So what has been happening then?

We had some discussion last month on Scores on Doors and the benefits of online Hygiene Training.

With some Banks upping payments for credit card useage many members have looked into changing suppliers.

Is it worth taking out insurance for Tax inspections?  And whose is the best?

Readdressing policies for cancellations and no shows has cropped up again.

Several members now have Breakfast Awards and have been outlining the benefits and what has to be offered to obtain these.

Does having some shared bathrooms, as opposed to all en-suites, really prove detrimental to your business and effect bookings?

Some strange anomalies across QIT Assessments have been raised – yet again.

Trip Advisor is, of course, an ongoing hot topic.  What can be done about malicious reviews?

However, the most talked about subject is that of Online Booking Agencies with over bookings by these Companies raised on several occasions recently.  How many times can this be blamed on a computer problem?  Who should relocate the overbooked guests and who should pay?  This seems to be a far greater problem than most of us were aware of – illustrating the relevance of communication amongst us and the importance of BedPosts!   It especially helps when we are told that we are the “first  accommodation provider that this has happened to”.  “Oh no we are not” we say.  Yet another good reason for joining us if you are an accommodation provider too.

It especially helps when we are told that we are the “first accommodation provider that this has happened to”. “Oh no we are not” we say. Yet another good reason for joining us if you are an accommodation provider too.

One other member has been named as the 2^nd best Hotel in the Trip Advisor Best Hotel in the UK.

Congratulations to them all!

We have also learnt that one Member will be in the forthcoming series of the TV programme “Three in a Bed”

Another member is featured in “Escape to the Country” on BBC1 later this month.

So good publicity for all of them and for BedPosts.

Recently we have been discussing various ways of Advertising and the pros and cons of different sites.

A topic on the various Hotel mixes in towns has led to many posts on the subject of Budget Hotels in the proximity and their impact on the local B&B trade.

Sustainability has been another big topic with chats about how much power does full electric kettle take as opposed to that with minimal water; and what about TVs left on standby?   This led to quite a few comments about some guests being unable to operate even basic electrical items!  

Some comments are coming in on the new Energy Performance Certificates for self catering properties which will be required from June 2011.  Will it happen or will the Powers That Be see the lack of sense of this legislation?

More member benefits are being offered following our Benefits’ Organiser’s hard work.

One very pertinent comment of this week was “If I won the lottery I could afford to move to a smaller house”!!  You need to really think about this one…….

Finally still no news on our story teller.  The St Bernard has gone missing too now!

Sylvia

The Tourism Strategy Report was finally published last Friday, March 4th and met with a fairly muted response all round. It was barely covered in The Press. We had some comments on The Forum but it was generally felt that there was little to get to grips with as there were no major revelations.

Posts and comments picked up from Monday and we are back in full swing –We have been talking about the pros and cons of licensing premises. Is it worth it for the small B&B?

There has been discussion on servicing fire safety equipment, querying business rates; and of various on line booking agencies.

The subject of guests smoking in B&Bs has raised it’s head again.

How many of us Network? is a new current topic.

The question of Sustainability and lowering our use of power has been raised by our Green Accommodation Advisor. This has led to some banter regarding guests’ misuse and misunderstanding of how even simple equipment works!

Our Member Benefits Advisor is still working away and coming up with discounts from various sources.

Still no news from our missing “Story Teller”. It’s getting close to the time when we send out the St Bernard!

We have lots of new members from all over the Country- and one from Iceland! So much activity with new topics and postings.

Star ratings and gradings have obviously cropped up and we await the Tourism Strategy with bated breath!

Bedposts Social Network Co-ordinator has been busily getting members onto Google Maps and our Member Benefits Co-Ordinator has been organising discounts for us for various products.

We have welcomed John Firrell from the Considerate Hoteliers Association who has been leading us through a series of topics- specifically Green Tourism

Amongst other topics we have been discussing:

The digital switchover and problems associated with reception and aerials; Pat Testing; Food Hygiene and Gas Certification; Green cleaning products; taking credit cards or not.
PRS and PPL have cropped up again.

The subject of members running a B&B on their own elicited a surprising response- so many of us do!

Most interesting was the topic on Guests who disappear without paying.
One member took us through a very amusing and complex story and left this on a cliff hanger when he had to rush to the shops. 2nd episode to follow. This was February 17th. Is he still perusing the choice of toilet paper in the Supermarket?

As soon as Joy got up she rang her friend Eve, apologising for ringing so early but glad to catch Eve before she left for work, Joy explained that Sam had been called back by the army for a special training assignment.  He was to devise and run some specific training courses, all very hush hush, and Sam had made a special request that Joy be allowed to accompany him, which had been granted.  Joy told Eve that although a big part of her was disappointed because she wanted to continue to run the B&B as they had planned, being with Sam was more important to her, and she couldn’t expect Sam to refuse to go, because she knew how highly trained he was and she realised that he wouldn’t have been asked to go unless he was the right man for the job.

Eve asked Joy what she intended to do about the B&B, and Joy replied that she had already spoken to a local agent, and she and Sam had made an appointment for the agent to come and look round and talk to them that afternoon.  Eve hesitated and then questioned Joy about the urgency, and was surprised when Joy told her that Sam was expected to report to his former barracks in four weeks time for a briefing day, they would stay in a nearby hotel for two nights and be conveyed to the airport the next morning, and that was all that Joy was allowed to say.

“Have you got guests already booked in for the period after you have sold?” Eve asked, and Joy confirmed that they did have a few bookings, but she was going to ring a nearby B&B to see if they could take those bookings.  Eve also wanted to know if Joy had considered the fact that the property market was slow at the moment, and Joy told her that Sam was sure it would sell at auction, but they were both worried that they might lose too much money at auction, so they were going to talk to the agent about the chances of selling the property freehold or with a lease on it in the not too distant future, with the option for selling at auction if it hadn’t sold within 6 months.

“How long will you be gone for?” Eve asked, and Joy told her that it was a two year assignment but that the salary and additional pension package at the end was so good that if they wanted to, they could easily buy another business in two years time.

Later that day Joy logged onto to the forum www.bedposts.org.uk and wrote ‘I have really enjoyed this forum and I am going to miss you all, but I am going abroad for a while with Sam my husband and we have decided that we should sell our business rather than try to keep it going in our absence.  I feel bad that I am going to resign from the forum because I did volunteer to write the BedPosts Diary, and now I won’t be able to.  Would anyone else like to do it instead?’

Moments after Joy posted, another member by the name of Sylvia volunteered to take on the role, and Joy was really pleased, she knew this member would be an excellent diary writer.

A link to a petition was posted on the forum and some members have reported that they have signed the petition.  One member said that she wrote to her MP Andrew Bingham, who sent her a very quick reply.

He replied setting out some of the background to the proposals and providing a link to the Defra website : www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm where the public consultation questionnaire can be completed.

The members also continued to discuss the latest position regarding the possible withdrawal by Visit Britain of the quality star grading scheme.  Some of our members have already dropped out of the scheme because they believe that it no longer properly informs guests, some members admit that they only remain in the scheme as their local authority TICs will not include their guest accommodation in their brochures and on their websites unless they are graded, but they do not necessarily agree with the way the scheme is run.     On the other hand we also have several members who are committed to the scheme and do not wish to see it remodelled in any way.  The debate continues.

If  you own an accommodation provider business, and you would like to take part in our debates, why not apply to join us.

We have appointed two advisors for our members, a Green Accommodation Advisor and a Building Regulations Advisor, both of these advisors are also members.  In fact many of our members have specialist skills and qualifications in a vast variety of subjects which they gained before deciding to become accommodation providers.  There is a wealth of knowledge between us.  We hope soon to have our Wikiposts up and running.

Members have also been comparing notes on forward bookings for the year ahead, the collective information might be a good indicator of future trends.

We are continuing to attract new members too and our total membership is increasing quite quickly month on month.

The forum was in the process of adopting a Constitution and appointing members for key roles.  Joy looked at the vacant positions and said to Sam “I would like to be the BedPosts Diarist, what do you think?

Sam looked over Joy’s shoulder and nodded, “why not! you like to natter about the forum, and what is being discussed, it would be quite good if you tell someone else and give my ear a rest.  Only joking, yes go for it”.

Joy was a bit apprehensive about putting herself forward, but Sam talked her into it.  To Joy’s surprise, she saw a few people post straight away in reply, thanking her and telling her how pleased they were that she had come forward.  Joy decided to start straight away, no time like the present.

She wrote :

I am so proud to be a member of this forum, I believe it has the power to become a force to be reckoned with.

Today 27.1.11 we were discussing a whole range of topics including saying hi to a couple of new members, one of whom does self catering in Iceland, so that was interesting, and we look forward to hearing more about Icelandic ideas that we might try out.  The big discussion today though was about Government and Local Government Support for Tourism, especially as the Tourism Minister, John Penrose has spoken out about the Quality in Tourism scheme (Visit Britain Stars) and is consulting on the future of the scheme.  It wasn’t all serious stuff though, we also talked about unusual menu items and one of our members said that she ordered omelette and chips in Spain and when it arrived, it was an omelette into which a portion of chips had been tipped whilst the omelette was still liquid.  Thank goodness you won’t find that on the breakfast menu in a British B&B.

More tomorrow.  Joy.

Just then Sam wandered through “what time are today’s guests due?” he asked.

“We have one couple coming in at about 4pm, then a workman who said he would be here at about 6pm and another couple who will be arriving around 8pm.”  answered Joy “why have you got something in mind?”

“Well sort of.  I have not been able to find a Carpenter who is interested in putting the smoke strips in the fire doors, so I have been looking for somewhere that sells fire doors with the strip already in.  It might be easier to just buy some new doors, I can hang them.  I found a few places listed, the nearest one to us that I could find is Jewsons.  I am going to go and have a look at them before I place an order and I thought you might like to come too.”  Joy nodded, and started taking off her pinny.

It was raining hard when Sam pulled into the car park at Jewsons, Joy pulled a face. “My hair will get wet”.  “Well why didn’t you bring a brolly you have several if I recall?”  Sam replied tutting and chuckling.

“I keep my umbrellas in an umbrella stand by the front door for the guests who want to go outside to smoke, you know I do”.  “Does that mean you can’t borrow one of your own brollies then?”  “Er, no, I forgot” said Joy getting out of the car taking her coat off and putting it over her head to keep her hair dry.  Sam smiled to himself wondering if he dare point out to Joy that a crewcut makes life much easer – no perhaps not.

“How much?” said Joy as she and Sam stood looking at the price tickets on the fire doors, “I suppose we could re-use the hinges and locks off the old doors” said Sam as he realised that to replace all their fire doors they were looking at a cost in excess of a thousand pounds.  Sam had seen enough, he decided he would do a bit more research before placing an order.

“I suppose if we were a chain hotel, although we would need a lot more doors, each door would be a lot cheaper” said Joy as Sam drove home.

“Yes, we are up against an inability to bulk purchase, we are just not big enough.  I have looked at some of these Bulk Purchasing schemes, we always need to buy more than we actually need in order to make a saving, which wouldn’t be a saving it would be a waste.”  replied Sam.

Joy thought for a few moments and said “I’ve got an idea, it might not help us with our fire doors, but with other things it might.  Things like towels for instance.  If we could bulk buy with other accommodation providers we could take advantage of bulk buying.”

“I’m listening” said Sam.

“”Well I was wondering if there was a way we could post on the Forum when we want to buy something, say towels for instance, prices are often based on any number up to 20 towels at one price per towel, and between 21 towels and 50 towels at a lower price per towel.  If I want to order 10 towels say, and I post on the Forum, someone else might be about to order the same 10 towels.  We could place one order for 20 and benefit from the cheaper rate.  Obviously we would have to work out the cost of delivery amongst ourselves, but if 4 or 5 of us were interested and we were to order 100 towels say, we would all make a big saving.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Joy” said Sam, “if the interest is there from the Forum members.  It would make sense to start it off on an ad hoc basis, and if it appears to be successful, it might be something that could be operated on a more commercial basis.  Why don’t you post something on Bedposts and see if anyone thinks it is a good idea.

When they reached home, Joy busied herself with cleaning the rooms that would be newly occupied that night and as she dusted she thought to herself how nice her rooms were starting to look since she had introduced a few little personal touches.  She picked a Home Design Magazine out of a bin that had been discarded by one of today’s departing guests and quickly flicked through it before transferring it to the recycling rubbish bin.  She stopped on a page that showed celebrity bedrooms, and noticed that they all had bed runners.  Maybe she should introduce bed runners, they certainly added to the overall effect of the room she thought to herself.  Maybe she could ask if anyone on the Forum was interested in a joint purchase of bed runners.

Just then the doorbell went, their 4pm guests must be early, it was ok the room they were going in was already finished. Joy heard Sam going to the front door, then voices, and laughter.  Joy smiled to herself, goody, she thought friendly guests.  She went downstairs to introduce herself as Sam was taking orders for tea and biscuits in the guest lounge.  “Hello Mr and Mrs James” she said as she walked in “I’m Joy, I see Sam is taking good care of you”.

Joy sat down and chatted to Ann and Ian James until Sam came back with a tray of refreshments.  They told her that they had been to inspect a care home a few doors away where they were hoping to place Ann’s Mum, and Ann said, “if we go ahead and place Mum there, we will be visiting about six times a year, it is too far to drive here and back home in one day, so we will probably see you again.”

“Isn’t there anywhere nearer” Sam asked surprised.  “Oh yes, but a friend Mum was at school with whom she has kept in touch with all these years is in there, so we thought it would be nicer for her to be with someone she knows.”

Joy wondered whether to put her new guests in the best room as they might be regulars.  She was intending to leave that room empty tonight, so the radiator was not on.  She tried to catch Sam’s eye, but he was too busy entertaining the guests, so Joy went out of the room and called him out.  “What?” he asked as he appeared through the door.  Joy suggested in a whisper that perhaps they should move their guests to the best room, but it was a bit cold in there so she was not sure.

Sam shook his head “No, if they are going to become regulars, they will have to go in the smaller double some times, so they may as well see it now.  It is better than raising expectation.”   Sam was right of course, he usually was, and Joy agreed.

Later that evening, Joy logged on to bedposts.org.uk and asked the Forum members if they thought there was any merit in trying to set up an ad hoc purchasing scheme, and what ideas they might have as to how it might work.  She posted : Thank you for your advice on my washing machine, I will tackle it tomorrow and let you know if it works, I’m sure it will.

Then Joy opened a new topic and posted :  I have had an idea.  Has anyone ever wished that they could justify ordering more of something than they need, just to benefit from a lower unit price?  Why don’t we alert each other and see if anyone wants to place an order with us so that we can share the cost and get the items cheaper.  What sort of things do you think might work best, if this is seen as a good idea.

Also I notice the Forum has some member benefits, I’m not sure how these came to be arranged, but are there any other member benefits that we can create amongst ourselves?  If so, how?  We must be able to pool our resources for economic benefit, what do others think, is this a good idea or not?   Joy.