8 | Bed & Breakfast News | March - April 2016


I was on the telephone doing radio interviews about our award from as far away as Cambodia. We had to unplug our telephone as it was ringing constantly and I couldn’t take the bookings fast enough. We relied on Freetobook for over a month to take the bookings for us as we had 1,427 email enquiries on the first day alone. We were booked up for almost the full year in just four days in January.


I was still worrying about filming for TV (This Morning) later in the day without being able to smile because of my missing tooth, when I received a text from my dentist asking for a shout out on Radio for the surgery. I said “OK, as long as you do a temporary crown for me by 12 o’clock today”. And so it was that I grinned like a Cheshire cat for the cameras later that day!


I wish the winners for 2016/2017 (an Italian B&B, Casa Portagioia) all the very best and hope that they have an on-line booking system like ours to take the strain. Booking.com bookers reported taking days to try to make a booking as hundreds were searching for any odd vacancies.


Some guests even wrote letters, as they were not able to contact us any other way.


With hindsight, I wish we had booked some days off for ourselves as we only had seven days off until the following October.


From opening to ‘World’s - with a little help from the B&


Andrew and I had worked in the hospitality and catering industry, but we did not have experience of the accommodation sector. When we decided to turn our lovely home into a B&B, our local Business Link recommended contacting the Bed & Breakfast Association. I looked over their website, joined the Association and ordered their marvellous publication “How to start and run a Bed & Breakfast”.


The subtitle ‘All you need to know to make money from your dream property’ is true, and I re-read sections from time to time to refresh my memory. This book really set the standard for our business, and Louise and David Weston deserve the highest praise. I do not believe we would have been as successful in business without their guidance - thank you!


Millgate B&B opened its doors for the first time in Spring 2012. Soon we were awarded an EnjoyEngland Breakfast Award. Thanks to the Bed & Breakfast Association we were able to go from a steady trickle of guests to a flood of bookings, as we joined a national newspaper promotion organized by the Association.


The campaign guaranteed national advertising in return for a heavily discounted rate for readers.


240 million audience? No, thanks . . .


CNN wanted to come over in March to make a film about us. We only had one day off in March, and the next break was two days off in May. They said they had a global audience of 240 million and that the film would be shown in eight regions over a period of a year. I turned down their kind offer (much to the consternation of TripAdvisor, who wanted the extra publicity for their awards).


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