B&Bs are a staple of British hospitality culture. Not only are they often a cheaper alternative to hotels, but they will traditionally offer a comfy bed and a yummy breakfast for one easy lump sum.
These homey abodes are often found in tourist hotspots close to the beach, or even in large cities near railway stations.
If you want to build a successful B&B, here are four easy tips to help you get there.
1. Find Your Location
The location of your B&B is essential to your success as a business, as attempting to start up a BnB too far away from tourist attractions or places of interest will naturally result in a smaller footfall from interested guests.
For maximum success, choose a location in a seaside town, or in a busy city. Many successful B&Bs are set up in large houses, or even converted churches. Their large size means you can fit more guests in, while retaining some homely character.
2. Create the Best Breakfast
Although this may sound obvious, creating an unforgettably delicious breakfast will mean your customers are more likely to come back for more. With breakfast being the staple of a B&B’s raison d’etre, you’ll need to make a good impression.
If you’re situated near the South coast of England, it might be a good idea to host some continental breakfast options as well as the traditional Full English.
Similarly, if you’re based near the Scottish border, or ports to Ireland, offering options like square sausage, tattie scones, white pudding and homemade soda bread can help you score points with travelling locals.
3. Consider Your Marketing Strategy
Google searches are now one of the main drivers of B&B traffic, so staying on top of your search engine optimisation game can help you gain more customer traffic.
For this reason, you might want to invest in PPC marketing to help your BnB rank above your competitors in Google. Maratopia is a creative PPC agency in London that can help you advertise your business through high quality pay per click advertising with outstanding results.
4. Create a Home Away From Home
Many B&B guests appreciate the cosiness that can be lacking in some large hotels, so ensuring that your B&B has all the homely characteristics can be beneficial to receiving positive reviews from guests at the end of their stay.
To achieve this, decorate your rooms tastefully, and invest in comfy beds to create the ultimate relaxing environment for your guests to return to after a day of exploring.
Retailers like Dunelm sell wonderful furnishings that are fit for royalty for very reasonable prices. These will leave your guests marvelling at the attention to detail in your B&B.
Do you have any tips for building a successful B&B? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
