Dowfold House's latest Newsletter

There's so much going on around us in Durham - all of it good. Read our latest Newsletter to learn more

http://www.dowfoldhouse.com/index.php/about-us/dowfold-house-newsletters/59-newsletter-715

Sales Prevention, or what?

I'm a simple chap.  If I find something I want to buy I, naively perhaps, think it should not be too difficult to find someone to sell it to me.  Well, that ain't how it is.  I've found some delicious black pudding; I'd like to buy it and serve it to our guests - and I can't.  It's making me VERY cross.

I tasted this mythical black pudding at Bistro21 - one of Durham's top restaurants.  I've eaten plenty of black pudding in my time; most not very good; some OK; some really rather good - and a couple that are sublime. The Bistro21 black pudding falls into this category.  I was lucky enough to meet up with the chef at Bistro21 and he told me they got it from a wholesalers - Warren Butterworth catering butchers.  I duly visited Butterworth's web-site, found the product and enquired after it.  "We don't deliver in Crook." came the deeply uninterested reply.  That's all.  No: "We supply it to these people; you might be able to get it from them." Or ""Sorry, we can't supply it - try the makers."  Just, in effect: " b****r off".

I stuck at it.  Found out that they got it from Vale of Mowbray, in Yorkshire.  I got on to Vale of Mowbray. similar response: "It's on sale in lots of supermarkets."  It's not.  I spent an afternoon on the web and calling all the local supermarkets.  None had it.  Morrisons were the most helpful, FYI.

It's the complete lack of interest that really gets me.  Don't they WANT to sell the stuff?

Anyway, happy ending.  I post my dilemma on FaceBook.  Back comes Rachael Jewson, of Knitsley Farm Shop, near Consett.

"Hi guys hear that you are looking for local black pudding etc?? We do our own black pudding at Knitsley Farm Shop, also award winning bacon and sausages! Acorn Diary do lovely organic milk and butter. Give us a call on 01207 592059 if you want to chat about anything you require. Thanks"

I wonder which black pudding I'm going to buy??  It is delicious, by the way.

Tourism websites: Form or Function?

I'm getting fed-up with local tourism websites.  I'm updating ours (www.dowfoldhouse.co.uk) and TRYING to put links to local areas of interest on it.  So, I visit Auckland Castle website (http://aucklandcastle.org/).

It's a VERY pretty site, with opportunities for me to get wed there - too, late, the damage is done - and a couple of others, none of which offer ANY information about the castle, nor about why I might want to visit it.



 It's the same with Beamish (http://www.beamish.org.uk/).

Apart from the strapline: "The Living Museum of the North" - good - it goes straight into too much detail - events, news, volunteering opportunities which all assume you already know what Beamish actually IS.  Not a thing about just what it offers and what makes a visit there special.  A couple of sentences would do it.

The Bishop Auckland Food Festival suffers from this malaise as well.  I just want to promote these attractions on our own website to visitors & potential visitors, but it's really very hard...

Advertising sites for B&Bs; what ARE they about?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.  All these sites with “Gold”, “Platinum”, “Silver”, “Bronze” categories – as well as a free listing – are missing a trick.  As I’m sure most people have realised, a “free” listing is worth about as much as you pay for it.  So, they list you for free, then point out how few bookings you’ve got, because you have a free, low-priority listing, and press you to upgrade.  Inevitably, you don’t, because you have only negative experience of their site and, as Clausewitz said: “Never reinforce failure”.  I’ve got Scoot trying to do this with me right now.

Now, I know many sites like having lots of places listed, even if most of them don’t get anything out of it, but starting with a free listing just isn’t going to cut it.  They’d be much better off (if their site is any good, that is) by offering you a free TRIAL subscription, at the top rate, where – allegedly – 90% of the bookings go, for three to six months.  Offer detailed statistics on the entry’s performance and use those stats to sell a renewal.  If the B&B doesn’t bite, for whatever reason, relegate them to the free entries section.  It has got to be easier to sell from success than from failure, and the customer gets evidence of real value.

Another thing that really gets me is the absence of statistics.  It is the work of a moment for such sites to generate numbers of referrals, to sort them by area, type of entry, type of B&B, type of enquirer and any other category you care to mention.  But they don’t.  Getting data out of them is harder than getting blood out of a stone.  They might say: “Oh, we had 600,000 hits last months”.  I’m not that interested in hits; I’m interested in click-throughs to an entry’s website.  “3,000 click-throughs, of which 80% went to our 200 Gold entries; 15% to our 500 Silver entries; 3% to our 1,000 Bronze entries, and the remaining 2% to our 10,000 free entries.  That translates to:

• Each Gold entry got 15 enquiries, on average
• Each Silver entry got 0.9 enquiries, on average
• Each Bronze entry got 0.09 enquiries, on average
• The free entries get virtually nil

I also find the concept of: “Great news! For only £9/month we’ll build a great entry for you, with lots of detail, photographs, online booking and more…” deeply dispiriting.  “Oh, God, another b****y web-site to maintain” just about covers it.  We’re on over 40 sites as it is and just checking them regularly to make sure they are all singing from the same hymn sheet is a serious burden.

What I really want to hear are two things:

1. “We’ll put tools in place so that, whenever your web-site changes, we’ll make sure our entry changes to reflect it”.
2. [Even better] “ So, you’re with eviivo and booking.com, and … and … Let us protect you from the nightmare of diary updating and the risk of double bookings.  For mere millions, we’ll keep all of your availability diaries in sync; you just get the bookings.”

I don’t know if it’s too much to ask.  What I DO know is that, if you don’t ask you don’t get… 

Thoughts on the past and the future…

As we subside gently into the season of peace and goodwill (otherwise known as the frantic period of cleaning, decorating and updating before the guests start coming again), I just thought I’d share a few thoughts.  

First, we’ve now been doing this for 6½ years - and STILL enjoy it.  The variety of delightful people you meet - and with whom we enjoy a pleasantly shallow relationship - is unbounded. In that period, we’ve had nearly 3000 people come to stay, many of them several times.  We can count on fewer than the fingers of one hand those we’ve had a problem with (i.e. less than 5).

Second: we’re still trying very hard.  As a departing guest said this morning: “Everything on the breakfast table had just that little bit extra added to it, which makes such a difference.”  And, when I thought about it, it was largely true.  You don’t just get grilled tomatoes here; you get grilled tomatoes treated with herbs and seasoned.  You get really good bacon & sausages from free-range pigs; the eggs come from a local farm; you get home-baked bread, made with our own blend of flours. Actually, we don’t push the envelope on everything: I can’t think of much to do with Heinz beans other than heat and serve them.  Mind you, they’re pretty good as they are.  The same goes for Heinz ketchup and HP sauce.  BTW, if anyone know of a better way to do beans PLEASE let me know!

Third: the plethora of regulations can be irritating, but they are there for a purpose and most of the officials we have to deal with aim to help us meet their needs in the context of improved safety, quality and reliability that led to their creation in the first place.

So, all in all, I don’t regret a minute of our time here, and I hope it’ll go on for much longer.  It’s a great life, if you don’t weaken.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year - and, keep coming!

What does your website REALLY do...

We’ve been looking at Google Analytics on our website for some time
now.  We’re always fascinated to see just how and from where people
find us.  In the past 6 months, people from 60 countries have
visited our site.  It’s also clear that the proportion of people
accessing the site via mobile devices, as opposed to PCs and laptops
has gone from 10% to 20% in a year.  Goshdarnit, I’ll just have to
invest in that pesky old mobile site, now!  It’s all good stuff, but
some of the tools in there mean that you can REALLY tie yourself in
knots…  I’m also looking at Analytics for the discover Weardale
website, which is kinda inneresting (www.discoverweardale.com). 
This site is actually doing rather well, being heavily used for
seeking out events in Weardale, and for people looking for
accommodation.  we get a lot of hits from it.

Boutique B&B or Boutique hotel?

This has been exercising me for some time.  A number of what I would call boutique hotels have been forced to masquerade as boutique B&Bs, because they could not meet ALL the requirements for a hotel designation, as laid down by the quality standards of the Tourist Board (or Quality in Tourism, run by and for VisitEngland as they call it these days).  Now, however this is changing.  there is a good article on the subject, by VisitBritain -http://www.visitengland.org/Images/Boutique%20hotel%20or%20BB(4Dec12)3_tcm30-35814.pdf - which points out, quite reasonably, theat the standards should focus more on quality than quantity, and that the “hotel” moniker can now be applied to a wider group of accommodation providers, as long as they do it well.  Good news I think.

i HATE Mirrors!

I HATE MIRRORS!  Especially the one in our Pink Bedroom.  It has periods where it just will not come clean (it won’t tell me what it saw either, but that’s fine).  I dust it lightly, apply a minimum of cleaning material - usually vinegar & water, but I have been known to attack it with everything from bathroom cleaner to sugar soap and all points in between - or I soak it in unguents, polish and polish and - streaky.  Often it looks fine to start with, but turn my back and look again and the marks are back.  I wonder if it’s haunted? Or possessed of an evil demon.  (BTW: how many benign demons do you know?)  It seems to be more to do with the weather than with me or the mirror per se.  If it’s cold & wet, it is gonna be trouble.  Warm and dry, it’s fine.  Has anyone any ideas? HELP!!

What matters more? Quality or Price

We run a Bed & Breakfast in North-East England. (www.dowfoldhouse.co.uk).  Although I say so myself, we’re pretty good at it.  We’ve won Best B&B in the North-East; a Gold Award from the Green Business Tourism Scheme (GTBS); lots of breakfast awards.  We also have 60 very positive reviews on TripAdvisor, and we strive absolutely for quality.  We aren’t cheap - probably (just) the priciest B&B round here - but if people actually stay here, we get no quibbles about value.  Yet, if the first question people ask when they call us is: “How much is it?”, we can almost guarantee they won’t book.  If they ask: “Do you have such and such availability for some date(s)?” We almost certain they will book.  A few gulp slightly at the price when we discuss it, but they still book.  I suppose my real question is: how do we stop people asking the first question - or is it inevitable that it is uppermost in the minds of some (actually quite a lot of) people?

Dowfold House's latest staff member

Dowfold House Bed & Breakfast has a new member of staff - one Rafford (known as "Raffie).  He is 12 weeks old, a springer/cocker spaniel cross and UTTERLY adorable!

His job is to chase the cats, rip up towels and generally be a complete nuisance.  He's very good...

When is a B&B NOT a B&B?

Answer; when it’s a hotel, or guest house. There’s a lot of confusion between the three genres of “serviced accommodation”, as the Tourist Board call the sector, and it leads do a lot of unhappiness and dissatisfaction amongst guest and host alike. Expectations are different; even the poorest hotel may outshine the fanciest B&B in terms of range of services – yet may equally be outclassed in terms of the core offerings – a nice room and a delicious breakfast.

So let’s try and arrive at definitions of the three, always remembering that each covers such a range of prices, facilities and indeed personalities, that sweeping generalities will always be wrong at some point. Nevertheless, in the words of Edward Heath (as re-iterated by Monty Python…) “We’re going to have a try”.

First, the B&B, or Bed & Breakfast. Its primary defining characteristics are well described in the name; a good night’s sleep and a thorough breakfast. Most other aspects of a B&B’s offerings are derived fairly closely from those two key necessities. There is, however a third: the personal touch. B&B is about the hosts inviting guests into their home; I’d suggest that, if the hosts do not live on the premises, then it’s not a B&B – it’s a hotel or guest-house. You could go further and say that, even if the hosts (who will almost invariably also be the owners) live on the premises, but in a separate part of the building, then it is edging away from the “personal” aspect of a pure B&B. This (limited) intimacy with the business and with the guests is for us one of the glories of running a B&B, and if you are the kind of people that enjoy people, then this is the place for you to stay, or even to run.

Again, B&Bs by their personal nature, tend to be small. There is a distinction in English law that says, if a person lets out three bedrooms or fewer, incorporating no more than six beds, then theirs is not a commercial establishment – rather, it is a private person welcoming guests into their home. That’s not to say that larger places cannot be B&Bs; but they will be governed by commercial workplace – and work-force – legislation to a much greater extent than the private B&B establishment.

They tend to be not only run, but largely staffed by their owners. While a hotel owner may practically never even visit his investment, it is by and large the perspiring owner of the B&B who meets you at the door, shows you to your room, cooks and serves the classic English breakfast, takes your money, cleans the room and washes and irons the sheets. I fear we’ve chickened out on the last bit and get the ironing done by someone much better at it than us – it’s called “getting a life”.

Because they do all this themselves – and because they do need occasionally to do other things like live, be parents, members of the community – or deeply lazy, if you prefer – they do tend to seek later check-in times for their guests than you would expect in most hotels. Even if you “just want to drop our bags off, then we’ll be out again, don’t worry”, they still have to be ready, and to receive you – often during the small amount of time when they need to do other things. Please try to be sympathetic to this, and you’ll find most hosts will do their best to be correspondingly sympathetic to your needs.

You won’t find staffed 24/7 reception at a B&B. They tend to sleep when the guests do. Not as long, of course, but they do need it, promise! They also tend to be less good on the telephone before about 10am and later in the evening – ‘cos they are either busy cooking, or busy applying the restorative glass of wine that helps so much. More importantly, though, you will in general find 24/7 concern for their guests; it’s what drives your hosts, perhaps more than the money (since there’s not too much of that…).

To summarise, a (good) B&B is personal, individual and dare I say quirkier than the more mainstream hotels and guest houses. It offers a more focussed service – and often simply more service. If you enjoy interacting with the people around you it’s a great place to stay; if you’re more after seclusion, anonymity, and “peace perfect peace, with others far way” (to paraphrase), it may not suit. You won’t find squadrons of lackeys leaping (like that bit of alliteration?) to your bidding; you will find one or two people deeply committed to your welfare.

Enough for now; I’ll get on to the guest-house v the hotel in a future outpouring.

Staying in a B&B - What's it like?

We stayed in a LOT of B&Bs before we went into the business ourselves (at Dowfold House), so here are some thoughts - please add your own.

The range of offerings is VAST. We've stayed in some wonderful places - and some shockers. That's part of the charm - or risk - of choosing to stay in B&Bs. They strongly reflect the owner's personality, so it's worth calling up and talking for a bit, not just about the B&B but also about the area, or your reason for coming, or almost anything. A good B&B host will know the area and will be interested in your reasons for wanting to come to stay. A short chat will tell you whether you "click" or are uncomfortable. If you are comfortable with the people, then you will be comfortable with the B&B.

You (sadly, perhaps) don't always get what you pay for. Identical apparent facilities, at a similar price, can be presented in VERY different ways. For example: "electric shower" can be a 7Kw dribbler in a 700mm cubicle with cheap plastic shower surround - or even WORSE, a shower curtain - or a 10-11Kw gusher in a 900mm or bigger shower, with proper glass panels. If these thngs worry you, ask. We try to offer really good facilities, well-maintained - but we do charge for it. We'd rather ask a fair price, then strive for customer satisfaction, than price low and resent every penny, every minute each guest "costs".

Look at the visitor book, if it's available on-line. people hardly ever write poor reviews in these, but the colour and frequency of the praise says a lot about the establishment. Look for comments on the food, the hosts, the room, the convenience, or for any particular thing you are interested in - near shops, or lost in the middle of nowhere, for example. Few are the hosts that will "make up" reviews; it's too easy to be rumbled, so they are generally reliable, if somewhat rose-tinted.

Inevitably, decide what you want, and ask if it's important to you. Good hosts will answer any questions willingly and frankly; thay don't want an unhappy guest any more than you do. For example, we've had a couple of small problems, when people haven't realised exactly where we are, and what travelling is like in the area. If you want to be 5 minutes from your destination, then deep in the country, up a muddy track won't do. (we're not, by the way; we're on the edge of Crook, with GREAT parking and APPALLING public transport). If you want buzzing night life, you won't want to come to Crook, anyway. If, on the other hand, you like seeing horses and sheep and rolling countryside when you wake up, then we might be right for you.

Do use the facilities; the hosts have made them available and are (usually) happy for you to do so. If there's a lounge, or a garden, check them out. If there's a wide-ranging breakfast menu, experiment. There's nothing I like better than a challenging breakfast guest! It means I can show off! We had one set of guests who ordered the works - full breakfast, porridge, pastries and all - then didn't eat a THING. If they want to come back, frankly, we probably won't take them. Others have scoured the menus, picked new and interesting combinations and almost always have savoured the result. We want more of those!

What's it like running a bed & breakfast?

Good question. If you enjoy meeting people and don't mind a bit of hard work, then it can be great fun. Over the past 6 months, we've had literally hundreds of guests and fried/ poached/ scrambled/ boiled over 400 eggs! We've not had one bad guest; they've ranged from delightful to acceptable. Of course, they are different and we get on better with some than with others, but the difference in itself is part of the charm of the business. You get new perspectives, new ideas, new ways of thinking. You'll never get in a rut!

The biggest effort has been on the laundry side - it just never stops, and makes people who stay for more than one night VERY attractive! The cleaning and fettling side is not a problem, since there are two of us, and the breakfasts are just fun. We have a wide variety of breakfast options and frankly it's nice when people break away from "full English, please" and test us with demands for smoked salmon, porridge, fresh baked croissants, exotic juices and the like. We haven't been beaten yet!

The biggest tie is waiting in for arriving guests. If you get one lot out by say 10:30 and then next ones are coming in at 3:30-5:00pm, after you have changed the rooms and cleaned the house, you don't get that much time for you, in your own home, or time to go out.

Overall, however, the experience has been very positive. We really like the people, enjoy (most) of the work, and it allows us to live in a house, and to enjoy a lifestyle, which otherwise we could not afford. And, if it all gets too much, we just put a line through the diary and tell enquirors "sorry; we're full".