How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 95

The new “Star” rating scheme will, like the previous “Diamonds” scheme, become well
recognized and trusted by the public. The fact that a B&B has been independently
inspected and assessed to official criteria is a great reassurance to potential guests, and
gives the B&B valuable credibility. This is worth a lot to you in marketing terms: just
saying you have been officially rated at say Three Star or Four Star says more as far as a
guest is concerned than pages of copy you have written yourself in your brochure or on
your website.
Unless you intend to run your B&B only on a very small-scale or occasional basis, we
would recommend that you apply for an official star rating. This is because of the
“credibility” factor just touched on, and also because this allows you to benefit from the
tourism promotion budget of your local tourist authority. Now, it is becoming usual
for tourist authorities to only list and promote B&Bs which have been officially star-
rated (our own West Dorset happens to be one). This means that if you are not
officially rated, you miss out on this promotional opportunity.
Before going ahead, however, we recommend that you send for the full information
pack from Quality in Tourism, including the “Common Standards for Guest
Accommodation” booklet, and study it in detail. Then decide what star level you
would like to achieve, bearing in mind your prices, your target market and your
competitors. The “Common Standards” criteria will give you a good idea of what star
rating you might achieve as things are; you might want to do some work to ensure that,
by the time the inspector calls, you have a chance of achieving the rating you want –
assuming this is higher. For example, we postponed our own inspection to upgrade a
couple of bathrooms. We’d rather wait and hope to get a higher rating, than have had
an early inspection and, in all probability, get a lower official rating than we would like.
For further information, including latest fees and details about the assessment process,
or to apply for a “Star Rating” under the new scheme, go to
www.qualityintourism.com, call 0845 300 6996 or write to:
Quality in Tourism
Farncombe House
Broadway
Worcester
WR12 7LJ
Newspaper and Magazine Advertising
If the “putting yourself in your customers’ shoes” exercise leads you to consider
advertising in a newspaper or magazine:
• keep the advert small to save money
• do a short test run first to gauge response before committing to weeks or months
• think about seasons and timing: save your money for key booking times
• be careful about the section you go in: is “short breaks” or “luxury breaks” better
than “lake district” for instance?