Contemplating Winter

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I am starting to think about next winter, mostly because I open reservations 6 months in advance. And I've contemplating closing the rooms (maybe some, maybe all) and taking in foreign students (tenants) from the 8th of January until 30th of April. And so basically not running the B&B for 4 months and instead student tenants.
Anyone done this? Pros and Cons? Should I consider keeping the rooms with PB open for B&B or maybe just better renting it all? Not sure. Because the income from January through May is low anyway and now that we have our own private area...
Do I rent with one a week housekeeping? Housekeeping for common areas? Any ideas? Help?
 
I have taken students doing practicals andi nterns. I gave them a weekly rate,no breakfast, cleaning once a week. I had tea, coffee, and a bowl of fruit available in the dining room. IF I had other guests, they were welcome to join for breakfast but I was not cooking for them. I charged a rate that was affordable for them and since it was long-term money, gave me what I needed for bills AND told them it was PLUS TAX because I was not fighting with the Governor about was it tavable (at the time, 30 consecutive days vecame non-tax - that changed when the Legislature relaized how much tax they were missing with the oil & gas people in hotels).
I just had a young man last week that I gave a $50 per night rate as we thought hewouldbe here for awhile. I would havebeen empty otherwise - plus he helped me with some stuff that needed done and is coming back Friday to put down more mulch for me. He left because a co-worker offered to share hotel room that would save $500 per month so he is trying it out but might be back - he liked it here.
One thing we found early on when we had student teachers in January - they had their thermostats (each room has it own heat) set at 80 and sat around in shorts & tee-shirts. Watch the thermostats. One month electric bill was more than the rent.
 
I have taken students doing practicals andi nterns. I gave them a weekly rate,no breakfast, cleaning once a week. I had tea, coffee, and a bowl of fruit available in the dining room. IF I had other guests, they were welcome to join for breakfast but I was not cooking for them. I charged a rate that was affordable for them and since it was long-term money, gave me what I needed for bills AND told them it was PLUS TAX because I was not fighting with the Governor about was it tavable (at the time, 30 consecutive days vecame non-tax - that changed when the Legislature relaized how much tax they were missing with the oil & gas people in hotels).
I just had a young man last week that I gave a $50 per night rate as we thought hewouldbe here for awhile. I would havebeen empty otherwise - plus he helped me with some stuff that needed done and is coming back Friday to put down more mulch for me. He left because a co-worker offered to share hotel room that would save $500 per month so he is trying it out but might be back - he liked it here.
One thing we found early on when we had student teachers in January - they had their thermostats (each room has it own heat) set at 80 and sat around in shorts & tee-shirts. Watch the thermostats. One month electric bill was more than the rent..
No thermostats in the rooms and those that I do have... have remote controls on my phone to override :)
 
I had one long term tenant and was never comfortable. I think the idea of weekly cleaning is good because you really need to monitor the state of your room. I'd also take out any valuables and use the backup quilts.
 
I had one long term tenant and was never comfortable. I think the idea of weekly cleaning is good because you really need to monitor the state of your room. I'd also take out any valuables and use the backup quilts..
You think I have the good quilts in for the guests? HA! My basic rule, everything gets stained and everything gets stolen. The less the better. I've had at least one glass bottle and 2 silicone cups go walking in the last few months.
 
I have taken in interns during the summer which is our slow time.

We only take one in through. Usually HS grad before entering into college.

You definitely want to do a weekly cleaning or it will be almost unbearable when they leave.

Set up rules of the house. You may need to be more strict than you are with your B&B guests. And give consequences for each infraction.

Our 'kids' have always been respectful of our place because the gov. agency who hired them were also the ones helping find them a place. In other words we had someone to call that may 'higher up' than mom/dad!
 
We do "long-term" tenants every winter, largely because winter operating costs in my area are astronomical, even to sit empty, and unfortunately do not attract any guests in the winter. But we are close to a couple of universities and hospitals. Every year we tend to get a couple of mature students, traveling nurses, and someone who is just moving to the area and not ready to commit to a long term lease.
Biggest piece of advise is to price your rooms based on the clientele you want to attract. Be choosy in who you want to stay and make sure that the people who are interested in staying during your slower season are there for a good reason.
Some of our general practices include our housekeeper going in every 2 weeks to do a general cleaning (dusting, bathrooms, windows, vacuum open areas, etc.). This is mainly so we know whether anything is broken or needs some attention. We only allow ourselves two weeks in May to turn the whole house over for summer tourists. One thing we do not do is take any short term guest who is expecting the same level of service that we offer in the summer. Long term tenants and tourists rarely mix and are on completely different schedules. We use our old but fully usable linens, towels, cookware, utensils, pretty much every down to the rugs for the long term to not put too much ware on the "summer" stuff.
 
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