Another important point is to think very carefully about what your job or perhaps it is better to call it a new lifestyle will actually entail. To be fair it is not surprising that most people do not have a clue. I am therefore including a typical day in the life.

TOP TIP – buy cordless phones and the kind with as many handsets as you can manage believe me when they are all over and you are running for the phone you will thank me for this. Always carry one of the handsets with you so you don’t have to run for the phone sounding out of breath doesn’t sound professional. Then when the batteries get low you swop over for a new one and put the other on to charge. Please also be aware that these phones only have a limited shelf life of about two to three years. Budget this into your accounts and be realistic about when they are starting to die and chuck them out nothing is worse to your business prospects than your customers not being able to get through to you.

7.00AM drag yourself out of bed and dash into the shower in the mad race with your partner for who gets it first.

7.10AM dash round the kitchen getting everything ready. (Prep is everything but I will go into more detail later)

7.30AM breakfast be ready to serve. If there are two of you have one in the breakfast room and one in the kitchen. I would also boil the kettles.

9.30AM breakfast finishes and then take a deep breath.

9.35AM dash about getting all the crockery from breakfast into the dishwasher.

9.45AM Take a deep breath and then start on the kitchen.

11AM have everything ready for the second set of dish washing and I strongly recommend a tea and a biscuit before tackling the rooms.

11.30AM Write a list of what rooms are stays and which are departs and gather up your linen accordingly.

2PM Have all your arrivals ready at the latest. They are your new first impressions so make them a good one. It is also important not to leave piles of dirty sheets in the corridors as it is easy to overlook one pile and then it ruins the effect when you are showing people to their room.

2.10Pm or earlier depending start checking people in. Also at the same time be finishing off any services left over that there weren’t time for.

Any time between 2pm and 11pm people checking in and dealing with bookings and catching up with correspondence.