B&B For Everyone!

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" is what I seem to have been saying for the past 24 hours.

Any ultra-keeno reader may remember that over a year ago I went to look at a friend's B&B nearby, and came away totally depressed by how impossible it would be for me ever to aspire to their standards.  The result was a toss-up as to whether I should stay here, with my house crumbling around my ears, and two children who never venture out of the garden gate onto the moor outside; or downsize into something draught-free and comfortable, where everything works, near a bus-stop and a Costa's.

I can't remember what pursuaded me to stay.  It may have been Revered Son saying how much he loves coming home to relax, turn his music up to full volume, and proudly entertain his privileged schoolfriends in his dreaded 'Bothy'; or Beloved Daughter becoming increasingly involved with the local pony club; or simple inertia.  

But I recently attended a meet at my friends' hotel down the road, to discover I knew and felt welcomed by over half the people there.  A result of living here for nearly twenty years and becoming a part of the community, I suppose. However bonkers they may all think I am, it doesn't really matter.  It is a scenario that I will never be able to recreate anywhere else, and I treasure that feeling of belonging.

Last night  my friends with the B&B came to dinner. They arrived at the same time as my latest guests, and were immediately enthusiastically immersed in discussions about where to go and what to see around Dartmoor, looking at maps together, and admiring the evening sun setting behind the hill.  My friends are absolute natural B&Bers.  Their home is well located outside the most desirable village on Dartmoor, it's beautiful, their garden is outstanding, all is pristine, tasteful, comfortable, and works.  But they're not marketing themselves properly, are not getting the bookings. They're tired, are losing their nerve, and concentrating on other things which are less profitable, more time-consuming, and more exhausting.

"You need more rooms," (they only rent out one) I advised, "get yourselves properly SEO'd on Google - you can do it yourselves; rent the house out when you're not in it (they're off to Greece for two weeks); and charge double for more weddings. Bingo." (I'm not bossy, smug or complacent at all.) 

Then this afternoon one of the school Mums came over to ask me about B&Bing.  "You're in the middle of the moor, while we're nowhere, really," she said.  "We're about equidistant between Dartmoor and Bodmin moor, and quite near to lots of beaches on both the north and the south coasts, only about 10 minutes from the A30," she continued.  Well - there you have it. Centre of the South West.

Running a B&B is so much fun, and gives you such a feeling of achievement.  The guests are so nice - I've never had a dud - and there is nothing more enjoyable than hearing people admiring your home and knowing that in effect you are getting paid to make it attractive. I feel I've turned full circle - from chambermaid to graduate, to yuppie, to professional, and now I'm back to cleaning loos again.  But at least they're my own, and I'm well paid for it.

Anyway - the proof of my particular pudding will presumably go public on Four In A Bed.  They're coming to visit tomorrow afternoon to check me out.  If they decide to feature Wydemeet, I think it's going to be soon! Eeek!