To wonder about affluent people running B&Bs

[cateycloggs]

Watching Escape To The Country, I have noticed several of the (to me ) affluent couples looking to relocate saying they wish to run a B&B. Do well off people who have had or are continuing to have successful professional or business careers really want to do that? Do they want to get up early, make and serve breakfasts to strangers, wash up, strip their beds, collect their dirty towels, clean the floors, organise the laundry, vaccuum, dust and polish bedrooms and clean toilets, baths and showers used by strangers? Then have the hassle of planning, budgeting, ordering, shopping for or collecting the necessary food and drink for their guests. All in part of their own (expensive) homes. Or are they thinking of having assistants which would be more understandable to me. And they would then be providing local employment.

As an introverted person who started working life as a chambermaid in big hotels, it sounds hellish. Why would you do (run a B&B) that unless you were hard up with very limited opportunities for work in your area?

Genuinely curious as to whether its just a personality difference or one of those work ethic differences.

Because it's likely a lot less stressful and less hours than what they are currently doing.

It is clearly not ''tax free'' income - unless one's expenses are equal to that income I suppose - which they might be..

I suspect they have a pipe dream of moving to the country and that's the only thing they could think of to make money. A couple of rooms wouldn't be too hard from a workload point of view

Pretty sure Steph & Dom didn't clean bogs.

I’ve often wondered the same. Not at all appealing, even if you make enough money to pay staff. Why would you bother with the hassle of buying food in, laundry, insurance etc.

I think part of the reason you can't imagine wanting to do this is because you are introverted. I think my late MIL would have loved to run a B&B. She was hardworking and didn't mind clearing up after people, loved to cook etc. She had six children and used to cook each of them exactly what they wanted for breakfast, which boggles my mind. Very hospitable. She REALLY enjoyed meeting people and was curious about everyone, so she would have loved chatting with guests.

No doubt there are aspects of it she wouldn't have liked, such as people who complain unreasonably or leave a particularly bad mess. But on the whole I think it would have suited her well.

You are right , Saracen, I did mention I am very introverted and also lazy so I can't imagine having enough money to pay for a lovely country house and presumably enough for the running expenses wanting to bother with work that is either physically arduous (given most seekers are older) and/or mentally tiresome.

I suppose someone like your MIL would find it as difficult to understand someone like me who was pre-covid doing part time work and voluntary work involving contact with a variety of people and enjoyed it. However, I still had to persuade myself every day it was only for a few hours then I could come home and be alone. I have to remind myself to take it on trust that some people do like just being with others even strangers. I am also curious about people but want to learn at a distance hence a thread like this.

Agreed, MirandaMarple, but they still had to think about other people cleaning bogs or maybe they could pay someone else to do that. But then you still have to check the thinking and the checking as well as the cleaning have been done.

Some friends of ours ran a luxury country house Band B for a few years — it was a way of funding the renovation of the gardens, and they lived in the coach house — but got burned out quickly with the early hours and needing to be around for arrivals all the time. They now let the house, which is beautiful, on a weekly/fortnightly luxury self-catering basis, and offer guest dinners/foraging/hacking as extras, and have cleaners come in to turn the house round between guests.

It is a common Escape to the Country Fantasy for people who have a bit of a romanticised view of it, but normally they are talking about an annex or converted outbuilding so the guests aren't in their actual living space.

However, a lot of the folk who go on Escape to the Country don't have huge incomes. They might have what seems like a healthy wodge of cash to spend, but that has come from equity in their current home, quite often, and they still need some income to live off, or to supplement pensions. Where you aren't looking for all your living costs, and are happy to take guests 'sometimes' then, on paper, it does seem like a relatively easy thing to do.
Air B'n'B seems easier - book them in and don't need to provide breakfast even. I have a friend who lets her converted basement out and she finds it pretty stress free. Overwhelmingly people are nice and leave the place as they find it, and she doesn't tend to take bookings 'back to back' so rarely need for a quick or pressured changeover.
The other reason is it enables them to live somewhere lovely, with enough space for family and friends to come and stay each year, but a little bit of extra income from those spare rooms for the other months.

SecretCiderCellar, thought you meant your friend's house was burnt out for a moment, glad to hear it wasn't. Have people who relied on that kind of letting been able to survive the lock downs?

Thanks for that comprehensive explanation, BackforGood. A prgramme like Escape to the Country is really escapist tv to me as I have never owned any property, never will now, never thought I could have even the smallest place of my own. So the amounts of money talked about are just fantasy to me. Although, ironically I do live below the poverty line in an area where some properties go for £500,000. Some of them have actually been featured on different property programmes. So I am next door but in a different world.

@cateycloggs

SecretCiderCellar, thought you meant your friend's house was burnt out for a moment, glad to hear it wasn't. Have people who relied on that kind of letting been able to survive the lock downs?

Thanks for that comprehensive explanation, BackforGood. A prgramme like Escape to the Country is really escapist tv to me as I have never owned any property, never will now, never thought I could have even the smallest place of my own. So the amounts of money talked about are just fantasy to me. Although, ironically I do live below the poverty line in an area where some properties go for £500,000. Some of them have actually been featured on different property programmes. So I am next door but in a different world.

No, the house was and is fine! They, on the other hand, got very tired of being permanently on duty, up early to bake for breakfasts etc.

They actually survived the first lockdown by letting the house to someone whose house purchase had just fallen through and had the cash to rent it for several months, then were able to open in late summer as usual. They also sell the produce of their kitchen garden and orchards via farmers’ markets (which locally have gone online) and run online cookery courses. It’s been tough, but they’re holding on.

We ran a B&B alongside an adjoining business for ten years. We had year-round high occupancy because we offered very reduced weeknight rates and had long term contractors staying. All rooms had at least a microwave and small fridge so those guys didn't need breakfast. Had varying levels of help over the years (with varying levels of reliability ) but did all the breakfasts ourselves.

It happened to be in the country but that was only because that was the best one when we were looking to buy. We had hoped to be by the sea! During the mudfest that is a rural winter, we would watch Escape to the Country and shout at the tv "don't do it!!!". Ironically someone involved in the programme lived in our village - there was a lot of "I suppose you think this is funny" banter.

We were not rich although we'd had good jobs before. We bought it on a 15 year lease so it was much much cheaper than a freehold equivalent. We kept "our" house and rented that out.

We did well and sold the whole business leaving us enough money to pay off the mortgage, refurb our own house and provide a nest egg.

It was brilliant fun most of the time and we made some great friends. We are both quite extroverted so enjoyed the interaction with the guests. A lady in the next village who created a couple of letting rooms in her house absolutely hated it and only did it because she needed some extra money.

We had one big table and were relaxed about breakfast timings. Our favourite times were Sunday mornings in wedding season when all the guests would have a leisurely post mortem round the table. Sometimes they all knew each other before, sometimes not.

It was fun. But it was bloody hard work, and having to be available 24/7 became pretty tiresome in the end so we were very glad to sell but I'm really glad we did it and we have some brilliant memories.

Most people who run as proper businesses have got grants through lockdown. If you are registered for business rates you get the grants.

Some have fallen through the cracks as they pay council tax, which is awful.

@cateycloggs

2bazookas, may I ask how it is tax-free income? I understood that self-employed people do pay tax. Obviously I am not business minded so have always been a non-starter in seeing opportunities rather than just endless hard work.

Its a perfectly legal tax loophole for people running a B and B in their own home

Thanks for replying 2bazookas, did not see your reply sooner. I do feel many people have explained where those who would want to have B&B guests in their home might be coming from. Obviously it would never suit me but each to their own.

@cateycloggs

SecretCiderCellar, thought you meant your friend's house was burnt out for a moment, glad to hear it wasn't. Have people who relied on that kind of letting been able to survive the lock downs?

Thanks for that comprehensive explanation, BackforGood. A prgramme like Escape to the Country is really escapist tv to me as I have never owned any property, never will now, never thought I could have even the smallest place of my own. So the amounts of money talked about are just fantasy to me. Although, ironically I do live below the poverty line in an area where some properties go for £500,000. Some of them have actually been featured on different property programmes. So I am next door but in a different world.

OP That'S MN for you sometimes. I imagine some people seek to relocate to a beautiful part of the country when they realise that to fulfill their dream they'd need an income so rent rooms out. If that makes any sense

A friend of mine did her dissertation on this. Not specifically B&B's but why more affluent people, even when they can 'afford' not to, continue to work, work longer hours, work in new jobs post retirement etc., try to become landlords or even have more menial jobs when they will never need the money.

The answer was that people are terrified of losing their privilege. So they continue, even well past any level of need. Your post reminded me of this.

I think it can be a way to have and run and big house to quite a high standard whilst minimising the impact of taxes.

So for example repairs/decorations to the house are a business expense and set against income before tax. Similarly a lot of day to day things, like food (from the breakfast) or petrol (picking up guests at station) can be covered by the business.

Also, it just really suits some people’s lifestyle. There is one quite close to is that is lovely. Big old semi-rural house with a substantial garden that borders on grounds.

The couple who run it, he likes to garden and is a pretty good handyman/carpenter, she likes to cook and decorate.

They run a pretty tight ship in terms of how they garden/furnish/decorate and so I think the maintenance and cleaning etc is fairly streamlined. As far as I know they do everything themselves and just keep absolutely on top of things.

It probably helps that they do operate in an area with a steady stream of affluent visitors (whisky country so lots of tours) who are prepared to pay a pretty decent rate and who are often repeat customers. They’ve had the same people coming back for years.

They also close for a month to six weeks at a time, two or three times a year, so they get time to themselves in off-peak times.

My Father in law did this because he didn't want to retire. He did the breakfasts (which were excellent) and shopping and hired a Polish lady to do the rooms and the laundry. He enjoyed the company and made lots of money doing it. He tried to persuade us to go into business with him, but it wouldn't have suited me at all as we fought like cat and dog.

I would imagine in a B&B you have far fewer rooms to clean in a day than the average hotel chambermaid, also you're getting paid whatever the guest paid for the room, not minimum wage...

@kittycorner what privilege do you mean?

@StCharlotte that sounds like you enjoyed it and made good use of your time.

This is an interesting thread. I started a shop when I had a really good job in a completely different industry. Mostly because I wanted the creative challenge of creating all aspects of a business from scratch. I thought being my own boss would be flexible and rewarding. I found the experience very stressful and the fantasy and reality were world’s apart. After three years I closed it down and went back to being employed in my previous industry. Main plus points are that I don’t hanker after that dream anymore and I very much appreciate being employed rather than self employed. I know this is a bit off topic, but am just saying lots of people dream about doing things that turn out differently day to day than they expect.

@Mummadeze well done for knowing when to quit and being able to get a job again, presumably at the same level. I used to dream of running a pub abroad but the older I get the more I just want to be able to retire at a sensible age and do some travelling. I’m also quite disorganised, I’d get tied up in knots trying to run a business.

"After three years I closed it down and went back to being employed in my previous industry. Main plus points are that I don’t hanker after that dream anymore and I very much appreciate being employed rather than self employed. I know this is a bit off topic, but am just saying lots of people dream about doing things that turn out differently day to day than they expect."

Oh God yes!