Karen's Column

Toilet Paper Origami

I’m staying on the toilet theme this week. I appreciate it’s not considered polite conversation but, like it or not, toilets do feature quite heavily in a B&B owner’s life.

On a holiday to the states a few years ago, we arrived at our B&B and I headed for the bathroom - it had been a long drive - and there was an origami boat on the toilet roll!

I messaged my cleaner a photo and a jokey comment, saying I expected her to be proficient in origami by my return. I immediately regretted the message. Getting 3 rooms cleaned properly in the allotted time was challenging enough. There was no time for toilet paper origami!

And that turned out to be the problem at this B&B. On closer inspection the bathroom really wasn’t as clean as it could be. Maybe they should have spent more cleaning and less time on origami...

It can be a race against time to get a B&B room ready, so it’s important to prioritise getting the basics right first, BEFORE the frills.

Whenever I was in charge of the cleaning, it always took me longer as I’d be doing all of the little things that didn’t get done in a standard clean.

My mantra became “To get my 5 star review and ensure the guests have the perfect stay - Is it absolutely necessary to do this task right now?”

Of course, if you do have spare time and fancy learning toilet paper origami - take to Google to learn how and please send me a photo!

Marry a Plumber

My imaginary book - which I’m never going to write by the way - has the subtitle “Want to run a B&B? Marry a plumber!”

Disclaimer: I’m not married to a plumber! - single plumbers are in short supply - and, besides, I already have a very nice husband. He works for BA, and pre-lockdown, worked away all week.

But luckily for me, Rob loves all DIY, except plumbing. He is very proficient at it - he completely gutted and re-did our bathroom - but it’s guaranteed to result in him using words that I personally reserve for when I drop breakfast on the floor.

I’d need a 4 page spread to cover all of the plumbing disasters at my B&B. But my favourite may have been the time when the mechanism in the toilet cistern broke.

Rob drove round every plumber’s merchant in Shropshire to be told that that model was no longer made , just 18 months after installation.

I could do nothing but apologise to the arriving guests, explain the toilet wasn’t working, hand them a bucket and offer them a hefty discount.

The look of horror on the guest’s face! I quickly clarified that the bucket was to flush the toilet with, not to use as a modern day chamber pot.

If you’re setting up a B&B, my advice would be - buy as many buckets as you can and find yourself a nice plumber. Or if they’re already married, get an obliging one on speed dial and keep them very sweet!

Read Karen's blog to discover more about toilet paper origami, how marrying a plumber has been very handy, and more about life as a B&B owner: bandbacademy.co.uk/blog