, but we did not know that.

This was clearly someone who should have sold years earlier too.

Then there's the B+B owner, who has a beautiful place with a lovely view and great rooms that really has a problem with people having food intolerances. The first time she asked (in email) when I made the arrangements about food issues, and I said that I don't eat eggs. So she serves them anyways, and tells me I can just skip that part of the meal (which actually was ok- they were burritos and there were other things to put in the tortillas). The second time we went, my hubby made the arrangements and didn't let her know about the eggs. The first day she served eggs, which was fair since we hadn't warned her. I said toast or cereal would be fine. Second day was pancakes. Third day was also eggs- and we were the only guests. She served me some sauteed spinach and strawberry yogurt. WTH? Why do you ask about the things people avoid and THEN SERVE THEM ANYWAYS? I wasn't asking for her to whip me up something special, I just wanted 2 slices of toast or a bowl of cereal. Wouldn't a B+B likely have that on hand? I got the impression of this B+B owner, that the B+B was just there so she could tax deduct the luxurious items in the house. She clearly did not like people.