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KAREN'S COLUMN
from Luxury BnB Digital Magazine January 2021
by Luxury BnB Magazine - PRINT | ONLINE luxury B&B’s and Guest Houses across the UK
www.bandbacademy.co.uk | @bedandbreakfastacademy | @karenjthorne | @bandbacademy
Karen Thorne has ran Hopton House B&B in Shropshire for over 16 years and the Bed and Breakfast Academy for over 14 years. Through the B&B Academy, Karen trains aspiring B&B owners in how to set up, buy, run and market their own B&Bs.
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Karen runs monthly online courses and has recently launched a B&B Marketing membership for existing B&B owners so she can help them to organically and authentically market their own B&Bs.
READ ONLINE & SHARE >> luxurybnbmag.co.uk/karenJan21
THE ART OF APOLOGY WITH THE FOUNDER OF THE BED & BREAKFAST ACADEMY
In over 16 years of running a B&B I’ve done an awful lot of apologising to my guests. Looking back, it’s usually been dog, plumbing or smoke alarm related. My old dog, Murphy, loved people a little too much...
There was the time when I opened the door to arriving guests; an elderly man and his wife, who, within seconds of me opening the front door, was standing on our doorstep dressed in just her pants and shoes from the waist down. With Murphy at her feet, trying to untangle himself from her elasticated skirt, which he’d pulled down in his enthusiasm.
And then the night when the smoke alarms were triggered in error at 2.30am and my husband had to climb a ladder to reset them, with the female guest still under the covers peering upwards. My husband, wearing just his dressing gown. “Please tell me you put some boxer shorts on” I said, when he returned to our bedroom….silence.
I have one set of repeat guests, for whom something always goes wrong. Last time it was the toilet cistern that wouldn’t stop filling. I spent the 2 hours they were out at dinner in their bathroom, watching “How to fix a toilet” youtube videos on the ipad. I eventually solved it with a carefully placed rock from the garden.
One thing I’ve learned from this is the importance of a well timed apology, appropriate compensation and a plumber on speed dial.
