Outdoorsy family? Accommodation wish list...

[GillianFortWilliam]

We're opening our family home up for B&B for outdoorsy families for weekend breaks this summer. Would the group mind helping with a wee bit of light hearted market research? What facilities/services are must haves for you when you travel with your kids? Is there anything you particularly dislike?

I know what facilities we like to have when we're away with our 3yo DD (my wish list is: a few games, drawing materials, story books, linked bedrooms ideally, kiddy sized portions and prices, relaxed atmosphere) but I'm desparately trying not to get too carried away and purchase everything under the sun for our guests to use! Feedback all welcomed:-)

Avoid anything that badly behaved kids can use to trash your furniture ie pens and crayons! Good selection of disney dvd's if you have a lounge for them, jenga blocks, books (charity shop?) playing cards, a toy box with some indestructible favourites in ( but you need to check and wash everything frequently nothing worse than putting your hand in and getting 2 day old second hand biscuit on it!) would also say bedside guards, cots and high chairs, booster seats, potty, step and toilet rim thingy.

Fantastic, thanks mummymeister! Feedback appreciated:)

I like the idea of a booster seat and very much the bedside guards, we have a low pull out bed for smaller children but I know when we have gone away with our DD we've ended up shuffling around furniture to create a barrier with chairs and things so that's a great tip.

I thought to avoid providing travel cots with the safety concerns over babies sharing mattresses though - anyone any thoughts on that? (there's space in rooms for folk to bring their own though)

Any child equipment yes, pens no unless you want your house trashed.

look at Eden.co.uk for B&B stuff cheap.

We do child and adult menus, we don't charge for under 2's, extra beds in room are £10 a night.

Be prepared to never enjoy a weekend with your child again.

Travel cots are fine, you can geta thin washable matress type thing for them, and people use these alot.

Don't do one night bookings.

Somehwere to leave boots and coats to hang up.

Our guests children appreciate outdoor toys aswell.

And that should be outofeden.co.uk

Maps, leaflets of things to do in the area, list of family friendly pubs.

Alot for you Fanny :o

Oh God, I kept thinking of things after I had posted

for our older ds's, we loved that the last place we stayed at had a really good DVD collection in the lounge that we could use - lots of family/action type films.

Although if it's a B&B you might not need this - sorry, was thinking about a cottage-type thing, but a good telly would be good

Also for the kids, a choice of at least 1 sweet-type cereal - coco pops or something suitably trashy.

I'm just being silly :)

Thanks all, much appreciated .

@Trills - we've designated the lounge for guests' use over the weekends so we'll have the telly in there and I'm going to look out for some dvds on amazon and in the local charity shops I think - conscious it rains a lot in Fort William so coming in from a nice walk to get warm and cosy in front of a dvd is probably a good thing for everyone!

@fivegomadindorset - no worries, keep the ideas coming! It's all good input, we're new to the being 'hostess with mostess' for paying guests (had lots of practice with our friends and family right enough - can't be that much harder hopefully!).

Oh it can, your friends are different as they are not paying, paying guests are so much harder as they want value for money.

Sorry, that first '@Trills' was meant to be '@DottyDot'

Don't forget that you have to keep a lid on your DD's noise aswell, we are lucky as we have an annexe well away from the guests side for them.

Also as I said before it will restrict what you do at weekends with your daughter. BUt then we do it all year and you are only doing weekends so unless you have Saturday arrivals you should be OK.

Privacy. Is there a room that can be for the guests sole use? Also, what is the situation with bathrooms? Will they meet you in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom or will your room/their room have an en suite?
Tea and coffee making facilities.

DD's noise is the bit that I'm most apprehensive about tbh - while she's generally pretty good, let's face it, she's a 3yo and there's random night and daytime disturbances to deal with - very conscious though of both curtailing her fun in her own home as well as disturbing guests as DH's parents did B&B and he remembers hating having to be quiet all the time.

Still - trying to manage it as best we can for the moment - we've separate rooms for our use too, and if all else fails (she's ill/we have particularly sensitive guests/etc), we have an offer from her aunty that she can have a night or two at her house occasionally. Thank goodness for family!

Baby monitor/s which reaches from children's bedroom/s to the bottom of the garden, so parents can have a sundowner knowing they can still hear the littlest DCs.

Really good guide to the local area - put leaflets and Internet printouts into a plastic leaf binder. Not just local tourist attractions, but also sports facilities, local stables, golf courses, tennis courts, watersports, swimming pool with opening times etc; walks in the local area (ideally with family friendly pubs/cafes en route), bike hire places, local events/classes which welcome drop ins etc.

Perhaps some sports equipment: footballs, giant frisbee, kites, tennis balls/rackets, and swimming costumes/goggles (perhaps saying they're available on request - if they have to ask you for them, it's easier for you to ask for them back). Possible even swimming cossies and goggles/armbands.

@ProfessorSunny - privacy noted - 'guest breakfasting lounge' (our normal mid-week living room/diner cleaned to within an inch of its life!) will be for guests' use during their stay while we decamp to the smaller rear sitting room and conservatory - that said, there are two guest bedrooms (1 twin/double and 1 suite of two linked rooms sleeping up to 4) so different parties would be sharing with each other. There is one bathroom exclusively for guests' use (ensuites being added maybe for 2013 depending how we go this first season; we have a separate bathroom for our family use), so again different parties sharing with each other but we plan to keep an eye during the day to check for any 'presents' left in the pan by forgetful toddlers!

It sounds like you have thought it through well. Good luck with your new venture.

OK, I am going to be honest here, I wouldn't look at staying at a B&B where I would have to share a bathroom, especially with DC's in tow. My SIL used to do it and she said she lost a lot of customers because of that problem.

6 is an awfu lot of people to share with in the morning, especially if they all want breakfast at the same time.

Where are you advertising?

Fire alarms, if you are going into this long term then your basic smoke detectors, you wil also need to put an evacuation notce in the room, eg. way out and where to gather.

Keys, be prepared to lose loads.

Get yourself know to afew of the popular B&B's in your area as they will send people to you if they get full.

@fivegomadindorset - on the shared bathroom, yep, I kind of agree with you as I have reservations too on that one, but with the startup budgeting limitations, we're having to be low-key 'see how it goes' for this season and managing things by making sure we price accordingly and making sure folk know what they're getting before they book so there's no surprises.

We've an LD2 hard wired fire alarm in the house already so think we're ok there (note to self, need to start a fire test log book!), evacuation notice is a good point, I hadn't thought of that. Keys also a valid point, my day job is with The Landmark Trust, and I know from my colleague how many folk lose/go home with theirs! Need to find some dodgy Loch Ness Monster key fobs perhaps to help folk remember to hand them in .

Advertising - various - will register with Outdoor Capital of the UK organisation, maybe also VisitScotland, we'll have our own wee website and FB page, planning to spam friends, colleagues and former colleagues and business friends (nice healthy address book from 15 years in London and Sheffield!), notices in climbing walls and outdoor shops around the UK, possibly also a few small ads in climbing and walking mags depending on how the budget goes. Might even splurge on a Mumsnet advertising package, but that'd probably be 2013 marketing budget

Not exactly child-related, but certainly out-doorsy locations....

I always appreciate a decent supply of tea and coffee (not just a couple of sachets) and real milk, not those silly little portion things. Either in a communal fridge, or in a thermos in rooms.

Infact with kids better not to have such facilities in the rooms - possibly at the edge of the living room or something? And mugs rather than silly small china cups with saucers. I need lots of hot tea!!

Definitly outdoor place space and equipment. Nothing flash necessarily.

Space for muddy wellies so we don't destroy your place!

Reasonable prices!!!!! (How much are you thinking of out of nosiness?)

Can't see if anyone has written this already, but mattress protectors for kids beds to save our stress levels!

Access to washing machine? Especially if staying for a few days.

@PatsysDouble - good feedback, thanks! We're just about to make our own wee fridge redundant as we need a larder fridge ready for keeping lots of sausages and haggis in for guests:) Thought to make the wee one available to guests in the drying room for storing their own baby food or milk etc. Prices - planning £30pppn but the room that sleeps up to 4 is max £100pn as 4th person (DC) would sleep on pull out bed. Mattress protectors - yep, agreed. I thought to keep an extra set of bedding discreetly in a drawer in the room too in case of accidents (we've all been there, let's face it!). Washing machine - interesting point, had certainly thought about tumble dryer being available for guests (did I mention that it rains here sometimes lol) but arguably our drying room has space to accomodate a washing machine too... hmm, will mull over, thank you, very good input! Lots of tea and coffee - goes without saying:) Highland hospitality and all that!