Karen's Column Feb 2022

Camping

My parents were keen campers and being teachers, they’d have the time to take 3-4 week holidays away every summer.

Every summer, as I watched my friends enviously setting off for a week in Benidorm, my parents would be packing for a trip across Europe; our accommodation for the holiday packed in the rucksacks on our backs.

The camping season always started at Easter - no matter if there was still snow on the ground.

These days, very occasionally when the weather is glorious, I’ll entertain the idea of a camping holiday on a Scottish beach.

Then I remember the 3 weeks in the highlands. It poured with rain and there was nothing to do but drink tea, eat shortbread and become an expert at canasta.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Scotland and in May we’re heading back up there for the 2nd time in 6 months. I just didn’t love it as a 13 year old, crammed into a 2 man tent with my parents, our dog and no car!

I always suggest to my course attendees that they really get to know their ideal B&B guest and create a B&B that meets all of their needs. But I also think it’s a really good idea to create a B&B and an experience that you’d love to stay in as well.

It’s probably no surprise to anyone that I ended up creating a 5 star B&B with such luxuries as a flushing toilet, heating, huge baths and as much hot water as you could use... No tents in sight!

If all else fails, lower your standards

My least popular blog post ever was “How to run a B&B in a power cut”.

It’s the blog post you can't be bothered to read until the lights go out just before you’re about to start cooking breakfast. And by then it’s too late and you’ve got no Wi-Fi anyway.

We’re in the middle of a power cut right now and I’m reminded of how, when you’ve got no guests in, a power cut is a mild inconvenience. But when you’re house is full it’s a nightmare.

One day, all 6 guests were due at 9am and we lost power at 8.55. They’d all ordered a different special including waffles, pancakes and eggs Benedict, not to mention that they were all copious toast eaters.

In that blog, one tip is to have a gas hob, but even with that, I was swearing like a navvy.

My mistake was trying to create exactly the same breakfast the guests enjoyed when I had a fully functioning kitchen. It would have been easier to say - sorry, no power, help yourself to granola and here’s £20 off your stay.

Sometimes you just need to relax and accept the situation.

The world won’t end if the guests don’t get a cooked breakfast. And now is not the time - if you’ve always made blender hollandaise - to try the traditional method using a Bain Marie and a hand whisk - believe me, there will be tears!

As the mug a wise friend bought me says: “If all else fails, lower your standards.”

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