Karen's Column

Is it time to put on the summer duvet yet?

You’d think that the answer to the question “Is it time to put on the summer duvet yet?” would be a simple yes or no.

But this is the UK and we’re B&B owners. So whenever this gets posted in my Facebook Group - which it does EVERY year - it ends up being a long discussion.

And it is an important topic. Doing everything within your control to make sure guests get a good night's sleep is one of the basics that any bed and breakfast owner needs to get right.

Get it wrong and you'll lose potential repeat guests and risk negative reviews.

Of course, the British weather will never play ball. The moment you put on the summer duvet, there will be an unseasonably cold night and discussions of “We’ve never known a frost in June” at the breakfast table the next morning.

Personally, it’s a question that never gets asked in our house because we have the summer duvet on all year.

When the temperature starts to drop in the autumn, my husband will tentatively ask if we can put the winter duvet on and maybe shut the windows. My response is to pile a load of blankets on top of him whilst I stick to the 4.5 tog side of the bed, usually with at least one leg sticking out from under it.

How to make sure your guests aren’t too hot or cold

If you follow my blog or my podcast you’re probably fed up of hearing me say: You cannot create a B&B that’s perfect for everyone.

Your best bet is to identify your ideal B&B guest, understand what they want from a B&B, then get your marketing right so that you attract the sort of people who are going to love what you do.

It’s tricky when it comes to getting the right room temperature and bedding, because everyone will have a different sleeping requirement.

Your best bet is to try and please most people, and provide options for the oddballs like me, who are happiest when the night-time room temperature is below 10 degrees.

I kept my guest at my B&B happy by:

• Explaining in the welcome email that the beds are made up with feather duvets and pillows, and to let me know if they preferred manmade fibre bedding or blankets

• Asking at their first breakfast if they slept ok, giving them the chance to report any problems, which gives me the opportunity to put them right again

• Installing a thermostat in the bedroom so that guests could control the temperature at any time of the year

• Providing both a fan heater and a cooling fan

• Leaving a flat sheet and a couple of blankets in each wardrobe. On hotter nights guests could sleep with the flat sheet alone or add a blanket if it was too cold.