Recently Paul wrote an article on 'The 10 Most Important Elements to a Super B&B Homepage' Here he discussed some different ways to improve your website and persuade the customer. One of those was having a ‘Promo Video of Your B&B’.

We’ve all been there; looking for places to stay and trying to make sure you get the right location and accommodation. After all you want to make sure you get your holiday right!
Well written information, a website which is easy to navigate and photo’s showing off the B&B are all great. However not all customers will take time to look at all of this. A web video is a great way of catching the customers attention.

Showcasing your B&B is easy with a video by using a short, smart, professional and informative video, placed in a prominent position on your home page.

Here are some benefits:

1. A web video welcome message will make your B&B look more Professional. 

2. Improve bookings by offering more than your competitors and showcasing your B&B with the entire media package (Text, Photo’s and Video).

3. A video will communicate with your future customers no matter their language, and provide them with knowledge and peace of mind in advance of their visit.

4. Convey whatever you want to the customer; whether it be warm greetings, friendly and informative customer care or just plain professionalism – your video can do this with the aid of specific shots, music and narration or on screen-text.

5. Reduce all those 'Frequently Asked Questions' by including some of them in the video via friendly voice over or just on-screen text. Or even bring your customer testimonials to life in text within your video.

6. Talk about the local conveniences, attractions and where the B&B is situated. This could include important information, historical clippets or seasonal events. 

Here are some examples of videos I have created with Real Magic Media in Warwickshire’s Shakespeare country:

Bradbourne House

 
 
 
Adelphi House

 
 
Ashgrove House

Reel Magic Media are currently taking B&B video orders across the UK. 

www.reelmagicmedia.co.uk

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Trip Elated, a new review site that launched last week, has been in the making for a while, but with confidence in TA at an all time low, the timing of their launch couldn't have been any better

Trip Advisor got a mention on Watchdog on Thursday night. The legal story of the hotels against them has been on Channel 4 News and every time you hear it mentioned more hotels have joined the battle. It's a PR nightmare for them and if they do lose in court, consumer confidence will tumble.

Enter then, on a wave of slightly hippy, psychadelic positivity our new kid on the block. Trip Elated. A place where moaning, bitching or backstabbing isnt welcome and only positive vibes allowed. The theory is that if bad reviews aren't posted, then only the good hotels get through the door.

"Travellers don't want to hear lots of bad reviews," said co-founder Amanda Brown, "It doesnt matter whether it's a cheap hostel or a honeymoon paradise, so long as the traveller has good things to say then we want to be the place they come to rave about it."

At first look I thought that Trip Elated was a bit of an idealistic notion, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might work. For a hotel to be on Trip Elated at all, then you know it must be pretty good. If people have gone to the site to rave about it, then the place has had a really positive affect on them which they wanted to share, not the other way around.

So just by finding a hotel there, you will know that someone has loved their stay.  

I agree with Amanda that I don't want to read about bad places. I want to go and stay somewhere that is the best place for my budget. If I'm backpacking for example and I see a hostel has some good reviews, then I know it's going to be good. I don't really want to waste a lot of time reading about carpet stains.

I'm sure there will be a mountain of issues that Trip Elated faces, like Trip Advisor has, but if TE get the right procedures in place early, then they will make it much easier for themselves when the reviews start rolling in...

Please TE don't ignore hotels with issues like TA have done.

Then we will all be elated!

http://www.trip-elated.com/

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Today Fran and Jono report on a hotelier who made a guest leave because of a negative review, a new 100k initiative in Scotland and a hotel that is inviting locals round to observe their every move. All this and much more in just 7 minutes and 9 seconds. 

Please turn your volume up full!

TWIB2409FINAL.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Some will say it's a bit of fun, telling their wife they're in the pub. Others may say it's for complete morons, who will end up telling robbers they aren't at home and get burgled.  The more extreme may say it's designed specifically for the evil Facebook to learn consumer habits, so they can rape and pillage every last one of us

1. Search for your B&B on Facebook  using a mobile phone that has been set up with the application. If no Place exists for your business, you can create a new Place.

2. Once you locate the Place for your business, click the 'Is this your business?' link at the bottom of the Place.

3. Complete the step-by-step verification process to claim your Place.  

You will then be asked to complete a simple verification procedure. Following this step, Facebook will provide some additional steps in order to create a new Place. You'll be asked to access the application on your iPhone using the new Facebook app, or another web-enabled mobile device. Once you 'Check In,' you'll be asked to click the 'Add' button and then enter a name for the new Place. You'll also be offered the option of providing a description of your business.

If you are struggling get a six-year-old to do it! (or the person who's IPhone it is)

After that, you can describe what it is you're doing at the new place and begin tagging Facebook fans and friends. Click 'Check In' and you're ready to share your visit. And now that you've got your newly created Place of your own, your friends, customers and the general public can find your Place while perusing Facebook or the Places application.

A Facebook Place page -- once you've staked your claim on it -- enables your customers to see a map from their iPhone or other mobile device that includes your business (the Place) and a list of their Facebook friends and associates who are currently checked in at your business. It also includes a Friend Activity stream comprised of other friends who have stopped in at the Place at one time or another. 

In addition, your Place page can feature information about your business, and you can put up a story about your Place page on your Facebook profile by hitting the "Share" button on the page. Place pages differ from Facebook pages

Facebook Page admins will soon be able to merge their Place page with their official Page on Facebook, but this is yet to come. 

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Yesterday I told you about my new sponsors - Reservation Live. Today I want to share a nifty feature on their site that allows hoteliers to check in as a guest would, through the 'Charity Hotel'.

Before I hear cries of, "Corporate sell out! Off with his head!" This feature is really worth talking about, and regardless of my commercial relationship with RL, it is worthy of a post. With the exception of this week and on very rare occasions, I will not be promoting Reservation Live through this blog. The content will remain pretty much impartial and independent.

The point of The Charity Hotel is for hoteliers to test the system while giving £1 to charity. Neat idea isn't it? 

First thing is to go to the homepage and click 'Check availability'

Then choose a room/preferred charity from the list by clicking 'Select room'.

Then click the orange button - 'Provide contact details' 

Fill out your name and address then click 'Provide payment details'

 Simply fill out your credit card details and click 'Make Payment' 

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It's been a while in negotiation but I have finally dotted the I's with a new booking system on a sponsorship deal to help me continue producing blogs.

Thank you to all of you for your support with the blog and interaction. Without you this wouldn't have been possible. I love writing and now thankfully I can continue to keep you entertained.

Below is a press release and image which I have just sent out to all the hospitality magazines:

B&B Blogger Bags Lucrative Advertising Deal 

 Paul White’s 'Bed & Breakfast Club' blog has secured a 12-month advertising deal with ReservationLive - a new web-based hotel booking system

Since March this year Paul has been busily writing daily blogs for small hotel owners. “I started the blog because a friend of mine was opening a B&B.” he said, “We couldn’t find much online to help him.

“I’ve talked to lots of really nice people through the blog who run B&Bs and small hotels. I have become addicted to finding new ways to help them in business, and keep them entertained.”

Paul has built a community of over 2000 owners across Twitter and Facebook and his blog averages around 3000 visits a month. “I hate the uniformity of hotel chains and love independents. I really admire the passion that some owners have for their businesses. I wish I could go and stay with them all!”

Paul admits there has been a commercial agenda from the beginning. “Like everyone else I need to eat! I hoped that if I made enough friends with businesses, someone would help me continue blogging with sponsorship. When that phone call came I jumped around the room!”

The phone call was from Richard Hallam, Director of ReservationLive, who had been an avid reader. “I found the blogs inspirational and felt, like us Paul was out there to help small business succeed.

“Paul has a huge library of content that we hope to tap into for ReservationLive and have pledged to help support him financially to continue creating.”

ReservationLive are offering a three month free trial of their system to any hotel or B&B owner who follows B&B Club on Twitter or Facebook, or alternatively they can visit http://bedandbreakfastclub.co.uk

“I love ReservationLive." Said Paul, "It’s a beautifully simple bit of kit that is already revolutionizing the way some hotels work. I’m proud and honoured to be sponsored by them.

“There are lots of B&Bs and small hotels that still haven’t embraced online booking. To be competitive these days they really should.”

To claim the special offer please email paul@bedandbreakfastclub.co.uk or call 07824771154

http://reservationlive.net/?bandbclub

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MR CAMERON! I have an idea to fix crime and give jobs to the elderly - it just may mean a few tough meetings with hotel chain bosses though!

The prison population is at a record high of 85,000. Our prisons are bursting at the seams. The reason for this is that 60% of short-term prisoners will reoffend within a year.

Locking people up with no guidance how to change their lives has proven to fail, yet mention the word 'rehabilitation' and people start shouting, 'Don't send 'em to a bloody holiday camp!"

Our justice system just does not work, but rehabilitation is a bit like the idea of decriminalizing drugs. Studies have shown it's the most sensible option to actually DEAL with the problem, but we are too stuck in our old ways of thinking to implement it. An eye for an eye an all that...

I have a proposal that may be a little far fetched but would actually kill three birds with one stone.

I suggest that the government comes to an agreement with hotel chains to use some of their hotels, in less populated areas, as rehabilitation centres. Thereby cutting down reoffending rates, leaving more room in our prisons for serious criminals and removing some of the ghastly chain hotels!

I believe there is a place for chains and that is in cities, with dense populations. Not in small towns and villages. In these areas local people should benefit from any tourism. Not global companies.

By putting the chain hotels to a better use sorting out offenders, we would have a shortage of accommodation; which brings me on to the next part of the plan - how to combat the worrying issue that Britain is facing - What to do with the growing population of people, who are in their most senior years.

Why not help set the older people up as accommodation providers, with their own B&Bs. I'm not talking people over 70 but those in their 60's. The retirement age will soon be 70 but not everyone can work until they are 70. People in physically demanding jobs like builders or factory workers can't be expected to work until that age. Putting the retirement age up will leave a lot of people stuck in a rut without work or a pension.

To summarize this suggestion would help sort out the prison system. It would go some way to sorting out the problem of our ageing society and would give small towns and cities their identities back from the chain hotels.

Older people like looking after others as it makes them feel useful and wanted. They benefit from the social interaction and I believe would live longer, happier lives.

So how about it Mr Cameron do you like my idea? Also, are there any jobs going at your place?

I've heard the expenses are good...

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This week Fran and Jono reveal some great new industry figures, we look at how a hotelier saved his family from a fire and Fran attempts to pronounce enterobacteriaceae.

twib1709final.mp3 Listen on Posterous

He stays in B&Bs and guest houses in the South East and leaves without paying.

See full story here

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The end-of-summer misery is upon us and with it the demise of holidaying guests.  This post looks at things to do in Autumn to get to know your community better and promote your business locally

An End of Summer Party

 This one needs quick planning as we're there! To be 'The  Place to Stay' in an area, one needs to be known by everyone in it as such. Invite your neighbours around for an end of summer bash. Ply them with drinks and variations of food from your breakfast menu and let them see what a wonderful place you've created. 

The Paul's B&B Big Breakfast End of Summer Party - Everyone wears pajamas and a dressing gown! 

Hold A Stall at Bonfire Night 

 Speak to the organizers of your local bonfire and ask them if you can have a stall selling home cooked fayre, as well as the usual bonfire night grub. Create some signage for the stall and give out business cards. 

Sounds like hard work, but delegation is the key here. You might even make a few quid while promoting your B&B!

"Roll up! Roll up! Get your local produce from Paul's B&B! £2 a baked bean sandwich! Good for your heart. The more you eat the more you...."

Turn Your B&B Into A Haunted House

Ok so this one's a bit bizarre but stay with me... Pumpkins, fake cobwebs, friends done up as witches and ghosts in every room. Scare the trick or treaters and then throw a party for everyone with pumpkin pie and soup.

Advertise with a sign that tonight your house will be a haunted house and all are welcome. 

The point is that if you are known for having fun, then people will warm to you and tell anyone who comes to town to stay with you. 

It's a small world and you need to be known as the hostest with the mostest. 

MWAHAHAHAHAH!!

This is my short film of Whitby's gothic B&B.

I'd love to know what promotions you run locally? Please leave a comment.

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I wish I ran a B&B

And all my afternoons were free

I'd get up early, make some tea

And fry some bacon just for me

Then when my guests were on their feet

I'd make them something great to eat

...Sausages and eggs and toast

A scrumptious plate, with tea to boast!

"Did you sleep well?"

"Not too bad!

"Enough to drink, good night we had!"

Off they'd go to see the sites

I'd clean and polish all my mite

Pop online to check to see

If anymore will stay with me

A doctor or a nurse maybe

A man of cloth, a priest - OR THREE!

And then I'd sit beside the fire

Thinking of my home's attire

Should I paint the sign in bold?

Or fix the stairs, they're looking old

Books need sorting

Need to pay

The tax man, he doth take away!

The farmer, he gave me some eggs

The baker for her special breads

I pay them, great! My thoughts are free!

I sit, relax, switch on TV

The door bell rings,

More guests for tea!

I wish I ran a B&B

And all my afternoons were free

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Lots of B&Bs are a part of a 'cluster' in their local area, which is a superb practice. There aren't many types of business where competitors are happy to pass on trade like this.

In case you aren't aware a B&B cluster is a group of accommodation providers that have set up an agreement whereby when a guest approaches a B&B and it has no available rooms, the B&B rings around others in the local area to find an alternative accommodation. In business terms it's called a 'cluster' and if done properly can increase room occupancy for all.

I found this Editor's letter from B&B News which demonstrates the benefit of clusters:

We formed our B&B group, ‘Gems of Midlothian’ in 2000 and in the first year, purely by sending overspill to each other, we gained an EXTRA 977 bed nights.

This represents an increased turnover for the group of approximately £30,000 and all it costs was the price of a few phone calls. This also increases the revenue going into the local economy with the extra spend on entry to visitor attractions, food, taxi hire, hairdressers, kilt hire etc. 

We have now taken things a stage further and leave our vacancy sign up 'til all the local accommodation providers are full. When someone comes to the door and we have no vacancies we take the time to phone round the competition 'til we find a vacancy. Helping visitors this year will hopefully lead to referrals in the future.

It is the same with e-mail and phone enquiries, they are passed round most of the accommodation providers in the area. Each of us uses different forms of advertising, so enquiries are coming from a much wider area. Yes, it does take up time, but the proof is in the revenue generated. We were up 19% in June, 17% in July and it looks like we will be up about 8% in August. 
All this gives us the confidence to maximise pricing when we know we are going to be busy. We have proved that if accommodation providers are prepared to work together they can all be winners. 

Yours sincerely, 
Quin Dunlop 
Carlethan House, 
Midlothian

I had a think about this and thought that to use a 'TWIBE' would be a much easier way to communicate rather than making phone calls. It would eliminate the time taken to ring every B&B because it would act as a place where all B&Bs can post their availability, once a day, (or when it changes) and all could see where rooms were available. 

If everyone Kept this up to date then when a guest came knocking one would instantly know where to send them if you were full.

TWIBES are simply private Twitter groups. They are extremely easy to set up by simply typing in a URL (I made one called  UKBB accommodation) into a box and inviting others to join. The conversations can be public or just privately for members of the TWIBE. Also if you have a guest wishing to book for a set day that you are booked up, then simply tweet this and the first one back gets the guest. This practice would ensure that everyone would participate. 

Having your live cluster network available at all times would be useful for lots of things such as help and advice and would allow you to have conversations with other hoteliers that the world should not be seeing over Twitter. After all I believe Twitter is your front of house really and shouldn't be used to ask other hoteliers about milk rounds.

If one person in the TWIBE is looking to fill rooms on a set date, then others can help by tweeting and doing a little marketing for them. All could work on each other's behalf like a beautiful Twitter marketing consortium.  

The only snag is that not everyone in your cluster might be up to date on Twitter.

If you are, why not set everyone up and give them all a lesson in your monthly cluster meeting?

What do you mean you 'don't have monthly cluster meetings'?

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How many guests stay with you every year and how many of those do you convert into social media followers? In your B&B you have the ideal vehicle to help build a community that will last forever.

To save the bother of asking people to join you online, why not do a little advertising on your premises?

If almost every guest through your doors became a fan, you have a community of potential future guests, ready and waiting for life.

I've been busy putting together this A3 poster for your business and all you need to do is send me your social details and I will edit and email back. paul@bedandbreakfastclub.co.uk 

Just in case you missed it I also made these cards a few weeks ago to put in the rooms. They work well for business guests, who may be sat in the room on their laptops.

Again just send me your details and I will edit and send back. 

Then all you need to do is print!

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This week Fran and Jono discuss Trip Advisor being threatened with court action, the new guest checking software for hoteliers and Expedia's ad spend.

Website of the week is miltoncottage.com

TIME LENGTH: 6 minutes 17seconds

TWIBNEWRAW1.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Since recording the amount of hotels against Trip Advisor has gone up to 300. See this link for full story.

The Presenters

Fran O'Brien presents The Big Drive Home on Chorley FM

Jono Molloy was a personal trainer 'til he stopped exercising. He has been a contestant on Going For Gold and is in this recent episode of BBC2's Pointless

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We all look for new things to talk about and engage others online but a really nice way, that often gets forgotten about is to use a poll

It's incredibly easy to set up a poll. You can use this application, which adds another tab on to your Facebook page - allowing you to ask your Facebook friends anything you like. You can invite them to take part too, which is another way to remind them of your existence.

You could use a poll to ask whether you should consider having an extension, or whether or not to get some chickens!

You can very easily stick a poll on your blog or homepage too. Just fill out the form on this page and copy the code it gives you into your site. If I can do it anyone can!

People will more than likely not vote correctly and pick the silly answer. but It's not really about gathering research, more about keeping people entertained for a few seconds. After all, you are now a broadcaster and the more successful you are at entertaining online, the more likely you are to be entertaining paid-for guests.

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With all the talk of Trip Advisor being taken to court and some large companies going under, the world feels like a pretty serious place at the moment. I invite you to forget it all right here. Laugh and perhaps be a little offended at this selection of hotel signs from around the world...

Footballers rejoice!

Morph has a good day!

Precise.

Bringing a new meaning to 'Wash and Go'

...round the back presumably

Finally somewhere to leave the kids

Is that an order or statement?

Sorry

Women who like firemen, light up!

Aren't all hostels?

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Did anyone else notice that the new GMTV, 'Daybreak' used the same font and colours as Facebook in its logo? It's an obvious attempt to take a share of Facebook's popularity but will it work? Rebranding is a dangerous game that can either breathe new life and interest into a business, or cause its current following to disembark 

Just like every other, your brand as a B&B is critical to the success of your business. When thinking about your brand take a step back and think how you personally choose to buy products. Do you choose a brand of coffee because you like the image it purveys? Then pretend you don't own your B&B. Would the B&B brand identify with you? Would you stay there because you liked the image? Does it look fresh and contemporary? Ask a selection of others if they like your logo. You may be taken aback by their honesty!

It does seem like lots of B&Bs don't seem to put a lot of value in their brand and update it very often. I understand why as your business is about providing a good service that people will come back for. Not necessarily about catching convenience customers. However your brand image is the first thing a new potential guest will see and if it doesn't appeal to them, they're just a second away from the back button. 

Rebranding can be an expensive business. Many companies have found it can go very, very wrong. Remember the Post Office's rebrand to Consignia? WHOOPS!! 

Leaflets, signs, websites, business cards; deciding on a rebrand is not something one should do lightly. The cost can far outweigh the benefits and if the brand chosen doesn't identify with the audience, then it could be a costly change back!

It's hard to put your finger on why some brands become popular. Some just have the 'x-factor' that others don't.

The thing to do is slowly evolve a new image, rather than do a GMTV style, all-eggs-in-one basket revamp. This is only possible to do economically if you have access to your logo and website etc. In today's world of ever-changing media, no one should be holding your marketing materials hostage. Make sure you have control, NOT a designer who is too busy to do anything for six weeks. 

Have a look at where most of your traffic comes from. If it's the website, have a look at the font on your name. Have a play around with other fonts and perhaps make a small change. Make it bolder, or add a 3D look (bevel and emboss). Just something small that perhaps makes it look a bit more contemporary.

Do the company colours still convey what you want them to? Perhaps a suttle change of shade. 

Small changes to key areas once every six months will help keep things fresh and put across the image that you do move with the times as far as design is concerned. Have a look at a leading company website that you consider to be ahead of the game and borrow a little something from them. 

If you are happy and others are, then change leaflets. Little by little evolve your marketing materials and brand, so that if you do change the website and the leaflet has a slightly different font it won't become an issue.

After all if Daybreak is a turkey then what will ITV do? Bring back Chris Evans and The Big Breakfast? I wish...

No trousers.

Hilarious.

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Today we look at the unpopular practice of charging for Wi FI, a new ‘no frills’ hotel in London, the AA’s green awards, and one hotel’s interesting introduction of an all-woman floor.

TWIB0903.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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The Princess (sorry, Goddess) of the B&B world Karen Thorne wrote yesterday how she 'must be doing something right' using Twitter, as had her 'best year ever' using the networking site

This got me thinking and wondering how Karen seems to have unlocked the secret to gaining lots of business through Twitter, something lots of people want to do, but rarely manage it. 

Her self-imposed rules are explained in the article here but it doesn't really explain how she has so many followers and gains so much business through Twitter. What Karen has become extremely good at, whether she is aware of this or not, is having a unique writing voice.

When I was at University doing Journalism, they always harped on about your writing style and your 'voice' coming through the page. Karen's 'voice' comes through what she writes every time and is very distinctive. She stands out with her tweets because of this and it has enabled her to create a strong online identity.

This is not an easy concept to get your head around achieving with your own writing. What you can do is choose a writing style that you like and try to emulate it, then eventually your own 'voice' will begin to come through and you will create your own style.

This kind of worked for me in my previous life. I used to copy the style of FHM and when I brought that style into a golf magazine it gave the magazine a light-hearted appeal that readers enjoyed.

There are so many people out there writing on blogs and on networks that it's important you try to appear distinctive and memorable in your work. Choose a style you like and stick to it. 

The problem with all of us is that we aren't simple beings. We have many sides, but showing all your different sides works against you in a cluttered online environment. For readers to remember you they need to have a simple picture in their head of what you are. 

We are all publishers in our online world, we are all entertainers and the most successful entertainers are those that we remember for having a distinctive style. Frank Bruno is probably a multi-faceted personality (maybe not!) but to hear him reciting Macbeth would have just confused us. Cilla Black put on the fake voice but we liked it and knew where we stood. It was easy to take in and grasp. Choose a style that's simple and perfect it.

When you find a style to tweet or blog or Facebook, you not only make it easier for your audience to identify with, but you make it easier for yourself, as you know who you are too!

Have a look at the styles of successful people on Twitter and then choose a way of writing that conveys how you want you and your business to be perceived. 

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We launched through some side doors at pretty much the exact moment the bride put her first steps on the runway.

Embarrassed at being late and a little ruffled, my girlfriend, little boy and I found two spare chairs and settled. While all the boring stuff was going on "I do", "I do to", "Does anybody object?" "No" "Kiss the woman then!", blah blah blah... my eyes were not just on the bridesmaids, but looking at the walls and wondering what kind of wedding we had, almost literally stumbled into.

As I had not listened previously I had no idea (like most men when it comes to weddings I'd rather talk about tomato ketchup) what we were in for over the next few hours.

It was a medieval themed wedding, brilliant! Maybe I should have listened! We were in the grounds of Camelot theme park in the Best Western Park Hall Hotel .

After the ceremony, we watched the kids play for an hour and then went back in the room for our five-course medieval banquet. 

It was soup to start with, which we had to eat/drink straight from the bowl with no spoons. One had to use the bread to scoop the vegetables out of the bottom, or somehow pour them in your gullet. All modern day etiquette straight out the window, I couldn't have been happier.

Next up was cold meats on rocket, wild boar ribs and then the main, which was a whole chicken each (a little baby chicken, that's wrong isn't it?) corn-on-the-cob and a jacket potato. In between our courses we were entertained by jesters fire eating, knights jousting and minstrels playing seventies records "from the future", all while King Arthur kept his eye on proceedings.

The highlight for me was when they got my partner up in the stocks. I volunteered her (!) without her knowing (mwahahaha!) and they dropped a guillotine on her head which failed to chop her head off. The knight and jester then got either side of her pretending they couldn't get her out of the stocks. As you can imagine this looked rather rude and after a few cups of wine and cider I was chuckling like a school kid.

Weddings are expensive, boring occasions generally but this was the best fun I'd had in ages. To give guests simple food without knives and forks as a novelty is pure genius and saves on washing up! 

As we were having such fun we booked into the hotel and decided to have a few more drinks afterwards. Just to put us through the computer system took ages. Do they do criminal checks on every guest or something? The room was clean and soulless, pretty much as you'd expect, but by the time I'd done I could have slept on the dance floor.

I awoke and attempted a brew before breakfast but the kettle failed to work which wasn't good. We went down for breakfast and it was the buffet variety where you get your own out of tins. Why do they never get the bacon right?? Cook it until there's no fat on! The coffee was disgusting but other than that it was ok. It can't be easy to cook breakfast for 100 people.

The whole experience was made memorable by the entertainment and interesting food, and if I were to get married I would love to do something similar (should I have a say in the matter which I wouldn't!) 

How can you as a B&B compete with that? How can you provide something different and memorable? An exciting, surprising experience that people will tell all their friends about.

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So this is the first podcast for TWIB - This Week In Bed - My new podcast for the hotel industry. There are a few sound issues which I intend to have sorted for next week's show. It's really only a pilot at this stage as I want to see how you like it.

A big thank you to our presenters Jono and Fran, they're great. Please post your thoughts and ideas how we can improve the show and what you would like to hear. 

Twibfinal2 Listen on Posterous

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