A B&B - How Do I Convert My House?

Q.

How do you go about turning a residential house into a B&B?

A.

You've certainly come to the right place – here at Start A Bed & Breakfast we cover all aspects of owning and running a B&B. There's a lot to consider but there are four main areas to attack when turning your house into a B&B:

• Getting permission
• Building work
• Fitting out guest rooms
• Advertising and marketing

Permissions Whether or not you will need planning permission will depend on the amount of building work to be done, and in this respect it's no different to a house extension. But there can be a difference if the guest accommodation becomes more than just the use of a few bedrooms. Planners will advise on this before you undertake any significant building work.

You are very likely to need permissions from local councils to run the business at your house, particularly if the area already has a lot of bed and breakfast establishments. Ask at the local council about 'change of use' applications.

Building Work

Regulations for bed and breakfasts change quite regularly, particularly with regard to health and safety regulations, so it's vital to refer to an up-to-date source of information. Depending on the size of your house and the number of guests you can take, different regulations will apply. But you are likely to have to install things like fire doors, emergency lighting and fire safety signage, and the kitchen will probably need some work too.

It's important to make sure that there are completely separate washing and toilet facilities for you and your family which can't be used by guests. That might well mean moving some internal walls and doors around.

Fitting Out Rooms

For both bedrooms and guest areas, like dining rooms and lounges, make the areas clean, bright and fresh. Think of a theme and carry it through the rooms but nothing too garish.

Get new furniture in or good quality antiques, depending on the style you have chosen. Don't skimp on cheap furniture as guests won’t come back and you'll have to replace it very quickly with the hard use it will get.

Advertising and Marketing

The hardest part of advertising and marketing is to come up with your image and style. It's worth spending some money on a graphic designer to come up with a logo and brochure material to give a professional look to your website and promotional materials.

Keep tabs on your advertising spend and ask customers where they heard of you so that you can repeat the ads that deliver the goods and dump the ones that are a waste of money.

Come Back For Help

Once you're up and running there are many other areas that you need to pay attention to such as managing accounts, maintaining a good reputation and many more. But here at Start A Bed & Breakfast you'll find easy to follow tips and advice to help you on your way.