My wife and I are progressing with setting up our holiday let in Kendal, Cumbria...and we have a question.
We'll be investing in an assessment with Quality in Tourism, particularly as Go Lakes/Cumbria Tourism want one. We may also go for the less costly Quality Cumbria version as well.
Q.I.T. offers a pre-assessment visit, during which an assessor would tell us how to set the place up. This costs £92.50 + VAT
Now, Q.I.T. also has an exhaustive document concerning required standards - it goes down even to the last table knife
Given this exists, do we need a pre-assessment visit, or can we simply follow the standards list as closely as possible? It strikes me that in following the standards list we already have, we could pre-empt any advice.
Why bother, you know if it`s OK or not, £92 for someone to tell you you need tea cups (or cotton sheets etc)) seems a bit much.
I know they mean well, but it`s all about the money.
We went through a similar decision process a couple of years back, and are in a similar location to yourself, although in the area of Cumbria that fringes on the Yorkshire Dales. For that reason, we have nothing to gain from advertising on the Cumbria Tourism website, as their focus is almost entirely on the Lake District and they do little for those of us outside that area. Hence CT's own assessment was of little value to us. Kendal, as an attractive town and "Gateway to the Lakes", may well be served better by CT.
The VB rating is, of course, recognised nationally, even internationally. As a startup, we decided it was worth having as a useful tool to give potential guests (and ourselves) a guideline as to our standard. We studied the QIT docs and didn't opt for the pre-assessment visit, but when we had our first assessment the inspector was quite helpful, and discussed with us whether we would want to be rated as five star, and if so what minor changes that would involve. We were left with the option, and if we wanted a five star rating we could make the necessary changes and let her know within a reasonable timescale. In fact we decided against it for a number of reasons; the point is that the flexibility was there, rather than a black and white "this is your rating". From that standpoint, a pre-assessment would've been a waste of money; a lot of what VB offer is just that, and designed to boost their own revenue under the guise of giving the owner more powerful marketing tools.
A couple of points to consider. You've read through the detailed QIT specs (due to change imminently). No guest will have done that, so the rating is no more than a broad guide as far as they're concerned, with their own interpretation/expectations. They won't be counting the number of clothes pegs you supply. It is probably fair to say that with anything below a three star rating, it is better to not quote a rating at all. That's where the Quality Cumbria assessment, which makes no rating IIRC, would be a better bet. The awards introduced by VB fairly recently are useful, as an example our properties are all rated as Four Star Gold Award, which allows us a useful marketing tool in accurately describing our properties as "award winning".
The second point - I know of no-one who gets any significant number of enquiries from the VB website, so if that is your main reason for seeking a rating, don't bother - your money will be better spent elsewhere. Just try Googling an area-based search and see if you hit the VB website. The same applies to TIC's - they almost certainly serve as a valuable source of bookings for B&B and local hotels - ie drop-in "I could do with somewhere for tomorrow night" sort of stuff, but are of very little value in providing enquiries to self catering owners.
For all that, in the years it will take to become established and to grow a healthy foundation of repeat and recommended business, the VB rating is probably worth having; if you think of it as no more than earning the right to display their rating on your property and website, you won't be disappointed.
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