WHAT FACILITIES SHOULD BE PROVIDED?

Bathrooms

People have got used to travelling abroad and being provided with an en suite bathroom. It is no wonder that demand in the UK is rising. When you go on holiday, do you insist on an en suite bathroom?

So again, before you finally decide how many bedrooms to go for (assuming en suite bathrooms are not already provided) do consider whether you should allow for converting any into bathrooms.

As the Chairman of Trafalgar House once said about accommodation aboard the QE2, it is easy to let the luxury suites; most difficult are the ordinary cabins. This is often the case with hotel rooms. Your most luxurious rooms will sell most easily, in spite of costing more. Basic rooms are often not so easy. There are exceptions to every rule, and your location and the type of clientele which normally visits the area can turn this on its head.

Just to clear up one point – the difference between en suite and private bathrooms:

• En suite means forming a self-contained unit: the guest does not have to step outside the bedroom to go to the bathroom.
• Private bathrooms, far less acceptable, might be next door, along the corridor, or worse still, right at the end of the corridor, with the room number on it.

En suite bathrooms are the standard required by a growing number of guests today. And they expect them to be clean, smart and well-decorated. The bathroom is the first place many guests look at. Think seriously about providing en suite bathrooms when calculating how many bedrooms you require.

For the disabled

Disabled people need to take holidays and to be able to stay at hotels in the same way as anyone else. Yet few establishments cater adequately for them.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 lays down rights for the disabled and is designed to prevent discrimination.

All service providers are now obliged to take reasonable steps to provide proper access and facilities for the disabled. Be aware disability takes many forms. For example, wheelchair users make up only about five per cent of disabled people. For information on how you can take steps to make the stay of your disabled guests easier, see Appendix page 233 et seq.

Other facilities

It is also worth thinking about whether the sort of establishment you have in mind should provide more luxurious facilities, perhaps an indoor swimming pool, a small gymnasium and/or a sauna.

In the right location, you might be able to convert a ten-bedroomed property into luxury five- or six-bedroomed accommodation, charge accordingly and employ fewer or even no staff at all.

WHAT SORT OF FOOD SHOULD BE PROVIDED?

This has to be a serious consideration when weighing up what sort of hotel to go for. Guests have expectations according to the type of hotel they are staying at.

As has been said before, it is unlikely that you will be able to afford a chef at first, if at all. In most cases, therefore, the dishes have to be within your own capabilities. Your personality and charm may prevail over the fact that you burn everything you put within a metre of an oven, but serving overdone food is not recommended. Guests just might see the funny side once or twice, but not on a regular basis.

Breakfast

Since you will not get away with serving Continental breakfast every day, you will at least need to be able to cook a decent English breakfast. Easy? That depends on how involved your breakfast menu is. Would you like a fried egg, bacon and sausage to be dumped (no matter how nicely) in front of you every morning? Take a look at the sort of basic breakfast menu you might prefer.

If you think you can work out all the various permutations, just wait until a resourceful houseful of guests get to work! Particularly where children are involved, you may in addition need to find baked beans, or fish fingers, or ...?

Preparing breakfast from a menu which offers choice is clearly far from simple. Various items of commercial equipment, discussed in Chapter 6, can help but it’s still not easy, particularly if guests all sit down at the same time.

Daytime meals

If you think you can cope with preparing breakfast, how do you feel about other meals?

Morning coffees, snack lunches and afternoon teas are quite easy to prepare and serve but are, to say the least, time-consuming. In the absence of a reasonable volume of trade, they would not be worth doing and would not justify the many hours spent on stand-by, let alone the wastage of food.

Providing such meals, especially for non-residents, is a matter of judgement and could be tried as a diversification to boost turnover, discussed in Chapter 9.

Evening meals

However, what might fill most intending hoteliers with foreboding is the provision of evening meals.

The first thing to remember is there is little similarity in providing a dining room full of paying guests with an evening meal and preparing dinner for friends.

Private dinner guests will usually say nothing if they have to wait while you ditch the burnt starter and rustle up an alternative; or if the meat is tough; or if the vegetables have been cooked to death; or if the dessert looks awful because the cream curdled. Paying guests might not say anything but at the least will let you know by not returning, or, worse still, by feigning illness and going home early. Even worse, by becoming genuinely ill and suing you!

Before you feel too bad, every cook, no matter how experienced, has disasters in the kitchen. The secret is to keep that sort of information from your guests and to avoid regular mishaps.

Since it would be unusual to have Egon Ronay as a guest, you don’t have to be able to turn out a gourmet meal – unless you advertise such food. Most guests prefer good, wholesome food which, to coin a well-used phrase, ‘hasn’t been mucked about’. It must, though, be competently prepared and cooked to a timetable. Can you manage that? Or would it worry you too much?

Going back to our example hotels, the proprietors of all of those in the town centre could probably get away with not doing an evening meal. Providing there are enough restaurants, pubs and the like within easy reach, guests will often accept a B & B situation. But not all will like it. Many like to go out for the day, come back, tidy up and relax for the evening. Often parents with young children, having worn them out, prefer to get them to bed reasonably soon after an evening meal and maybe go out on their own, leaving you to babysit. To have to hunt round with tired youngsters for somewhere to eat might, at the least, be inconvenient. The following year they will look for a hotel that gives them the facility they want.

Any hotel that is in a quieter spot, such as The Laurels and to a lesser extent The Bourne, might find it difficult to resist doing evening meals. In out-of-the-way situations, if there is no good pub or restaurant nearby the provision of dinner is almost a must.

A good cook with flair can enjoy preparing a mixture of plain and not-so-plain fare for dinner guests. It would not, however, be a good idea to offer cordon bleu cooking unless the cook has been formally trained or, through much practice, has complete confidence. Advertising nouvelle cuisine could be a disaster. The term has come to be seen by many as a euphemism for small portions, vastly overpriced.

Finally, consider the complications of providing a choice of dinner menu, especially an à la carte one, and staggering mealtimes (discussed fully in Chapter 9). If you think the sort of establishment you are looking at would be expected to offer this sort of service, make sure you are confident of your capabilities.

SHOULD WE RUN A BAR?

The decision may not be as simple as it seems. In order to be allowed by law to serve alcoholic drinks, you will need two licences, (i) a personal licence and (ii) a premises licence, both issued by the Licensing Department of your Local Authority. The police make enquiries about every applicant.

The provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 are revolutionary (the biggest shake-up in licensing law in over a century) in that it abolishes set licensing hours, which typically ended at 11pm, transfers authority away from Licensing Justices in Magistrates’ Courts (except for appeal against Local Authority decisions), and creates a simplified form of premises licence. In order for you to be able to obtain a personal licence you will need to have an approved qualification. (See page 164.)

The resort hotel without bar

Seaview Hotel could well be an example of this. This sort of hotel may provide an evening meal, probably served early for the benefit of young families. Although it is not obligatory to cater for youngsters, it is normal in this type of location.

Sensible, solid furniture and not too many breakables around will keep the owner’s blood pressure from rising too high, especially when the occasional destructive family stays. Unless you are tolerant of children, it would be better not to run a family hotel.

If you provide an evening meal, you might like to offer wine. Should you be unable to obtain a licence and yet still wish to serve wine, there are two compromises you could make:

• Serve alcohol-free/very low alcoholic content wine (it needs to be less than 1.2 per cent alcohol to be termed non-alcoholic).
• Let guests provide their own wine and put up with the extra work involved, like chilling it and providing and washing up glasses.

Staff, perhaps only to help at mealtimes, will be necessary.

The resort hotel with bar

This may well apply to the Bourne Hotel. Being away from the hub of activity, it is likely their guests prefer the quieter atmosphere.

Many of them will have responded to advertising, both local and national, and there are no neighbouring hotels to influence the tariff. Consequently, such a hotel could be run as a superior establishment providing a good quality evening meal and a good, if modest, wine list. Providing guests can find someone to serve them, they can drink at any time specified in the premises licence.

It’s nothing short of a disaster when you spend literally hours behind the bar and serve only two halves of shandy all evening, particularly when you have to be up early the next (or the same) morning to start preparing breakfasts. A bar needs firm control and good judgement to make a profit (see Chapter 9).

B and B establishments

Here we are talking about properties such as The Belfry and 15 Back Street.

Bed and breakfast only, using perhaps only one or two rooms, is often offered by those looking for other than a main supporting income. Such people are known in the hotel trade as ‘pirates’, and some of the legislation which applies to larger establishments is relaxed for them.

Providing a property is predominantly domestic, as opposed to commercial, and does not cater for more than six resident guests, the owners are exempt from paying business rates. Further, subject to certain exceptions (shown in Chapter 3), and again providing not more than six guests are catered for, it may be unnecessary to comply with fire regulations. Several hundred if not thousands of pounds can be saved if neither of these two provisions apply, but your income will be restricted to what can be earned from a maximum of six guests. Having said that, with only six guests the right premises can provide a good income. Even £15 per person per night for 40 weeks of the year would produce a turnover of £25,000 pa.

In normal circumstances the net profit from providing just bed and breakfast is high, but the disadvantage of a small B and B is the low turnover. It can be ideal for a couple; one running the B and B while the other goes out to work. Obviously the time commitment is much less than if service is offered after breakfast has been cleared away.

The commercial hotel

The aptly named Travellers’ Rest falls into this category.

When you set out to accommodate the business traveller, you are aiming at a different type of client to the holidaymaker. Usually an early start is made, meaning that you will almost certainly have to provide breakfasts at different times. There is then a long void until your guests return in the evening.

Most business people travel on their own. It is therefore best to be able to provide single rooms to save tying up doubles with single occupancy. Business travellers need to make out sales figures, reports, etc at the end of the day, so thought must be given to providing the right facilities, which would have to include the use of a telephone and maybe a fax. Most will have heir own laptops.

This hotel will usually have empty beds between when most business travellers go home on Friday and return on Monday. Unless other guests are attracted by special offers, weekend breaks, etc the turnover can be seriously reduced. If you can afford to do so, it may suit you to take things easy at weekends.

Depending on nearby facilities for obtaining food in the evenings, you may find you need to provide dinner. Again, flexibility is often called for as meetings can go on longer than anticipated. It might be sensible for the modest hotelier to provide substantial snacks as required.

As far as a bar is concerned, individual circumstances would have to dictate the strategy, bearing in mind the proximity to other drinking houses.

The charges of a small commercial hotel are likely to be well within the business person’s allowance, so can prove popular with all but the top brass. Such a hotel is worth considering for a relatively limited time commitment.

The country hotel

Bearing in mind what has been said about the possible attitude of lenders, a property such as The Laurels can be a rewarding venture, even if every day turns out to be long and demanding.

Business guests will be few and far between. Most of the clientele will be seasonal holidaymakers looking for a restful break in a peaceful, relaxed atmosphere. For a flourishing trade it will almost certainly be necessary to provide evening meals, and the ability to serve alcoholic drinks could be beneficial for all concerned.

Depending on circumstances, you may decide it is better to operate on a limited season, eg Easter to the end of October, perhaps reopening for the highly lucrative Christmas and New Year period.

Assuming you are able to provide a high standard of food, you could decide to offer restaurant meals to non-residents or even, providing you have the necessary room and facilities, to run a bar for non-residents as well as your residents. But beware! Once your residents decide the service they are getting is inferior because of the presence of non-residents, or they have nowhere to put their car in the car park because of visitors’ vehicles, you will lose their custom.

On the staff front, depending on how hard you are prepared to push yourself you may not need any extra help. On the other hand, someone to make beds and clean the bedrooms, perhaps to help wait on tables, do the laundry or help in the garden, would reduce your workload considerably.

In such a property you will have the opportunity to stamp your personality on the hotel and provide something different. For example, you might offer a superb standard of food, speciality weekends, guided country walks, you name it.

A country hotel is worth considering if you want to avoid the ‘bucket and spade brigade’.

WHAT TYPE OF OWNERSHIP?

Sole proprietorship

As implied, this is where the owner trades alone, whether it is in the owner’s name or that of the hotel.

The sole proprietor stands or falls by the decisions made, is answerable to no one (except as required by law), takes all the profits, but is personally liable for all the debts. All personal possessions are at risk in the event of debt enforcement.

Partnerships

Unless it is necessary to pool resources, be they for finance or expertise, it will rarely be a good idea to consider a partnership.

Up to 20 persons can form a partnership and, generally speaking, each shares the profits and debts of the business.

In the case of a husband and wife, few legal problems are likely to ensue, even if the partnership breaks up, since both are considered in law to be equally liable. However, as with all partnerships, if one or more partners disappear, the other(s) may have to settle any debts that might arise.

In the case of a partnership with other relatives or with friends, the situation is fraught with danger. Although it is not strictly necessary to have a partnership drawn up legally, with anything other than a husband and wife situation it is absolutely essential. (Some say highly advisable with husbands and wives.) Have you noticed how easy it is for different couples who go on holiday together to fall out? And that is over a very short period. And how many times have you heard of a wife running off with her husband’s best friend, or vice versa? Food for thought if two couples are thinking of going into partnership together.

In a purely business situation, a frequent source of disagreement is over who puts in the most (or the least) effort. ‘He does the grafting while I do the thinking’ is not an attitude easily accepted by a hard-working partner.

If because of the need to pool resources you decide a partnership is for you, discuss the matter fully with each and every potential partner and draw up a list of points which could lead to controversy. They include:

• How much capital will be introduced by each.
• What obligations there are, if any, to introduce further capital.
• How profits and losses are to be shared out and dealt with.
• How much each is to take in remuneration.
• The responsibilities of each partner as regards duties and management.
• Who will make major decisions and what happens if agreement cannot be arrived at.
• Whether any partner should have limited liability (see below).
• What arrangements will be made for holidays.
• What happens in the case of death or illness.
• Under what terms and conditions the partnership can be dissolved.
• How shares are to be valued in the event of the departure of a partner.
• The rights of each partner to sell or assign shares.

If agreement on the above points cannot be readily agreed in a hypothetical situation, what chance does a partnership stand when it is for real?

Once all matters have been resolved, the list should be handed to a solicitor experienced in such contracts for it to be formally drawn up.

Limited partnerships

This usually occurs when someone is putting up money but has no interest or say in how the business is run. (Sometimes referred to as a sleeping partner.) By law, details of such cash injections have to be notified to the Registrar of Companies.

Should the business fail, the limited partner’s liability is restricted to the amount of capital introduced. All such liabilities, rights to profits, etc, should be included in the contract by an experienced solicitor.

Private limited company

Virtually anyone can set up a limited company. Two directors, one of whom may be the company secretary, are required and for fees totalling a few hundred pounds a company can be bought ‘off the shelf.

The advantages are:

• The kudos of calling yourself a managing director.
• The shareholders’ liability is limited in the event of bankruptcy (though banks and other lenders may negate this by requiring personal guarantees).

The disadvantages are:

• Increased administration, including shareholders’ meetings.
• Increased paperwork, including having to have the accounts audited.
• Increased taxation and National Insurance contributions.

It will rarely be an advantage to run a small hotel as a limited company. An experienced solicitor will advise on this subject.

CHECKLIST

Do you know...

• The various types of hotel available?
• What sort of hotel you want?
• What size of hotel you want?
• How to check out an area?
• What standard of food you can provide?
• The facilities you want to aim for?
• How the various types of ownership affect you?
• Whether you have the confidence to proceed?