new inn...what are the first steps to take

[aasta]

Hello Fellow B&B Owners!!! We are negotiating for a property which would enable us to eventually have 5 rentable rooms. We hope it works out.

I´m rather nervous and hope we are not being crazy to start this undertaking at 59 and 60 years and in an adopted homeland...I´m sure there are a few similar stories out there and I would love to hear from you.

We took your advise a while ago and are working on the website and have started a blog though I have not posted there for over 4 weeks www.colinaflora.com/blog

I am wondering which are the best rental sites to sign up for. When should we do this.

When you receive reservations do you ask for deposits? What sort of legal contract do you have spelling out the agreement for deposit refund etc.

Appreciate any insights, advise etc. I have not found any other international forums for B&B owners....and am so grateful for this forum and all you folks who take the time to advise...regards, go slow!!! aasta

[Nessie]

Good luck aasta hope the purchase goes through OK and you will soon be owners of a new B&B

Is the house currently run as one?

[brenda]

Good luck - hope the purchase goes ahead smoothly.

Most people ask for a deposit to confirm a reservation; we don´t simply as our prices are so low it isn´t worth people having to pay for a small bank transfer. Unlike apartment or villa rentals it is not the norm for B+B guests to pay any damage deposit so you will not be refunding any deposit at the end of a stay.

As for which sites to advertise on the first couple of seasons are trial and error and you need to try several paid sites to find which is best for you. We find www.homelidays.com and www.bedandbreakfastineurope.com are very good for attracting people from all over Europe but also advertise on a site that is specifically for Spain. I assume that your place is in Portugal so I would suggest you find a site specifically for there - check which sites your competitors are on. It is also worth adding a few free sites - I know that Portugal is popular with German and dutch tourists so somewhere like www.ferienhausmiete.de would be a good place that is free if you provide a reciprocal link from your website and the dutch site www.vakantie-planner.com is totally free.

You also need to get known by your local Tourist Information office so they can recommend you to people who walk in asking about accommodation - get some fliers printed to leave in the tourist office and local bars.

Hope this helps.

[Jimbo]

I´m rather nervous and hope we are not being crazy to start this undertaking at 59 and 60 years and in an adopted homeland...

When there's two of you running a holiday rental business, it's likely that each will concentrate on different aspects of the business. Then, if accident or emergency temporarily incapacitates one partner, the other may be thrown into disarray if all aspects of the operation aren't transparent to both partners. So, if I was starting out again, I'd design my venture with this in mind.

Otherwise 59 and 60 is an ideal age to begin a new enterprise in a new land. All those years of hard-won expertise can now be unleashed!

Jim

[aasta]

Thanks for your information...the house is just a house in a hugh beautiful garden and swimming pool with ocean views here in Portugal....with minimal effort we can have 3 of the 5 rooms ready to rent within a few weeks. All of the rooms are already ensuite....so we´re really hoping this will work out...we´ve been looking for over a year....regards, aasta

[pepsipuss]

Wish you lots of luck aasta.

Spain-holiday is one of the best sites for Spain - worth looking to see if there is something similar specialising in Portugal. As one of our French clients said when asked how they found us, 'We googled 'Vacances en Espagne' and there it was!'

Homelidays would definitely be my pick of the big paid for ones, and they have lower rates for B&B than for rentals.

My most important tip would be make sure you have a sitting room for your guests that is separate from your own, even if it means losing a potential bedroom. It enhances everyone's experience, their's as well as yours, to have some privacy, and you will probably find that you can charge a little bit more than if they have no area of their own, so probably no loss of income (and less beds to make!).

[La Chouette]

When there's two of you running a holiday rental business, it's likely that each will concentrate on different aspects of the business.
Jim

Good luck with your new venture - hope it all goes well for you. We weren't in the first flush of youth when we moved to France to open our B&B, and I feel as if the amount of work we've done this May has added years to me, so try and plan things to make life easier for yourselves! Think carefully about how easy it'll be to keep your place clean and inviting, because cleaning and changing rooms day after day is exhausting.

I agree with Jim on the division of labour. There are definitely areas which we do individually and if one of us isn't there, the other struggles. Try and be a multi tasker even if you don't always need to be because your partner does the job better.

We don't have a hard and fast rule about deposits but the French do like to pay them so we accept a cheque from them. For other nationalities booking in the high season, particularly for a longer stay, I ask for a deposit and if it's from someone in a country in the eurozone, an IBAN transfer seems easy and painless and doesn't incur bank charges at our end.

Have a quick look at your blog as it seems that someone's posted an ad for car spares on it!

Keep calling in here for encouragement - there's usually someone about even when they're busy with guests.

Jan

[CSE]

The first steps are to ensure you run the business on a legal footing. You should attempt to find out what the locla laws are at the local institute for tourism of the area.
They may or may not be very strict about what you can and cannot do with deposits. dictate room sizes and how many you can sleep in the house etc.
Getting in contact with them is also good as they may provide a free listing site. Also contacting the local town/city tourism office would help you put your business on the right footing as they may send customers to you.

Here is another website that works well
http://www.toprural.com/Casas-rurales_Portugal_7_h.html
But as you can see to get listed you have to have an official licence number. To get this read the above)

Good luck with the bureaucracy.

[aasta]

Hello!!!
We don´t know how the advertising for the car parts managed to get on our blog, since several folks attempted to put comments there and it did not work...
thanks for all the suggestions...we are putting into the purchase contract that the sale will depend on obtaining the mortgage and obtaining a license to run a B&B....we are still waiting for the seller to get all the paper work in order,,,,,it has taken 2 months just to agree on the purchasing price!!

We think that as foreigners we should go the legal route....rather than attempting to get permits as a "fait accompli"......
Lots of hurdles to overcome......
It sure helps knowing all of you are out there who have manged to overcome the obstacles of setting up in an adopted country...regards, aasta