Bed and breakfast establishments are a relatively new business idea that have been around for hundreds of years. Essentially romantic boardinghouses, they offer the kind of personal service and warmth that you just can’t find at resorts or hotels. One of the nice things about running a bed and breakfast is that you really don’t need much hospitality training to start and run a successful bed and breakfast. The more that you consider your guests guests instead of customers, the more likely that you’ll find your weekends and summers sold out year after year.
A typical bed and breakfast consists of a relatively large house in which the rooms of the house are converted to have individual bathrooms and shower amenities. Even a home that consists of four upstairs bedrooms can be used as a bed and breakfast when the rooms are properly renovated. Ideally, however, you will be able to house at least six couples at a time, with each room housing a queen or king-sized bed, dresser, bathroom with shower and a tub, and a variety of chairs in which your guests can sit comfortably if they just want to enjoy the privacy of their own room.
In the lower rooms of the house, there should be a formal dining room, sitting room, a television room and kitchen. Since most bed and breakfasts are based on Victorian homes, a large wrap-around porch is often welcome, as well as a library.
You should take into consideration when you are furnishing your bed and breakfast what sorts of activities are available to your guests. Is the bed and breakfast on a farm, or is it positioned near a historic small town? Will you be taking guests in the warmer months of the year, or the colder? Each of these requires specific things to be addressed, most notably, what are your guests going to do when they’re not sleeping? It may be a good idea to have a large selection of books to choose from, as well as movies that your guests can watch either in their rooms or in the main sitting area.
Check with your local zoning board to determine what variances and permits you will need, not only to operate the bed and breakfast, but also to transfer the current home into a bed and breakfast. You may have to update the wiring and HVAC systems of the house, as well as install chain locks on each of the doors, depending on the local zoning ordinances concerning operation of a hotel or motel. Bed and breakfasts typically fall into one of these two categories depending on the specific laws in your county and state.
Advertise your bed and breakfast in any way you see fit to do so, and most particularly in local traveler guides such as are available at rest stops along your state highways. These are often printed under the authority of your state’s tourism bureau, so checking their website is an ideal way to go about learning what needs to be done to purchase ad space in these magazines.
After you’ve got started with your bed and breakfast, and the first-year troubles subside, you just may find yourself wondering how you ever could have done your old job when a new job so rewarding was so close at hand.