Entrepreneur magazine's book Start your own Bed and Breakfast by Terry and Rob Adams this is a light harted look at starting up in the trade though the section on questionaring customers is useful in its suggestions for you to include.
There are also good tips on how to go about choosing a property which would be useful for anyone looking for an ideal property to get started in.
Another good section of tips is what to look for if you are buying an operating business occupancy figures etc.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
How to open and operate a Bed and Breakfast by Jan Stankus 8th edition. I am not sure if I have already reviewed this book but I have just re-read it and it is full of great suggestions and ideas written in an easy to ready format. It also includes a lot of useful forms and plans for example for marketing. To be fair it is aimed squarly at the American Market and at least a couple of chapters arn't relevant but in the main it is a good relevant read. In some areas she goes a bit far as I am not hand making my own bread and picking out table centre pieces every day but it could be fun for Hallowene for example depending on your clientel (ie business executive might not be amused) The book is aimed at the small B&B person who may be only having 3 rooms or so but there are still some nuggets for the larger operators amongst us. My only reservation would be that it was quite an expensive book comparatively I think I paid about £15.00 plus postage but you could always re-sell it. For myself I am keeping it for future reference. I would also point out there is very little reference to the internet which we all know is a huge part of our marketing strategy.
Hello there I have now received my first batch of business cards, address lables and postcards from vistaprint. They came a week earlier than the estimated delivery date and I am pleased with the quality. Also when I ordered the postcards I got 140 address lables for free which is a great bargain. They quite often do tasters of products for free for a low quantity so far I have had a free linen bag with our hotel logo and details on, 100 free postcards, 140 free lables and a free pen ( you do have to pay for postage and tax) so all in all a good deal.
Thursday 18 June 2009
Well I have just discovered a useful company called Vista Print they do business cards for £8.99 for 250 (plus VAT and postage) so about £14.00 they also do co-ordinated, stationary, headed paper, Pads, folders, pens, hats, mugs, postcards, calendars, gift tags, and address stickers and compliament slips. You have a large range of patterns and things to choose from to provide your company with a co-ordinated look. I have ordered address lables with our VAT number which we can now use on the top of all of our bills and well as a multitude of uses. Its a useful company but I will have to see what the quality is like before I fully recomend them but I am hopefull. This is a really good price as I have gone to a few printers and they were trying to charge me £84.00 for 250 which is a considerable difference.
An average day where I work
15/5/09 (Bold is the guest)
When people check into the hotel this is what we have to tell them:-
Checking in?
Please fill this in we need your full address and postcode and would you sign here and here.
Lovely could I please have your credit or debit card so we can do a pre authorisation.
What is a Pre-authorisation?
A preauthorisation is where we do a credit check for your room rate per night plus £25.00 per person per night on top this means that you have credit around the hotel should you wish to charge things to your room. This money is held on your account waiting for us to do a completion on your departure. This money never leaves your account but you cannot spend it.
Or that is not my room rate what is this?
So the difference will be refunded if we don’t spend it?
No the money never leaves your account but it will be released so you can spend it. ( I have had to explain this to people three times before they get it)
(at this point you just want to scream at the guest JUST DO AS I TELL YOU!!!!)
Then its now the lights operate with the key fob you have to put it in the plastic slot on the wall push right down and then tug towards you. This operates the lights (this only operated the lights half the time so you will get phone calls all the time my lights don’t work) Therefore when they ring you must say have you put the key fob in the plastic slot and have you tried tugging it towards you. Etc. Sometimes you will have to send someone to show them.
You must the offer the guest help with their luggage some people get quite offended by this but we do have to offer. People also think that you are looking for a tip and can actually be quite rude.
Then you have to ask if they would like the make a booking for the restaurant.
Then would you like a code for the wi-fi and explain that it is free even though it prints with a price on. However when we have chance we black out the price on the print out so that reduces that problem.
Now we have to say if you need a second set of towels they are in the wardrobe. This is an energy saving idea as then if a room is single occupancy they do not use them all however then the guest can’t find them so will ring down for them.
Breakfast is 7 till 9.30 and it is in the bistro to your left and no we do not have a cocktail bar on the top floor despite what the signs say though we do served cocktails in the main bar which is through the restaurant to your left.
Then as we ticket in the car park you must ask the guest if they are parked in the car park and inform them that they need a permit and they must display it on the dash. They will then ask you where do we put it and you must explain again that they must put it on the dash.
We were told there was parking at the hotel
Yes there is but it is full so you have to park on the street.
What kind of hotel is this that doesn't have a car park?
Well unless I am halucinating what is that on the front of the hotel?
We are parked in the car park is that ok?
Yes anything with a number belongs to the hotel
We are in number 9 is that ok?
(What did I just say is number 9 not a number?)
Should anyone want a paper or a morning call then they must write it on their registration card. We do not encourage this as if someone books a morning call and doesn’t get it and misses a flight or something they can sue us.
Now do you actually think anyone will take all of that in? Well neither do I. Oh well!
15/5/09 (Bold is the guest)
When people check into the hotel this is what we have to tell them:-
Checking in?
Please fill this in we need your full address and postcode and would you sign here and here.
Lovely could I please have your credit or debit card so we can do a pre authorisation.
What is a Pre-authorisation?
A preauthorisation is where we do a credit check for your room rate per night plus £25.00 per person per night on top this means that you have credit around the hotel should you wish to charge things to your room. This money is held on your account waiting for us to do a completion on your departure. This money never leaves your account but you cannot spend it.
Or that is not my room rate what is this?
So the difference will be refunded if we don’t spend it?
No the money never leaves your account but it will be released so you can spend it. ( I have had to explain this to people three times before they get it)
(at this point you just want to scream at the guest JUST DO AS I TELL YOU!!!!)
Then its now the lights operate with the key fob you have to put it in the plastic slot on the wall push right down and then tug towards you. This operates the lights (this only operated the lights half the time so you will get phone calls all the time my lights don’t work) Therefore when they ring you must say have you put the key fob in the plastic slot and have you tried tugging it towards you. Etc. Sometimes you will have to send someone to show them.
You must the offer the guest help with their luggage some people get quite offended by this but we do have to offer. People also think that you are looking for a tip and can actually be quite rude.
Then you have to ask if they would like the make a booking for the restaurant.
Then would you like a code for the wi-fi and explain that it is free even though it prints with a price on. However when we have chance we black out the price on the print out so that reduces that problem.
Now we have to say if you need a second set of towels they are in the wardrobe. This is an energy saving idea as then if a room is single occupancy they do not use them all however then the guest can’t find them so will ring down for them.
Breakfast is 7 till 9.30 and it is in the bistro to your left and no we do not have a cocktail bar on the top floor despite what the signs say though we do served cocktails in the main bar which is through the restaurant to your left.
Then as we ticket in the car park you must ask the guest if they are parked in the car park and inform them that they need a permit and they must display it on the dash. They will then ask you where do we put it and you must explain again that they must put it on the dash.
We were told there was parking at the hotel
Yes there is but it is full so you have to park on the street.
What kind of hotel is this that doesn't have a car park?
Well unless I am halucinating what is that on the front of the hotel?
We are parked in the car park is that ok?
Yes anything with a number belongs to the hotel
We are in number 9 is that ok?
(What did I just say is number 9 not a number?)
Should anyone want a paper or a morning call then they must write it on their registration card. We do not encourage this as if someone books a morning call and doesn’t get it and misses a flight or something they can sue us.
Now do you actually think anyone will take all of that in? Well neither do I. Oh well!
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