What are b&bs shit at?

Families with young kids are not going to B&Bs in Wales they will either go to caravan parks or air b&bs , there is nothing wrong with catering to older adults and couples, your friend isn't doing anything wrong I just don't think parents want to take their young kids to guest houses .

Problem with Llandudno/north Wales is he's surrounded by caravan parks and self contained air bnbs so probably isnt right type of property to market to families.

If he's getting older folks booking, why not ramp that up? Market to coach companies as well that do holidays there?
Older folks will cause less wear and tear too.

My first questions before doing anything would be:

Is Llandudno a popular resort for families?

Do families visiting Llandudno want to stay in a B & B?

Because without doing that that research, targeting families may be pointless.

Oh Llandudno! Can I have the link? I have family in Rhyl and I have two young children so I could be a guest if it looks right.
I’d always look on booking.com, is your friend on there?
For family friendly, in the summer, I’d be looking for an outside area for the kids to run around while we had a coffee or something maybe (not essential).
Ensuite rooms.
Pram friendly (for baby babies), do they have a lift if it’s on multiple floors?
Is it ridiculously expensive with it being on the seafront? Families with young children often can’t afford luxury.
Is there the option of extra beds/cots in the room? Is a travel cot provided on request?

Llandudno is an old person town. Families go for the fabulous beach but IMO would stay in the many caravan parks nearby.

Why would a family of 4 cram into one bedroom when you can get more space nearby?

I'm not sure families is the way to go.

Lots of people I know go who are retired and have spare cash to go year round.

I would try to appear more to those. Does he have accessible bathrooms? Showers not baths? Onsite parking? A lounge for afternoon tea/evening drinks?

I wouldn’t use a B&B for a holiday with my toddler. You need flexibility and the ability to come and go, it just doesn’t seem to match up.

“I honestly don’t know anyone with a family who would choose to stay in a BandB”

Hard agree for all @Wampwhad ’s reasons.
Who wants to stay in someone’s else house if they don’t need to.
I’d call it a family run hotel just to get rid of the b&b image. And someone made a good point about lunch and dinner - are there kid friendly places within walking distance?

If it’s genuinely well suited to kids - gardens, space and large rooms then possibly but personally other people’s kids are hard work to please.

I thought this too, by trying to make it family friendly they may alienate their existing guests without attracting new ones.

Its really hard to make a small place family friendly as you have different needs across different ages. Cot beds and facilities to warm up milk / baby food. Baskets of toys for toddlers. Rentable beach toys for children. Access to a games Console / chill out space for older teens.

If they were to stick with the “grey” pound what could they offer to enhance the experience? Something like a complimentary cream tea, ( homemade scone, nice jam, clotted cream and a nice pot of tea) for guests might distinguish them from the competition.
I’ve booked b&bs for this sort of thing when everything else is of a muchness.

B&Bs are very few families with children's choice of holiday accommodation. Maybe he needs to do more to appeal to the market he does have, and let Premier Inn etc take the families in bigger rooms. Llandudno needs all those older visitors, they go year-round and their needs are met easily. Maybe he needs to make himself known to a couple of coach holiday companies to keep his occupancy up.

Marketing is what they're shit at. They are so hard to find. I go away a lot (walking is my hobby) and I often want a cheep and cheerful b&b but I usually give up as it's painful to find them. By comparison, finding a self catering cottage is simple as you just go on Sykes/Cottages/AirBnb etc. The UK would really benefit from a single website that lists b&bs nationally. (If I'm missing something, please let me know!).

One important thing for your 'friend' would be to make sure their b&b comes up on a Google maps search. Another one is that they must have online, live availability info and booking. If I have to call/email to find out about availability, cost and/or book I just look elsewhere. I dont have time to find out if you have vacancies or not, I want instant booking.

A lot of families with young kids prefer self catering, it's just easier.

Marketing - what's his social media like? And website. An ancient website would put me off. Good quality insta particularly will attract a younger market.

What booking platforms does he use currently? A lot of people automatically go for Booking.com and Airbnb and won't look further.

I live in a touristy area and owners talk of having to 'resort to' using Airbnb as they have gaps where in previous years they didn't. Equally, tourists are on our local FB groups saying they can't find accommodation because they presume all providers use Airbnb (which most of them hate being linked up to).

Does he have plenty of allocated parking for the number of rooms? That's the main thing that puts me off booking somewhere, if it's onstreet parking only and you have to take your chances, I'd be more likely to book a hotel with a private car park especially with kids. Llandudno also has loads of caravan parks nearby which families with children would probably be more likely to choose for the onsite swimming pool, arcade, evening entertainment etc.

I would not book this even without the kids. All the narrow time slots for arrival and breakfast, and then a whole page on Covid rules? No bespoke parking, take your chances that there’s a spot on the street. The breakfast menu options look quite old fashioned too. Definitely one for the older market unless some modernisation is carried out.

I know this isn’t what he asked but my first thought was why not try to increase the number of bookings in the group / demographic that likes the place as it is. Do some marketing aimed at the elderly.

They are no more likely to be demanding or difficult than younger people. People who are like that are like that regardless of their age. They aren’t going to be haring around having accidents the way children will. They aren’t likely to be coming back roaring drunk as some younger people will. He won’t need cots and high chairs, kid menus. Unless he charges a lot extra for the children he won’t make much more money on a room.

I also think older people are often more realistic with their expectations because they’ve been around a bit more. They know what to expect from what they spend. And he already knows his B&B meets their expectations.

Just a thought

Flexible breakfast timing- we’ve just stayed in one where we had to say what time we would be down the night before- made it a bit stressful!

How about video baby monitors in the room with a place downstairs for parents to have a glass of wine?

Late check out

I honestly don’t know anyone with a family who would choose to stay in a BandB

its such an old fashioned term and conjours up images of pine bedroom furniture, dusty skirtings and dolly toilet roll covers.

I would be changing the description - something along the lines of ‘AirBnB but we make the B!’

Air BnB is always going to be main family choice because the pricing is generally so much better. So if they can position themselves as that, or as a small family hotel, rather than the term BandB I think it would work better.

In terms of what would help - a babysitting service, a bespoke, curated guide to the local area with kids, cosy reading/play nooks for the kids, little chairs and maybe their own seating for breakfast. Options like pancake stacks for breakfast. Little workshops for kids on a Saturday morning so parents can have a lie in or storytelling time.

If it has a garden I'd recommend some kids activities outdoors, simple this like hop scotch chalked on a garden path or similar. Also I think for families quite a lot of value is flexibility with food and drinks arrangements. E.g. provide a fridge so people can store some milk in there or facilities to heat baby food or whatever. I realise it's a B&B not a restaurant but these practical things make a difference with young kids.

Also, wildly specific and not necessarily a selling point but always a welcome addition is decent tea and coffee making facilities in the room and some biscuits.

My DC are early risers so being able to sit in bed with a coffee and them eating biscuits is a nice slow start to the day.

The rooms actually being big enough to accommodate a family. So many places we stay the extra beds are shoehorned in making it awkward to spend time in the room if we wanted.

You can get a vibe from photos if a B&B isn’t really geared up for families but it’s hard to articulate. If there’s lots of ‘stuff’ about, that toddlers or kids would be drawn to fiddling with while the owner grimaces on, you know it’s not really family friendly.

Well maintained board games, puzzles etc is always welcome.

A decent kids menu too.

The trouble with marketing it as kid friendly is that he will then probably lose his elderly guests. As I get older “adults only” is one of the biggest draws for me when booking holiday accommodation.

Having said that if he does want family friendly I think the first thing would be to ensure there are enough beds in a room for families. If any of the rooms are big enough to genuinely fit a family of five that would be a bonus (so many families with three kids find it hard to find accommodation without booking two rooms). I don’t know if it’s still a thing in B&Bs to expect guests to be out most of the day but obviously with kids you want to be able to spend time in your room if kids need a break. Any kids’ equipment like high chairs needs to be absolutely spotless and breakfast options need to be suitable for kids. Can he suggest local babysitters he can vouch for?

I’m not sure I would ever have been drawn to B&Bs for family holidays tbh. We certainly never took our kids in 25 years of family holidays. I either wanted self catering so we could relax and do our own thing or a hotel with all its facilities.