What is the day to day like?

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are seriously considering purchasing a B&B or small hotel in Germany or Austria. We are aiming for an 8-10 room Inn with breakfast, but no restaurant. Ideally we'd like to have our inn in an area where there's skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer so that we'd be open almost year round.
We have no experience in running such a business, but from the outside it seems like something that we'd like to do. We have worked with the public before and that part we're comfortable with but we'd really like a better picture of the amount of work that's required to make the business thrive.
Can any owners out there detail what it's really like to own such a business? What is the day to day like, the schedule? Do you have some time off?

Welcome. I suggest you take time to read the threads here first before asking this broad of a question. We could write a book. And in fact, there are several out there you should get and read as well. Do you have money to purchase a B &B? If not, stop right now and start saving and reading. Good luck.

Bed &Breakfast For Dummies is the best I have seen on the subject and read here. We get this question fairly often. Blunt truthful answers have sometimes not been received well.
To give a general answer though, you will get up very early to prepare a lovely breakfast that may or may not be eaten (or to be told I cannot eat that). Then clean the kitchen after saying goodbye to guests, followed by cleaning rooms as you answer phones, then shop for supplies, check e-mail, do some marketing and blogging on the computer, check mail, maybe take a minute to eat, get the rest of the house guest ready, greet in-coming guests, prepare what you can for morning, and FINALLY go to bed late.
it will be hard work but you meet interesting people. As I say, people pay me to come entertain me.
oh, I do not know what it is in the countries you mentioned, but I got a call this morning from the organizer of a 5k fundraiser taking place in my city tomorrow asking if I would donate a room for the timekeeper. THAT should have been done a month ago.
Fortunately for her (and me actually) when she said where he is from & timekeeper I asked if it was Kyle. Yes. He also is timekeeper for the Turkey Trot & stays here every Nov. I told her to find out what time he will arrive & tell him his room is ready and will make the baked oatmeal. He likes that, has requested it - he is a vegan. Which is why she lucked out - I know what to fix and I do have his room available.

Depends on how much of the work you are going to do yourselves and what level of hospitality. We get up at 7 to make breakfast ready for 8. Then we have some time off. Clean room. Then relax to wait for check-ins. We consider ourselves off-duty at 6PM, but we still have to be around for questions and that.

gillumhouse, thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely get that! You mention having to go to bed late, why is that? As Jon mentioned, he considers himself off-duty at 6pm and this is something that my wife and I were planning as well, is this reasonable for an 8-10 room inn?
Jon, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves in the beginning but we would like to hire a cleaning man/lady once the cashflow permits.

Syberz said:

gillumhouse, thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely get that! You mention having to go to bed late, why is that? As Jon mentioned, he considers himself off-duty at 6pm and this is something that my wife and I were planning as well, is this reasonable for an 8-10 room inn?
Jon, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves in the beginning but we would like to hire a cleaning man/lady once the cashflow permits..

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We work 7 days a week, but when we go on vacation, it's for long period. This year we took 28 days off in a row.

Welcome to the forum!
You will work yourself into the grave. That is what owning a B&B will be like. Last night a room didn't show and so at 3am I finally took the note off the door and was up and at em early, after not falling back asleep. There are no sick days when own a B&B, and no getting to work late (but the commute is a good one!)
The amount of work required is this:
Always too much
More than you can handle
The list is ongoing and you can never get to the list (except in the winter or off season where you are) and the list keeps growing. You put out fires, emergency repairs and maintenance then spend you "time off" trying to get ahead on the list for updates/renovations.
To take a day off you have to leave, physically leave and find a place with no cell coverage or internet.
We don't have a thriving business, apparently, so we have been told as people want to make a ton of money at this, so we are a "lifestyle B&B" with 6 rooms.
Just about everything we make goes back into the business, and we live here (which is the greatest part of it, no not living in a giant house you get to keep clean 24/7 and lawns yard manicured, but writing off expenses to live in your business). Can you buy low and sell high? Then do that. But most are not giving out loans at the moment, so you need to buy it outright or a big chunk a change down to satisfy the banks. - and we get no paycheck. We work for free basically. No medical, no retirement, no paycheck.
That is us. There are others who are smarter and make a good living at it, so for that reason the next comment will be "location location location" and if you don't believe that, then walk away, no. run...
Then there is the satisfaction of being your own boss, doing your own thing, and making it fun. You do what you want to do within boundaries, and enjoy what you have, but any small business owner will tell you it won't come easy. Days without break, without rest, without family/marriage time. I would work that into the equation upfront, as without that you are nothing, There is no success when you don't have a loving spouse and/or family around.
My two cents. All the best is your search for answers. Innkeepers are strange people, so expect varied answers, we are called innmates for a reason.

All of our staff live on location since we have 13 bedrooms but as a B&B we can only rent 8 and our two bedroom cottage. ( Our two summer staff is moving in as soon as college ends.)
Summer months-Wake up at 6am. Rush around to get breakfast in the Dining Room by 8. Serve breakfast and talk with the guests till 10am. Check out the ones going home and advise the ones staying where to go for the day, lunch ideas, etc. Get started on cleaning rooms. When rooms are done, we grab lunch. Then the outside work, fixing problems, going to the store, etc. Check ins which is our down time while we wait between rooms....then we can relax while one person is on call until 11pm.....day is done.
WInter months- Wake up and stumble downstairs when you feel like it. Check INNspiring. Check email. Wait for phone to ring. Take nap. Play games together. Go to bed......Ok, it's not that bad! We do our inside repairs and remodel rooms, think up what to do when the weather is better, etc.

Duff2014 said:

All of our staff live on location since we have 13 bedrooms but as a B&B we can only rent 8 and our two bedroom cottage. ( Our two summer staff is moving in as soon as college ends.)
Summer months-Wake up at 6am. Rush around to get breakfast in the Dining Room by 8. Serve breakfast and talk with the guests till 10am. Check out the ones going home and advise the ones staying where to go for the day, lunch ideas, etc. Get started on cleaning rooms. When rooms are done, we grab lunch. Then the outside work, fixing problems, going to the store, etc. Check ins which is our down time while we wait between rooms....then we can relax while one person is on call until 11pm.....day is done.
WInter months- Wake up and stumble downstairs when you feel like it. Check INNspiring. Check email. Wait for phone to ring. Take nap. Play games together. Go to bed......Ok, it's not that bad! We do our inside repairs and remodel rooms, think up what to do when the weather is better, etc.

.

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Duff2014 said:

All of our staff live on location since we have 13 bedrooms but as a B&B we can only rent 8 and our two bedroom cottage. ( Our two summer staff is moving in as soon as college ends.)
Summer months-Wake up at 6am. Rush around to get breakfast in the Dining Room by 8. Serve breakfast and talk with the guests till 10am. Check out the ones going home and advise the ones staying where to go for the day, lunch ideas, etc. Get started on cleaning rooms. When rooms are done, we grab lunch. Then the outside work, fixing problems, going to the store, etc. Check ins which is our down time while we wait between rooms....then we can relax while one person is on call until 11pm.....day is done.
WInter months- Wake up and stumble downstairs when you feel like it. Check INNspiring. Check email. Wait for phone to ring. Take nap. Play games together. Go to bed......Ok, it's not that bad! We do our inside repairs and remodel rooms, think up what to do when the weather is better, etc.

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and marketing...

Joey Bloggs said:

Duff2014 said:

All of our staff live on location since we have 13 bedrooms but as a B&B we can only rent 8 and our two bedroom cottage. ( Our two summer staff is moving in as soon as college ends.)
Summer months-Wake up at 6am. Rush around to get breakfast in the Dining Room by 8. Serve breakfast and talk with the guests till 10am. Check out the ones going home and advise the ones staying where to go for the day, lunch ideas, etc. Get started on cleaning rooms. When rooms are done, we grab lunch. Then the outside work, fixing problems, going to the store, etc. Check ins which is our down time while we wait between rooms....then we can relax while one person is on call until 11pm.....day is done.
WInter months- Wake up and stumble downstairs when you feel like it. Check INNspiring. Check email. Wait for phone to ring. Take nap. Play games together. Go to bed......Ok, it's not that bad! We do our inside repairs and remodel rooms, think up what to do when the weather is better, etc.

.

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Duff2014 said:

All of our staff live on location since we have 13 bedrooms but as a B&B we can only rent 8 and our two bedroom cottage. ( Our two summer staff is moving in as soon as college ends.)
Summer months-Wake up at 6am. Rush around to get breakfast in the Dining Room by 8. Serve breakfast and talk with the guests till 10am. Check out the ones going home and advise the ones staying where to go for the day, lunch ideas, etc. Get started on cleaning rooms. When rooms are done, we grab lunch. Then the outside work, fixing problems, going to the store, etc. Check ins which is our down time while we wait between rooms....then we can relax while one person is on call until 11pm.....day is done.
WInter months- Wake up and stumble downstairs when you feel like it. Check INNspiring. Check email. Wait for phone to ring. Take nap. Play games together. Go to bed......Ok, it's not that bad! We do our inside repairs and remodel rooms, think up what to do when the weather is better, etc.

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and marketing...

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Joey Bloggs said:

and marketing...

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Yeah forgot that and saying NO, No, no to our daily google call between 10am and 10:30am.

Syberz said:

gillumhouse, thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely get that! You mention having to go to bed late, why is that? As Jon mentioned, he considers himself off-duty at 6pm and this is something that my wife and I were planning as well, is this reasonable for an 8-10 room inn?
Jon, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves in the beginning but we would like to hire a cleaning man/lady once the cashflow permits..

Click to expand...

Syberz said:

gillumhouse, thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely get that! You mention having to go to bed late, why is that? As Jon mentioned, he considers himself off-duty at 6pm and this is something that my wife and I were planning as well, is this reasonable for an 8-10 room inn?
Jon, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves in the beginning but we would like to hire a cleaning man/lady once the cashflow permits.

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If you're 20-30 years old you can do an 8-10 room place on your own. If you're late 40's and up you will hate yourselves after your first full week of business. There's no amount of adrenaline or Red Bull that can keep you going.
We all operate differently. We shut the office down at 9 pm. That doesn't mean the phone stops ringing. It doesn't mean we stop working. I usually bake at 9 pm.
Gomez is up at 5:30 am to start breakfast for 8 am. Breakfast runs from 8-9:30. Cleanup of the kitchen goes to 10:30. Room cleanup goes until it's done. We can clean 7 rooms in 3 hours. Laundry is running constantly from 10 am to 5 pm. Guests start checking in whenever they feel like it. (Ok, they ring the bell from around 8 am onward. Some don't arrive until after midnight. And ring the bell. And one of us is getting up in 5 hours to start the day over.)
All of the other business aspects (phone, email, marketing, website, accounting, bookkeeping, grocery shopping, food prep, lawn care, building maintenance, emergency repairs) all happen sometime in that same 24 hours. Done by whom? You.
You are never off duty. Never. Jon may sit down but he's not off duty.

Syberz said:

gillumhouse, thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely get that! You mention having to go to bed late, why is that? As Jon mentioned, he considers himself off-duty at 6pm and this is something that my wife and I were planning as well, is this reasonable for an 8-10 room inn?
Jon, we'll be doing all of the work ourselves in the beginning but we would like to hire a cleaning man/lady once the cashflow permits..

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Guests do not always arrive when YOU want them to. I do overnight stabling and sometimes they get in late. BUT sometimes it is that I cannot get TO the computer-type work until later. Plus I live here also and have a husband who needs/wants things done.; Sometimes the owners quarters get bad enough even I cannot stand it. I left out doing laundry, ironing, baking - there is a small window of time between check-out and check-in.
There is always something needing fixed, yard work needing done. And to keep my sanity, I am a little active in my city.
Right now I had to come back from the hospital where my husband had and aneurysm fixed yesterday - waiting to find out if he is coming home today or not - because the organizer of a fundraiser 5k forgot to make arrangements until this morning for the timekeeper (giving her slack because this is the first time she has done it). I had to come home to get everything guest ready and while I was here take care of some City business that HAD to be re-done today because it was missed by everyone yesterday.
Jon is superman and in a big city - I am small and in a city too small to be on most maps and a hair under 7 miles off an Interstate that now has 6 hotels at the exit to me. My front door is over 100 years old and I am not messing with the lock - Jon has keyless lock with self-checkin. I am also old and move slower.

I really do encourage you to read some of the topics on our forum first. there was a recent one where MTkeeper laid out a nice list of things to do to improve your chances at a long happy life of innkeeping.
The one thing about your question is that you seem to be approaching it from the "the business runs us" way of thinking. I would begin by putting that in its proper order first. You know what you want and need and then you run the business according to that. Running numbers with that in mind can be enlightening.

I also like the book "Bed and Breakfast Magic" by Yvonne Halling. She supposedly has a b&b in France, and I believe they are experts in small champagne makers in their area of France. And have a following of people interested in that.
Her concept it that rather than just be a B&B, you should have a specialization or 2, and target people who are interested in your specialty. Of course, it should also fit your region and knowledge. For example, birdwatchers, kayakers, hunters, skiiers, fishers, etc.
A lot of people seem to acquire an inn, set up their website and marketing and wait for people to come in. But questionable competition (think AirBnb), regulations and other things are making this harder. Places like NYC and Raleigh are seeing their B&Bs close, for example.
I believe the future will belong to the specialist, rather than the generalist.

happykeeper said:

I really do encourage you to read some of the topics on our forum first. there was a recent one where MTkeeper laid out a nice list of things to do to improve your chances at a long happy life of innkeeping.
The one thing about your question is that you seem to be approaching it from the "the business runs us" way of thinking. I would begin by putting that in its proper order first. You know what you want and need and then you run the business according to that. Running numbers with that in mind can be enlightening..

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Agree.
I have read that the main reasons for business failure include things such as undercapitalization, bad location, lack of knowledge/management skills.
I think anyone planning to open a B&B without thinking every detail through will face a lot of struggles. There is the happy picture of B&B owners that some dream of. And then there is the reality.
Just reading a lot of posts brings another picture - long hours, not so much profit (which often goes back into the business), cleaning, some problem guests, safety/fire/regulatory issues.
I am finding out that just the septic can drive a lot of zoning issues. And around here, EVERY suitable country place seems to have septic.
Found a nice place - a large house with two additional rental units, used to be B&B, great bed/bath units in reasonable condition for good price.
Problem? stream in back, lot size, septic, etc. etc.
Cannot rent out either rental unit (goodbye $1500 monthly income). Limited to using 3 units as B&B, even though mixed use, cannot do some of the business things we planned.
So essentially, we would be doomed to making enough money to pay for the place, and not able to do most of or dream sidelines there. Forget it!

undersea said:

happykeeper said:

I really do encourage you to read some of the topics on our forum first. there was a recent one where MTkeeper laid out a nice list of things to do to improve your chances at a long happy life of innkeeping.
The one thing about your question is that you seem to be approaching it from the "the business runs us" way of thinking. I would begin by putting that in its proper order first. You know what you want and need and then you run the business according to that. Running numbers with that in mind can be enlightening..

Click to expand...

Agree.
I have read that the main reasons for business failure include things such as undercapitalization, bad location, lack of knowledge/management skills.
I think anyone planning to open a B&B without thinking every detail through will face a lot of struggles. There is the happy picture of B&B owners that some dream of. And then there is the reality.
Just reading a lot of posts brings another picture - long hours, not so much profit (which often goes back into the business), cleaning, some problem guests, safety/fire/regulatory issues.
I am finding out that just the septic can drive a lot of zoning issues. And around here, EVERY suitable country place seems to have septic.
Found a nice place - a large house with two additional rental units, used to be B&B, great bed/bath units in reasonable condition for good price.
Problem? stream in back, lot size, septic, etc. etc.
Cannot rent out either rental unit (goodbye $1500 monthly income). Limited to using 3 units as B&B, even though mixed use, cannot do some of the business things we planned.
So essentially, we would be doomed to making enough money to pay for the place, and not able to do most of or dream sidelines there. Forget it!
.

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Infrastructure is a big issue for any business, and especially in the hospitality business, waste-water disposal is a particularly important aspect to pay attention to if you are not connected to a municipal sewer system...
When we finish with the current (third) major project underway right now, we will have spent probably close to $100K over the last ~2 years on waste-water disposal systems.

undersea said:

I also like the book "Bed and Breakfast Magic" by Yvonne Halling. She supposedly has a b&b in France, and I believe they are experts in small champagne makers in their area of France. And have a following of people interested in that.
Her concept it that rather than just be a B&B, you should have a specialization or 2, and target people who are interested in your specialty. Of course, it should also fit your region and knowledge. For example, birdwatchers, kayakers, hunters, skiiers, fishers, etc.
A lot of people seem to acquire an inn, set up their website and marketing and wait for people to come in. But questionable competition (think AirBnb), regulations and other things are making this harder. Places like NYC and Raleigh are seeing their B&Bs close, for example.
I believe the future will belong to the specialist, rather than the generalist..

Click to expand...

I was reading today's post in Jim's Marketing Blog this morning, and it relates to undersea's post here:
Stop marketing your services. Really. Stop it!
He referred back to an earlier post, which is one of my favorites:
The number 1 thing you must know, for your business to succeed
And in a way, both of these posts relate back to what HappyKeeper posted above in this thread -- are you running the business, or is the business running you?

welcome!
If I were you I'd take an aspiring innkeeper course. Hopefully they have them where you are! And yes read all that you can.
Have deep pockets - meaning money. Owning a b&b is like owning your home with constant visitors using multiple bathrooms that need attention, bedrooms and linens that get a lot of use and need looking after. Guests are hard on property - in they come with rolling suitcases, bump, bump, bump up and down stairs, along the floors. Lots of wear and tear.
If you have a big enough place to employ staff it's a very different situation from a smaller place where you are doing the work on your own. I agree, the more youthful, energetic, fit ... can do more on their own. By choice or necessity ... you do the work or hire someone to do it. Having employees and / or self employed comes with its own challenges.
It's very different from a nine to five job because you are always 'on'. Always. Guests or potential guests or just curious visitors will call and come to the door. Depending on where you are. If you are in a tourist area, great - lots of people coming and going. But not so great ... they are at the door just wanting to see the place. All. the. time. It's hard to explain to a curious, happy tourist that you don't have time to give a tour while you are trying to scrub toilets. Fact.
There are always things to do. I would do bookkeeping in the middle of the night.
This forum is hands down the best place for getting the day in day out face of running a b&b.

Since our business is a bit different from many of the others here, our day-to-day experience is a bit different from the examples already shared in this thread, but similar in other ways.
The hospitality business is a lot like dairy farming. On a dairy farm, the cows need milking twice a day, every day, all year long. You cannot skip a milking, for the sake of your cows, you just can't. So there is always something to do, your work is never done.
This is the case for many businesses you might embark on -- if you are self-employed, there is almost always something that you could be doing to further advance your business.
But there can also be great rewards -- maybe not always financial or monetary rewards -- but the little successes you achieve in building your business, establishing a positive reputation, setting yourself apart from your competition, getting great reviews from your guests, etc... It can be a real kick!
You want to work on things so as to minimize the headaches, the "pita" guests, the maintenance problems, and maximize the little joys you get out of the business. Some of this may be in refining your daily procedures for maximum efficiency and efficacy for you, or maybe in spending more up-front on solutions that will ultimately require less maintenance in the long term ... whatever will be appropriate for you and your unique business.

Harborfields said:

undersea said:

I also like the book "Bed and Breakfast Magic" by Yvonne Halling. She supposedly has a b&b in France, and I believe they are experts in small champagne makers in their area of France. And have a following of people interested in that.
Her concept it that rather than just be a B&B, you should have a specialization or 2, and target people who are interested in your specialty. Of course, it should also fit your region and knowledge. For example, birdwatchers, kayakers, hunters, skiiers, fishers, etc.
A lot of people seem to acquire an inn, set up their website and marketing and wait for people to come in. But questionable competition (think AirBnb), regulations and other things are making this harder. Places like NYC and Raleigh are seeing their B&Bs close, for example.
I believe the future will belong to the specialist, rather than the generalist..

Click to expand...

I was reading today's post in Jim's Marketing Blog this morning, and it relates to undersea's post here:
Stop marketing your services. Really. Stop it!
He referred back to an earlier post, which is one of my favorites:
The number 1 thing you must know, for your business to succeed
And in a way, both of these posts relate back to what HappyKeeper posted above in this thread -- are you running the business, or is the business running you?
.

Click to expand...

We still have the, "We are a destination" sign tacked up somewhere. It went up early on in our ten years and, it is a little scary to say, we may be nearing that truth. People want the experience that only we offer. We have spent ten years developing our unique brands and I would consider this the single greatest asset for our business and it's growth.