This is not specifically to do with Spain but just a few random thoughts on running a B and B! I don't know whether this is something you've done before, Carl, but if not, think carefully about whether it's for you.
1. Keeping an adequate amount of personal space for yourselves is absolutely vital. It's no fun living out your life in a cramped and semi-furnished attic when your guests are lounging in space and luxury in all the best rooms.
2. You need more rooms than you think to make a living, and high occupancy rates in them too. IMHO to keep two of you the absolute minimum would be five top-end rooms, and even at that I'd say you'd need a back up income. I don't know about tax and other charges in Spain but I imagine they don't come cheap, any more than they do here.
3. What kind of people are you? Do you like to have a social life, go out to concerts, festivals, friends for dinner, go away for the weekend, do things spontaneously? If so, best forget running a b and b! You'll be tied to the house for most of your life (you certainly won't be able to afford staff).
4. Do you like the buzz of office life, of working as part of a team? If so, you're probably going to struggle. Running a b and b is, strangely, an essentially solitary activity where (apart from your guests) your only daily contact is with your partner.
5. And at the same time ... will you be happy with 'other people' in your house all the time - having to keep quiet, wear earphones to listen to music, make compromises, put clothes on to run to the loo in the middle of the night ...
6. Can you cook? Offering dinner is pretty essential to get bookings.
7. Have you got capital back up of the equivalent of at least 2 years income?
8. How do you feel about working, possibly, from 6h00 to midnight, seven days a week?
There are lots of other questions I could throw at you, but those are the ones I usually ask people!
This is the third place I've run as a b and b / chambre d'hôtes; the first was in 1986, in Yorkshire; they've all different, they've all been successful and they've all been start ups. The first two were in big old village houses, not unlike your lovely house as it happens. This time around though we're in the middle of nowhere with lots of space around - and we renovated our house, not quite from scratch but with the chance to design the layout and use of the rooms, and we did so with the benefit of years of experience! I can't tell you what a difference that's made - to our guests as well as ourselves.
During that time I've seen
so many people come and go from the business, always people who've given up good jobs for a lifestyle change, most recently a friend here who moved here and opened her cdh 6 years ago but found that she was dying inside from the daily routines and the lack of banter with office colleagues (sad situation because her partner was very happy here and wanted to stay, but in the end he had to choose France or her).
As for me, I love doing what we do and wouldn't do anything else (though I am a bit odd
). But - and this is a big but - it's not
all I do, so other bits of me get fed as well. For me that's vital.
It's good that you're asking the questions, Carl, but as casasantoestevo says, there's a big picture to look at beyond the economic climate!
