How to Make a Great First Impression with Your Bed & Breakfast

kirill zakharov

No matter how fancy your Bed & Breakfast is, it has to change over time. The hospitality industry is a commercial sector in which the preferences of the guests constantly shift and your business should adapt accordingly. One of the primary issues with any B&B is the first impression it leaves on new guests. If you inherited the house or the apartment from your parents, then it definitely needs to look different than it did 20 years ago. There are several things that you can do to introduce modernity into your B&B’s look and services and they include more than just decorating the walls. Based on the budget available you can choose the scale of the work you intend to carry out.

Don’t have a single item in the budget

You probably have sufficient funds reserved for the renovation but the trick is not to spend them all on the renovating. Why? Well, simply because a pimped out B&B that nobody knows about might as well not exist. Once you are ready to reopen, people need to know about the change. This is where good marketing strategies come into play but they have to be paid for. Leave at least 10% of the desired budget for non-construction related expenses, such as advertisements on social media.

Improve the services

adult bath and towels

Other than physically altering the look of the B&B, you can also rethink the way you run your hospitality business. Feel free to look at other similar enterprises or search online for the latest industry trends that could be introduced in a day to day operations of your B&B. Offer guest rates that are competitive to local hotels, make sure you greet each and every guest at the front door or introduce a 24-hour check-in and check-out. These are all gestures that prospective guests will know how to appreciate.

Installing awnings

actors

In terms of features that you can introduce in the B&B, there is none more popular and frequently installed that awnings. These are especially important, not to say, necessary in places like Australia, where sun protection is imperative. Installing commercial awnings in Sydney is more of a necessity than a luxury as you want your guests to feel as comfortable as possible. Awnings not only reduce the amount of light that gets into the object but they can preserve the low inside temperature. This means that AC units in your B&B will not be turned on very often, saving you hundreds of dollars in electricity bills.

Will the B&B stay open during a renovation?

An important issue that you have to resolve early on is whether to renovate while the B&B is open to guests or to close it altogether. You are in the business of making money so don’t automatically close the B&B once the first scaffoldings get erected. It all depends on the scale of the planned works and if they will be noisy enough to disturb the guests’ peace and quiet.

If you are sprucing the entire place at the same time, then you have to know that your revenue will be near zero during the days the repairs take place. Make sure that you let the contractor know that each day counts, so they should meet the deadline. Also, a complete renovation should be scheduled out of season. If you own a seaside pension, then winter time when you have fewer guests would be the ideal time for a complete makeover.

“We would like to know your opinion”

antique architecture

You can either come up with the new design yourself or consult interior designers but in reality, your guests have the final say. Years before the commencement of the renovation work, you should accumulate all the reviews, both written and online ones. If you notice a leitmotif, like “room 341 really lacks a balcony,” then you should include such demands in the final project. Also, once the renovation is complete, you have to be attentive and check if the regulars like the new design. If they like it, then newcomers are going to fall in love at first sight with your B&B.

In short, you should do everything possible, from a complete renovation, purchasing a modern rug, to hiring new staff, to improve the first impression of your B&B. After you have attracted the clientele, it is up to the quality of service to turn first-time guests into regulars the following season.