How Big is too big for One person?

6-8 would be about right for us

on your own ~ do you mean as a couple or as solo innkeeper?

i have no spouse, i'm a widow.

i ran an eight room b&b with one part time chambermaid and i was exhausted when we were full.  and i do mean exhausted.

3 or 4 rooms on my own was good ~ and i was able to handle the flips.  but still, getting the whole place clean and the windows done (salt water buildup on windows in a harbor village is not pretty), shopping and all the rest ~ relief help was needed!  and when it was time to relax ~~ well, relax time was devoted to marketing and bookkeeping.  you know that reservations and inquiries come at all hours and you need to keep up with those.  and the laundry!!!!!   i used a service for the sheets and bed linens and still was running laundry constantly for the towels and robes.

also, a two night minimum stay on weekends would have helped ~ enormously(!)  but the area was a one night stayover place for a lot of people taking a ferry in the morning.  so a two night minimum would have cost me lots of business on a friday, saturday or sunday nite.

What does busy mean - 35% occupancy, 50% occupancy - 100% for three months then 10% the rest of the year?

I can't imagine doing more than 2 or 3 with anything approaching 50% occupancy.  Maybe more when I was in my prime but not in my current lack-of-physical-fitness.

"fairly busy area" is very subjective IMHO.   Would this mean heavy travel for X months then drizzle to no business for the rest?  Would it mean 50+% business much of the year?    This would all make a difference in the answers due to need of time off - I think back to that couple that were hired innkeepers - even with staff they were burned out within a few months. 

I have 5 guest rooms that I do 95% of the work.  DH is the handy man if things need fixing.  He helps with breakfast, does the yard work (except flowers), pool, etc.  We average 50-55% occ. for the year. 

I wouldn't do this alone at all. I've been on my own for the past couple of weeks while hubs handles a family illness and it's not something I would do without him by my side for the long term. If I had help every day I would consider it. Otherwise, I give kudos to all of those who do this by themselves (like SS) or do this with a spouse who does something else 'during the day' (as many innkeepers do).

I have 3 and I do not think I would want 4. One more room does not sound like much - but is a BIG difference. I have a DH who does the dishes - at HIS pace - which means at times he is in the way more than he is a help BUT I do have to be careful of that delicate male ego.... Just the amount of dishes generated by 2 more people for breakfast would be a killer, not counting the sheets, towels, robes, and the more frequent appointments with the dreaded ironing board! And I will close before I will deal with all the workman's comp, FICA, etc of hiring some one.

Anyone doing it (or done it) with kids at home?  How would that affect your answer?

No more than 4 rooms, definitely.  And then, you have to look at it to see if it is worth the stress and aggravation.  Seriously.  I'm not being negative, just realistic.  If you are looking at 50% occupancy, year round, it will be a lot of work for one person.  If you have low occupancy, with breaks in between the influx of guests, you might be able to handle it on your own.  Also, if you are constantly flipping one night stays vs. an average length of stay of several nights, that is also a HUGE factor.

I would be able to handle 3-4 rooms on my own if it was a weekend business, no problem.  You have several days to recuperate from the weekend and to have somewhat of a life. 

It is tough to be on your own...no question. 

I handle two.  It is very easy and everything flows.  I do most of the work myself.  I do have a handyman and a housekeeper I have on an "on call" basis.

 From my experience - 4 rooms.  We "opened" a number of years ago at the start of the busy season.  I had expected to have DH for at least moral support but he ended up working out of state from June until the end of September.  I was left with no choice but to jump right in, pretend I knew what I was doing and make it work.  

As the competence and confidence have grown, I've added to the things I handle outside of the inn .... and to be honest, last year was a nightmare - we took on too much.  

This year I'm back to just my four rooms and trying to help DH as much as possible with the new place.

 I would say on your own starting out with no experience 2 rooms and work up to what she could handle. I think I could handle 4 on my own, but DH can only handle 2 on his own since I have to prep for him, and he gets buried in the laundry

But if you have kids in the mix I would not do more than 2 until they are used to the situation.

Keep room for expansion of rooms or if they have a place with 5 rooms just don't reserve or advertise the others until they have their routine down.

Riki

Has anyone noticed that "SecondAct" has not replied back since they posted 6-8

for us...doing it all ourselves... 3 rooms was all we  could handle.  And as my back grew worse..it went to 2 rooms..then we closed.  However, I do have  2 friends who do everything themselves and they have 5 rooms. They admit it is alot of work and they don't get much time for "themselves."

I work full time 4 blocks down the street from my B&B... but I

have 2 cottages... so guest can come and go as they please

without me there all the time. When I retire 4 Cottages I

think would be my max ? I am a solo innkeeper but really

enjoy my little B&B. At 65.5 I will retire in a few....Mary

I am the full time Innkeeper with 3 rooms, and dh works full time outside the house.  He cooks brekkie, and leaves right after we serve it.  I handle EVERYTHING else.  I did, finally, break down and hire a lawn service, as mowing that 2.5 acres and tending all the flowers, etc was just too time consuming.  I wouldn't mind trying it with one more room, but that might be pushing it, time wise and especially laundry wise.

Hi all,

You're right, I didn't answer the question properly.  My answer was based on my dream inn situation.  There are lots of threads that discuss the nature of this business for aspirings, what size inn you need in order to make money, etc., but this thread actually has hit the nail on the head as I'm finding all of you answering very straightforwardly on the amount of time and effort it takes for one person to manage a number of rooms.  Our dream inn situation would have both DH and me working full time in the inn business and we've calculated that we would need that many rooms in order to generate the kind of income we feel we'd need.  I may not be a contributor very often here but I'm always learning from all of you and I'm on this addictive website probably several times a day on most days.  I appreciate that I'm able to participate some of the time even though I'm not a full-fledged innkeeper yet.  Some day ... hopefully, some day ... )

I'm chiming in late... been busy. 

We have four rooms.  Dh works full-time in a factory with the long-term goal of being full-time in the B&B.  (Two more years and he's outta there!)  We have twin five year old boys (the ds5x2) who can be helpful when they want to be... which isn't often enough or for long enough!  My dh handles the coffee, including ordering, roasting, grinding, and perking.  This week he had to work two 12-hour shifts so he made the coffee when he came home at 3:30 and put it in a caraffe for the 7:30 breakfast.  He also handles lawn (grass... I do flowers), most of the vacuuming and floor cleaning, and helps clean rooms.  Oh, and helps with the ds5x2, and dusting common areas, and window washing...  So while the B&B is "my thing" he really does a LOT of work around here!

I think we could do at least five, probably six rooms if we were both at it full time.  If I were all by myself I think I my personal max would be five... my dh is a lot of help, but he also requires my attention sometimes, as do my kids.  I'm happy to stick with four and have my family, though!

Our occupancy is a little hard to say as we've only been fully open a year.  2008's occupancy (with two rooms opening half way through the year) was about 24%.  This year we'll be above that, but I'm not sure where.  June was 46%.  Last year's July was 70% and I was absolutely beat afterward.  (But I know that I work hard for the summer then have a break in late fall.)  So, somewhere in the 40-50% range is probably where we'll end up eventually.

And yes, 45 minutes to clean a room sounds about right.  When we work together it goes a lot faster, but if it's just me, and the room has a king-sized bed, it definitely takes a while.  (Why a king should take exponentially longer than a queen is beyond me!)

If I were running a place alone I would definitely have LOTS of sheet sets (well, I already do, but even more!) so that I'm not doing laundry on days I have a lot of flips.  Come to think of it, that's what I'm already doing... if I have to flip 3 or 4 rooms I'm not doing laundry, and on a weekend where I know it's going to be crazy (like the one coming up) I make sure the laundry is all caught up before the weekend hits.

=)
Kk.