B&B ideas.

[Mattyj198]

So next year I plan to spend the summer

doing renovations on our new house in France. It has 2 houses, one

will be the main house accessible by gates from the street and the

other the guest house where we will rent out rooms. That house has a

door right out on to the street.

Both houses are not very big, The

guest house has a room on the main floor with a fireplace and room

for a small kitchen and seating area. The upstairs has enough room

for 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.

We want to run it as a B&B but we

figure it would be nice for the guests to have the whole guest house

to themselves.

The house has new floors and studding

for the walls so its pretty much ready to go. But since we are in

the planning stages of this B&B I thought I would ask all of you

who already have B&B's for some suggestions.

If you could have something that would

require renovations, to better suit your guests what would you do?

We are also thinking about other stuff

like how to greet your guests. Friends of ours have a b&b and

they always greet us with a bottle of champagne and some snacks when

we arrive.

We visited Chateau de Remaisnil and

they also greeted us with champagne and tepanade.

Some places we have stayed have little

gift sets in the bathrooms with salts soaps ect..

We were also thinking of adding a post

card or something to the package.

What do you guys do?

Just looking for cool ideas and

suggestions to help make my guests experience a great one.

[Patmobile]

[quote user="Mattyj198"]

So next year I plan to spend the summer

doing renovations on our new house in France. It has 2 houses, one

will be the main house accessible by gates from the street and the

other the guest house where we will rent out rooms. That house has a

door right out on to the street.

[/quote]

Call me cynical but it sounds perfect for guests who want to run off without paying.   I would block up the door to the street and if necessary put in another door somewhere to make them enter and exit through the gates.  That, or make them pay in advance.

Patrick 

[Mattyj198]

Yes, Full payment in advance or deposit with credit card.

[Cendrillon]

Perhaps it depends on whether you are selling the accommodation as a chateau or a small town /  country residence. For a chateau the canapes and champagne might be more appropriate but for a more simple dwelling how about a pot of tea and homemade cakes. This might also depend on the time of day.

Definitely get the payment on arrival or even in advance.

We recently stayed somewhere where they gave a postcard of a painting of the house with the receipt. In my experience people are more likely to keep a picture postcard than hold on to  a business card.

[Loiseau]

Gosh, you must have all had awful experiences with clients.

I have stayed in many B&Bs in France, and have NEVER been asked to pay in advance.  It's aways been dealt with at the end of breakfast.

Angela

[water rat]

We have a separate entrance to our Chambres d'hote and have never had anyone do a runner in 6 years! .......touching wood