Buying an established B&B versus setting one up from scratch

A question I am often asked by people who come on my courses is; “What are the pros and cons of buying an established B&B versus setting one up from scratch?”

In this post I'll be covering the pros and cons from both, with contributions from other B&B owners who have taken both routes.

The option that’s right for you will depend on your personal circumstances:

• Will one option be more expensive that the other?
• Do you want to be up and running quickly?
• Can you afford to take time to set up from scratch and not be earning?
• Do you want to create something brand new?
• Are you happy to take some risk? 

When we bought Hopton House, we bought it as our family home. We then converted a couple of rooms to run them as a B&B. We added an extra couple of rooms a few years later. For us, it was about buying a house that we wanted to live in and making it work for us

Knowing what I do now, if I...

The top 8 mistakes I made setting up my B&B rooms

I’ve set up 4 B&B rooms in the 16 years I’ve been running a B&B. And I'm not too proud to admit that I’ve made a fair number of mistakes along the way. 

Some of these mistakes have cost me time - an awful lot of time over the years - and others have cost me money.

Hopefully by sharing my mistakes it will help you avoid the same mistakes, save you money and time when setting up your own B&B!

Just a note to say, that whilst some of the things I've done were wrong for my B&B, they may be exactly the right thing for your B&B. It's up to you to assess your potential market and decide.

Mistake 1 - Getting Zip and Link Beds

When I first set up the B&B, I didn’t really know who my B&B guests would be, so I bought zip and link beds. The advantage with them is that they give you the flexibility to make the room up either as a large double or a twin.

However, whilst I've had...

How to buy the best beds for a B&B

On my B&B training course I'm often asked how to buy the best beds for a B&B. Should you should buy double, king size, super king size, twin, firm, medium, mattress topped etc?

Choosing your bed is up there as one of the most important decisions you'll make as a B&B owner. You can create the most beautiful B&B in the most perfect location, but if guests don't get a good nights sleep, they won't come back.

We've stayed at some wonderful places across the world. We'd love to go back to many of them and then we remember the bed. We stayed in a fabulous cottage in Tuscany on a vineyard. There was as much free wine and olive oil as we needed. Everyday the elderly owner would come round after our meal and ply us with vin santo. However, the bed was so soft that we ended up sleeping on the sofa bed in the lounge. That was only a little more comfortable.

What factors do you need to consider when buying a bed?

Size

I think you need to...

Top 10 Tips For Creating A Bathroom You Can Clean in 5 Minutes

Just before Christmas, my husband, Rob, announced he was planning to redo our own personal bathroom again. We’ve lived in the house for 13 years and have redone the bathroom twice but neither refurb was particularly successful in terms of use of space or finish.

This time, however, we were determined to get it perfect. After 13 years of running a B&B I also had one very clear goal in mind and that was to create a bathroom that was as quick and easy as possible to clean.

I’ve included a few hints and tips from previous course attendees on their own bathroom design at the end of this post.

Tip 1 – Deciding on a Design

Rob and I are not experts in interior design and it’s not something either of us enjoy doing. I know, for some people setting up a B&B, that is the aspect they enjoy the most, but not us!

In previous years when we’ve needed to...