Luxury Bed & Breakfast Magazine (+ Inn Keeper Magazine): Autumn 2019

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LUXURY? IT’S ACADEMIC

EXPLORING OXFORD’S VENERABLE VANUBRUGH HOUSE

REACHING WOW FACTOR Techniques a b&b can follow to achieve an edge

PLUS! LAST ORDERS

THE PUB LANDLORD AL MURRAY TALKS TO INNKEEPER ABOUT PUBS & POLITICS

INCORPORATING

INNKEEPER

MAGAZINE WWW.LUXURYBBMAG.CO.UK • ISSUE 38 • AUTUMN 2019

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Welcome This Summer has seen many inns, guest houses and independent hotels cashing in on the emerging popularity of alcohol-free beers. Taste and production techniques have improved greatly in the past couple of years, with some of the biggest breweries this year beginning to supply their zero-alcohol products to bars and inns across the UK. For an analysis and a little insight into how stepping XS \RXU ERR]H IUHH RÎ?HU VHH RXU UHSRUW SDJH Growing just as fast is the English wine market, where year-on-year supply of premium wine has now reached dependable levels, and high-end boutique hotels are now listing the in their restaurants. In recent years English wines have won a wide range of impressive international awards and more, and more suppliers are listing it. We visit Denbies Vineyard - which also happens to have a luxury hotel at its heart – for the story on English wine and its growing relationship with the on trade (page 10). ΖQ WKLV LVVXH ZH SURČ´OH 9DQEUXJK +RXVH D VWXQQLQJ boutique hotel in the heart of Oxford, and we pay a visit to Y Garth B&B in Wales where owner Joyce achieves her luxury goals by delivering what she calls the wow factor. Meanwhile we take a look at the far-sighted restoration of a long-neglected Dartford inn that has taken it back to its former glory, and we sup up some of its rich and alluring history along the way. The Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel has hosted YLVLWRUV IURP 7KRPDV %HFNHW WR 4XHHQ 9LFWRULD SDJH Last Orders in this issue is brought to you with an exclusive interview with famous British comedian Al Murray, who provides Innkeeper with his sharp, witty and incisive take on a variety of WRSLFV DÎ?HFWLQJ %ULWLVK ODQGORUGV $Q\RQH ZKR KDV ZLWQHVVHG his stand-up comedy performance live or on TV will be fully aware that the man is a genius, and when we put our questions to him, he does not disappoint with his replies (page 50). I am personally looking forward to heading up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer to see The Pub Landlord.

this month...

NEW ANALYSIS

READERS’ COMMENTS

4

8

What makes the perfect breakfast?

ENGLISH WINE

READERS’ COMMENTS

PROFILE

PROFILE

LOW ALCOHOL BEER

PROFILE

POINT-OF-SALE

LAST ORDERS

10 18

The state of play with OTAs

20

28

36

38

46

50

We visit Denbies Vineyard and its carbon-neutral luxury hotel

What social media do you use – and what works best for you?

The owner of Y Garth B&B in Newport goes out of her way to give guests the wow factor

The splendour of boutique Vanbrugh House hotel in the heart of Oxford

Ignore the vast and fast-growing market for alcohol-free beer at your peril

The Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel in Dartford has been brought back to life by a true visionary

Factors behind choosing the device you use to conduct most of your business’ transactions

The Pub Landlord Al Murray talks to Innkeeper about pubs and politics

Bill Lumley

Editor

28 50

- News -

EDITOR

Bill Lumley bill.lumley@jld-media.co.uk 01892 739 507 | 07710 271 099

Raising duty will devastate UK pubs says CAMRA

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Caroline Sargent 07076 362 082 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Matthew Attwood 07710 271 099 NORTHERN IRELAND EDITOR

Francis Higney 07710 271 099 CONSULTANT PUBLISHER

Andrew Organ andy.organ@jld-media.co.uk 01892 739 524 DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Stuart West stuart.west@jld-media.co.uk 01892 739 526 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Helen Richmond helen.richmond@jld-media.co.uk 01892 739 523 | 07765 008 507 No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. We regret we cannot be liable for the safe custody or return of any solicited or unsolicited material. Contributors are advised to keep copies of all materials submitted. The opinions and views expressed in Luxury Bed & Breakfast are not necessarily those of JLD Media. Being subject to the Advertising Standards Authority guidelines in place at the time of going to press, all data submitted by advertisers and contained in their advertising copy is accepted by JLD Media in good faith. Luxury Bed & Breakfast is available on subscription. UK & Ireland ÂŁ65; Overseas ÂŁ98. Luxury Bed & Breakfast is published monthly. Printed by Stephens & George Ltd

Luxury Bed & Breakfast JLD Media, 29 - 31 Monson Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1LS www.luxurybbmag.co.uk All rights reserved Š JLD Media 2019

Beer lobby group CAMRA warns higher tax levies on alcohol will devastate UK pubs following a report claiming that raising alcohol taxes by 10% ZRXOG EHQHČ´W WKH 8. HFRQRP\ The study, published in July by the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) and the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), claims that higher alcohol taxes would lead to an increase in both national income and employment, provided the additional revenue is invested in public services. Using a sector-by-sector model of the economy, the UHVHDUFKHUV HVWLPDWHG WKH HÎ?HFWV RI D LQFUHDVH LQ alcohol tax, with the government using the proceeds WR LQFUHDVH VSHQGLQJ RQ SXEOLF VHUYLFHV Č´QGLQJ WKDW • The higher rate of duty would raise an extra ÂŁ789 million for the Treasury • UK GDP would rise by ÂŁ847 million • 7KHUH ZRXOG EH RYHU PRUH full-time equivalent jobs But CAMRA’s National Chairman Nik Antona VDLG ČŠ7KH ΖQVWLWXWH RI $OFRKRO 6WXGLHV LV DSSO\LQJ D broad-brush strategy to a complex situation. Yes, VXSHUPDUNHW EHHU LV VLJQLČ´FDQWO\ PRUH DÎ?RUGDEOH WRGD\ WKDQ LW ZDV LQ EXW WKH SULFH RI D SLQW within a pub has continued to rise.

ČŠ&DOOLQJ IRU D KLJKHU WD[ RQ DOFRKRO products will not only impact on cheap supermarket beers, but it will also devastate the pubs industry, which is already over-burdened by VAT, beer duty and business rates. Over a third of the cost of a pint in a pub is made up by taxes, which is incomparable to beer sold in supermarkets that are able to under-sell the product and absorb additional taxes. ȊΖI \RX UHDOO\ ZDQW WR EHQHČ´W VRFLHW\ WKHQ supermarkets should be asked to pay a higher rate of tax on alcohol than pubs. This would not only help support the pubs trade but also support the public health message that enjoying a pint in moderation in a supervised and social environment is better than chugging cheap cans at home.â€? Report co-author Peter McGregor, director of the )UDVHU RI $OODQGHU ΖQVWLWXWH FODLPHG ČŠ)RU DQ LQFUHDVH LQ DOFRKRO GXWLHV ZH Č´QG HYLGHQFH RI D QHW SRVLWLYH HÎ?HFW RQ ERWK YDOXH DGGHG DQG employment in addition to improved health RXWFRPHV LQGLFDWLQJ WKDW KHUH WKHUH LV QR WUDGH RÎ? EHWZHHQ WKH WZR LQGHHG WKHUH LV SRWHQWLDO IRU D 'double dividend' of a simultaneous improvement in health and a stimulus to the UK economy.â€?

UKHospitality welcomes review of England’s food UKHospitality has welcomed the Government’s announcement of an independent review into (QJODQGȇV IRRG LQGXVWU\ The review, led by Henry Dimbleby of the Sustainable Restaurant Association and co-founder of Leon, will investigate the entirety of England’s food system from farm to fork. 8.+RVSLWDOLW\ &KLHI ([HFXWLYH .DWH 1LFKROOV VDLG Ȋ7KH UK’s food industry is one our greatest assets. Across the sector we see huge amounts of variety as well as ingenuity. With the country’s food and hospitality sectors so intimately linked, it is absolutely vital to the ongoing success of hospitality that the food industry is supported. Ȋ+HQU\ KDV IDQWDVWLF NQRZOHGJH RI WKH KRVSLWDOLW\ sector and understands its relationship with food and the need for a dynamic and supportive food industry. Ȋ:H ZHOFRPH WKLV UHYLHZ RI WKH IRRG LQGXVWU\ DQG what we hope is the beginnings of a fully integrated and joined-up strategy that supports businesses at every step of the way from farm to fork.� Dimbleby is co-founder of both restaurant chain Leon and the Sustainable Restaurant Association

DQG LV OHDGLQJ WKH Č´UVW PDMRU UHYLHZ RI WKH 8. IRRG system in nearly 75 years. He will investigate the entire food system, from Č´HOG WR IRUN DQG FRQVLGHU ZKDW FKDQJHV DUH QHHGHG WR HQVXUH WKDW LW • 'HOLYHUV VDIH KHDOWK\ DÎ?RUGDEOH food, regardless of where people live or how much they earn; • Is robust in the face of future shocks; • Restores and enhances the natural environment for the next generation; • Is built upon a resilient and sustainable agriculture sector; • Is a thriving contributor to our urban and rural economies, delivering well paid jobs and supporting innovative producers and manufacturers; • 'RHV DOO RI WKLV LQ DQ HÉ?FLHQW DQG FRVW HÎ?HFWLYH ZD\ • His recommendations will result in a trailblazing new National Food Strategy, VHW WR EH SXEOLVKHG LQ

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 4 - Autumn 2019

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- News -

The Epicurean Club acquires Inn Places David Hancock’s Inn Places has been acquired by The Epicurean Club in a move to develop the largest Collection of premium inns and pubs on a single direct marNHWLQJ DQG ERRNLQJ SODWIRUP 'DYLG KDV taken on the role of inn curator with the role of developing the portfolio over the FRPLQJ VL[ PRQWKV The re-launched Epicurean Collection aims to showcase the best inns and pubs across Britain, comprising some of the most iconic GHVWLQDWLRQV WKH FRXQWU\VLGH KDV WR RÎ?HU DORQJ with curated Experiences to add value for the JXHVW DQG Č´QDQFLDO UHWXUQ IRU WKH SURSHUW\ Experiences to date have included clay pigeon lessons, classic car driving experiences, Highgrove garden visits and private vineyard tours. &22 RI 7KH (SLFXUHDQ &OXE (G +LOO VDLG ČŠ7KH Epicurean Club was founded out of a passion for the British inn and pub, the British countryside and everything that it relates to. This Collection is about creating community and EHORQJLQJ D FRPPXQLW\ RI SUHPLXP LQQV DQG pubs that deliver exceptional guest experience. For our Friends — our free membership — The Epicurean Collection will be the ultimate guide with trusted reviews, the ability to book directly with the chosen property and upgrade to specially curated Epicurean Experiences. ČŠ7KH %ULWLVK VWD\FDWLRQ LQGXVWU\ LV LQFUHDVing year on year and we want to be at the heart of this growth. Outstanding pubs and inns looking to increase their reach and stand alongside others within our community belong in our Collection.â€? Membership to the Epicurean Collection free for those invited to join. Member pubs and inns will be proactively promoted through marketing campaigns, via regular email newsletters and through social channels to drive a greater and higher value footfall across the Collection. 5LFKDUG 0LOOHU LV ODQGORUG RI 1DWLRQDO Pub of the Year The White Horse at Chilgrove, :HVW 6XVVH[ +H VDLG ČŠ7KHUH DUH EHQHČ´WV RQ both sides of the bar for being part of The Epicurean Club.â€? The Epicurean Collection will charge collecWLRQ PHPEHU LQQV FRPPLVVLRQ UDWH RQ DOO URRP ERRNLQJV DQG RQ DOO (SLFXUHDQ Experience bookings made through Epicurean Club channels.

Misleading OTA advertising confirms B&B’s decision to close 0LVOHDGLQJ DGYHUWLVLQJ E\ ERRNLQJ FRP KDV FRQȴUPHG WKH GHFLVLRQ E\ :HVW Yorkshire B&B to close after prompting XQUHDVRQDEOH JXHVW FRPSODLQWV The owners of Sunnybank Guesthouse in +ROPȴUWK 3HWHU DQG $QQH :KLWH GLVFRYHUHG booking.com had marked the cost per room as inclusive of breakfast when they only included a continental breakfast with an option to upgrade for an extra charge. They began to receive complaints (see below) and contacted booking.com, who the couple say were unable or unwilling to disclose when the change had been made. Peter told Luxury Bed & Breakfast ȊΖ WROG them I had been having disagreements with my guests, when in fact they could have been right. It was misleading and that I didn’t want to be a part of it, so I handed my notice in.� +H VDLG WKH\ ȴUVW UHJLVWHUHG ZLWK ERRNLQJ com three years ago, when they experienced an immediate boost in bookings. To make up the commission they were KDYLQJ WR SD\ WKH\ EHJDQ FKDUJLQJ e IRU EUHDNIDVW ȊΖW ZDV LQLWLDOO\ JUHDW IRU EXVLQHVV and because we were charging the extra for breakfast, we were generally recouping our costs with a higher footfall,� he said. Ȋ%HIRUH ZH XVHG WKH ERRNLQJ FRP ZH

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 6 - Autumn 2019

would come up close to booking.com on WKH Č´UVW SDJH RI D VHDUFK +RZHYHU ZH discovered that once you have ceased to use them, they still utilise your name. Now if someone enters Sunnybank Guesthouse, booking.com would come up saying there is no availability for those dates, when that is FHUWDLQO\ QRW WUXH ČŠ This led to unfavourable reviews that were nothing to do with them, he said. +H VDLG ČŠ7KLV ZDV WKH ODVW VWUDZ VR ZH are selling up and we are not going to carry on doing bed & breakfast. The business is closing so we are in a position where we can say goodbye to booking.com, no thanks, and LW GRHVQȇW DÎ?HFW XV ΖW ZRXOG GR LI ZH ZHUH to be carrying on trading. We are ceasing to trade because we are fed up with the way all our advertising has been hijacked.â€? $QQH DGGHG ČŠ:H KDYH EHHQ RQ WKH PDUNHW for a couple of years and it was very fortunate we found a buyer at the time booking.com started messing around with our advertising, DQG LW FRQČ´UPHG ZH KDG PDGH WKH ULJKW GHFLsion to close our doors and move on because of the power of the OTAs, and the way they attempt to hijack any direct bookings from your own site by bidding with far more than any of us have, to dominate the Internet with WKHLU RZQ DGYHUWLVLQJ ČŠ

- Readers Comments / Breakfast -

What makes the perfect breakfast? 7KH SHUIHFW EUHDNIDVW PHDQV EHLQJ DEOH WR RÎ?HU ORFDO SURGXFH DQG JLYLQJ WKH customer what they want. Not everyone nowadays wants a full English breakfast. Often, they want a big spin on the continental side of things, or they want to experience adaptations of a breakfast meal such as smoked salmon with VFUDPEOHG HJJ RU YDULRXV UR\DO GLVKHV ZLWK PXÉ?QV DQG KROODQGDLVH 7KH SHUIHFW EUHDNIDVW PHDQV EHLQJ DV ČľH[LEOH DV SRVVLEOH VHUYLQJ SURGXFWV WKDW DUH VRXUFHG ORFDOO\ :H XVH D ORFDO VXSSOLHU IRU RXU VDOPRQ 7KH\ VRXUFH WKH Č´VK EXW D ORW RI WKH VPRNLQJ RI WKH VDOPRQ ZLOO EH GRQH RQ VLWH 2XU FRÎ?HH LV DOVR VRXUFHG E\ WKH ORFDO SURGXFHU ZKR ZLOO YLVLW WKH VLWHV LQ SODFHV OLNH &ROXPELD DQG WKH FRÎ?HH is roasted and blended locally. We know where the product has come from. Chris White, Denbies Vineyard Hotel

The perfect breakfast uses local produce whenever possible and impresses with its quality, quantity and variety: a breakfast that is special, as opposed to just the traditional English breakfast. Presentation is key. It goes with the expectations of discerning guests. The breakfast choice/presentation and the thickness of the bacon are important. The perfect breakfast requires a wide choice on the menu for example smoked kippers with scrambled egg served on a bed of spinach; smoked salmon with free range scrambled eggs on a bed of asparagus; eggs Benedict: egg, ham and hollandaise sauce on a toasted PXÉ?Q VDYRXU\ SDQFDNHV DQG VZHHW 3DQFDNHV ZDUP ČľXÎ?\ SDQFDNHV VHUYHG ZLWK *UHHN yoghurt, fresh home made berry compote, fresh berries and drizzled with maple syrup. Joyce Evans, Y Garth B&B

ΖW DQ HLJKW SLHFH EUHDNIDVW QRW LQFOXGLQJ toast, and cooked to order rather than FRRNHG DOWRJHWKHU DQG SXW LQWR D EXÎ?HU bacon, sausage, egg – boiled, poached, scrambled or fried – black pudding, beans, tomatoes, hash brown and mushrooms. Andy Purkis, Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 8 - Autumn 2019

- Readers Comments / Breakfast -

Hot plates when serving! Local produce, tastiest bacon ever from our local butcher in Crickhowell. ΖW PXVW EH WKLFNO\ VOLFHG QRW WKLQ *RRG HJJV IURP a local farm. We have competitions to see who can do the best poached egg!! Beans should always be served in a separate pot on the plate. Alex Johnson, Ty Croeso B&B

A light but good quality Continental breakfast with a wide variety of good quality local products and with as many things as we can produced in Oxford. It would not include the full English breakfast, because everybody these days likes to eat more healthy produce, but would comprise things without added sugar, croissants, 'DQLVK SDVWU\ VPRNHG VDOPRQ SURVFLXWWR KDP GLÎ?HUHQW W\SHV of cheese, honey with the honeycomb brought to the table. Cristina Raduica, Vanbrugh House Hotel

There are two key elements to the perfect breakfast: giving people a choice rather than MXVW WKH XVXDO IU\ XS RU JULOO DQG DWWHQWLRQ WR GHWDLO ZKHQ \RX DUH VHUYLQJ WRS TXDOLW\ products – local wherever possible, although we wouldn’t kill ourselves. For instance if ZH ZDQW WR VHUYH *UHHN \RJKXUWV Ζ KDYH a local farm that makes extremely good \RJKXUW EXW KH GRHVQȇW GR *UHHN \RJKXUW *R IRU WKH EHVW ORFDO ZKHUHYHU SRVVLEOH Peter White Sunnybank Guesthouse,

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 9 - Autumn 2019

- In Depth / English Wine -

Coming of age Over the past couple of decades English wine has been winning its first international awards and as its consistency as a premium product has been established it is finally being embraced by the hospitality sector. Bill Lumley visits a vineyard and looks at ways the independent luxury accommodation sector can benefit from home grown vintages

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 10 - Autumn 2019

- In Depth / English Wine -

T

hese are exciting times for English wine. Land covering more than 6,200 acres across England and Wales is now dedicated to vineyards for grapes used to produce red, white, rosé and sparkling white. As the UK wine industry has matured over the past couple of decades, so has its worldwide reputation for excellence. Multiple awards for premium quality products are supported by a surge in demand in the hospitality sector for English and Welsh wines. At the end of May this year, Wines of Great Britain ran a campaign, English Wine Week, the function of which was to build awareness and to encourage and drive people to discover English and Welsh wines. The event served to demonstrate the level of demand. WineGB marketing managed Julia Trustram Eve tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast: “We are FHUWDLQO\ ȴQGLQJ DQ LQFUHDVHG XSWDNH IURP WKH on trade and hospitality side of things as well as wholesalers, retailers and of course the cellar-door sales at the vineyards themselves. A core part of the campaign is the activity

and partnerships we develop with the trade, because they are the ones talking directly to the customers.” She says it has been highly satisfying to see growth in demand in the on trade, along with the recognition that there is a very tangible place for English wines, that their customers are asking for them, and that they now need to deliver more to them. “There has been a warm and growing enthusiasm from the trade to actually do more with English wines,” she says. But there remains an inadequacy in the promotion and availability of English wines, with visitors from regions such as Australia expressing their disappointment concerning these issues at English Wine Week. “This sends a strong message to us that there is an awful lot more we should be doing to encourage people who have moved up the scale in terms of promoting locality, local ingredients, local news and food,” Julia says. “There is a really powerful story to be told to independent boutique hotels, luxury B&B owners and innkeepers to enhance what many of them are already doing.” Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 11 - Autumn 2019

Underpinning this growth in interest are the two facts that more wines are being produced than ever before in Great Britain, and that those wines are gaining world-class status. “One of the best ways of generating interest is by demonstrating just how well we perform in competitions,” she says. 7KH ȴUVW ZRUOG FODVV (QJOLVK ZLQHV RQO\ emerged in the mid to late 1990s. Excellence in sparkling wines of Great Britain was spearheaded by the likes of Nyetimber and Ridgeview entering their wines in international competitions and gaining exceptional awards. “They turned people’s heads to realise there is a sector here in England producing something that more than matched the quality of wines from elsewhere,” she says. The charge has been led by the sparkling wine producers, simply because more and more producers recognise parts of the UK have the right conditions, particularly in the southeast of England. Julia says: “Wine is concentrated in the southeast around Kent, Sussex Surrey and Hampshire, but is now stretching right across the south coast

- In Depth / English Wine -

7KH ZLQH VHFWRU LQ WKH 8. KDV DOVR EHQHČ´Wed from a warming climate. “Climate has been changing for four and a half billion years, but right now we are on a growth curve, and in southeast England vineyards are reporting that they are harvesting two weeks earlier than they were 40 years ago,â€? says Julia. “This has opened up some new opportunities. Some 40 years ago it would have been a struggle to grow to any degree of ripeness the three grapes of champagne, chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir.â€? We can now look forward to a steady availability, although the vine crop picked in one year is not going to turn into bottles on the VKHOI IRU DQRWKHU IRXU WR Č´YH \HDUV VR LW LV D slow process, she stresses.

WELSH Wines of Great Britain includes Welsh wine producers, among them one called White Castle near Monmouth, which produces a IRUWLČ´HG ZLQH ZKLOH LQ 1RUWK :DOHV WKHUH LV a producer called Gwinllan Conwy Vineyard. “The Welsh are extremely lucky in that there is support from the Welsh government to help promote their wines through the trade and through other sectors,â€? says Julia.

TIPS FOR THE ON TRADE

of England through Dorset and Devon and Cornwall and going further north. The further north you do go, the smaller the operations become,� she adds. 7KLV PHDQV WKHUH DUH VLJQLȴFDQW RSSRUWXQLties to plant great varieties and produce wine of the quality and standard that competes with other better-known wines. On the back of that, there is a steady growth in the still wine sector. A number of the biggest UK sparkling wine producers such as Chapel Down have since become major brands, and the fact that they

are producing volume means they can now distribute widely both in the UK and abroad. “In any one particular region, your local wine producer is going to be producing both sparkling and still wine,� says Julia. The growth has resulted from a combination of factors, including recognition of the UK’s ability to produce quality wine: sourcing the right soils, drawing in the right expertise, the right growth varieties compatible with the area where the painting is happening, and expertise in winemaking. Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 12 - Autumn 2019

A fair number of hotels, inns and B&Bs are already supplied with some good quality wines via wholesalers, some of which use more than one supplier, Julia says. “Most good wholesalers list at least one English wine. High-end accommodation business owners should look at the list and talk to their supplier, because they are likely to be suppliers of high-quality products.� Independent hospitality business owners should look locally to see if there are any local vineyards, she says. She adds that there are producers that will distribute their wines around the country. For geographical reasons most luxury B&Bs, inns and hotels are still not fortunate enough to have a vineyard on their doorstep. “A lot of the bigger winemakers now sell to the on trade and hospitality via the wholesalers, and it is probably easier to deal with them that way, but you can always call them up,� she says. Hospitality business owners who are interested in exploring the opportunities presented by English wines may wish to consider

- In Depth / English Wine -

attending WineGB’s annual trade tasting in London on 4 September, she says. “It’s the biggest showcase of English produced wines attended by commercial wine producers around the country, where you can taste the wines, meet the producers and engage with them,” she says.

SPREADING THE WORD Vineyards are where the grapes are growing, wineries are where the wine is made. Often the two are on the same site. Few of either however are blessed with their own on-site hotel. Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey is one exception. The wine producer supplies distributor Matthew Clark, but it also has an open-door policy, and it encourages sommeliers to visit the site to pick what they like. CEO Chris White tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast magazine: “We show sommeliers how the vineyard has evolved, and we give them a ȴUVW KDQG H[SHULHQFH RI WKH ZLQHV WKH\ ZDQW to choose for tasting.” Notably he says Denbies likes to support the on trade with material that gives them an understanding as to what goes into the making of their bottle of wine. “This is something we have done on site VLQFH ZH ȴUVW RSHQHG :H WU\ WR HQFRXUDJH people to come to the site, but we can also GHOLYHU GLUHFW VR WKH\ FDQ R΍HU WKHLU JXHVWV D full complement of our wines. Alternatively, if they wish to piggy-back on their own deliveries they can go through the distributor, which might make it a bit easier for them,” he says. Denbies sells to many small independent hotels, he says. “Those are the ones we want to attract, because they are the one most interested in producing our vineyard slate range of wines. They are a slightly smaller volume, slightly higher in price, and they are the ones smaller independent and boutique KRWHOV ZDQW WR VKRZ R΍ ZLWK WKHLU TXDOLW\ ȋ

HISTORY Chris’ father Adrian bought the Denbies estate in 1982. Prior to that it had been a cattle farm that was losing a fortune by the time it ZDV DFTXLUHG Ȋ$IWHU WKH ȴUVW FRXSOH RI \HDUV he decided to sell the animals on the estate and to plan for another use for the arable land,” he says. “At the time he was talking to a geologist who pointed out to him the potential in the soil for growing grapes.” Millions of years earlier, before Britain broke

away from the mainland, the North and South Downs of Southern England were joined to the Champagne region of France, giving them the same soil structure, south-facing slopes and terroir. Chris says: “We carried out a 30-acre trial, and in 1986 we decided to plant all 265 acres of the arable land as a vineyard.” To begin with Denbies produced 16 GL΍HUHQW YDULHWLHV ȊΖW ZDV YHU\ PXFK D FDVH of spread-betting at the time, seeking wine suitable for the English climate,” explains Chris. “We had been told not to bother with pinot noir, but we did so anyway, and it has since become the most widely planted grape variety in the UK,” he says. Denbies uses PRVW RI LWV SLQRW QRLU LQ LWV ȵDJVKLS VSDUNOLQJ wines but following very good years such as the UK enjoyed in 2018, it uses the grape for producing 100% varietal red wine, rosés, or as a blend into other reds. Over the years Denbies has adapted the vineyard to suit popular tastes in wine but also in what it has discovered grows best. “There has been a lot of trial and error over the years, but it has proven to be very successful,” says Chris.

STRONGER UNDERSTANDING The industry has grown dramatically but is still very much a cottage industry comprising small vineyards. The taste and quality of English wine varies dramatically based on vintage but has been hampered by limited access to good quality winemakers, and the economies of scale have EHHQ LQVXɝFLHQW 7KDW scenario is now changing, Chris says. “We now have a degree of understanding of what we can grow well here in the UK, so rather than being slaves to producing anything, we understand what we can grow well in an English climate and we now concentrate on those varieties.” For example, he says Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 13 - Autumn 2019

UK WINE DATA In the 40 years to the end of 2016 the area of vineyards in the UK grew by more than 1,000% from less than 600 acres to more than 6,200 acres, a period of growth interrupted by a drop in area in the period 1993-2004. It was from 2008, just as the global economic crisis began to take its toll on many businesses, that ironically saw the start of a strong revival in wine area. Wine-growing area overtook levels of the early 1990s, and in the decade since then the UK’s wine-growing area has more than doubled. Figures for the number of bottles of wine produced in the UK have only been available since 1989 when 2.9m bottles were produced and in the 30 years since then numbers have fluctuated between 1m in 1997 and 6.3m in 2014.

- In Depth / English Wine -

an English winemaker wouldn’t try to produce a full-bodied red any more than their counterparts would attempt to produce one in the Champagne region of France. “We have to understand what we grow well, which is fruity aromatic wines, very high-quality sparkling wines, very good rosĂŠs.â€? :KHQ Č´UVW EXLOGLQJ WKH YLQH\DUG WKH\ resolved to establish the right economies of scale to ensure they could justify buying state-of-the-art equipment that would both improve the quality of the wine and push down the cost of production. “In the past 10 to 15 years, year-on-year English wine producers have been producing more international award-winning wines, because the industry specialises in what it is good at,â€? he says. “Customers and the trade have much more FRQČ´GHQFH WRGD\ WKDW ZH ZLOO UHOLDEO\ SURGXFH quality wines every year along with consistency in terms of supply. If your sparkling wine features on a wine list, the last thing a sommelier at a luxury boutique hotel wants is for them to keep changing their vintages or being out of stock. ČŠ7RGD\ KRWHOLHUV KDYH IXOO FRQČ´GHQFH WKDW LI they put us on their list, we will stay there for at least a good couple of years, because we have a reliable supply chain.â€?

FDQQRW DÎ?RUG WR VXSSO\ D SURGXFW WKDW LV anything short of top quality, unlike certain long-established neighbouring winemaking countries where quality is very often a case of hit and miss. “English wine is at the premium end, and with many wineries focusing on sparkling wines where the disciplines required are very high, you don’t play at it,â€? says Chris. “When you are making that investment, you have to make sure you produce the best possible product.â€? One notable change in recent years has been an upward shift in alcohol content. Both in old and new world wine-producing nations, the average alcohol content has risen quite dramatically, yet English wines are still at the lower end of the scale, at the point where other wines used to be just a few years ago: English wine is still produced at 11-12% alcohol content, while the level in a lot of new world wines is up to 13, 14 and 15%. Chris says: “That shift in alcohol content is changing taste in wine. Because the percentage of alcohol is going up it probably means you want to drink less of it, to avoid being in danger of feeling a bit ropey the next day.â€? This has played into English wine’s hands, he says, because we are still producing wine at the lower end of the scale of alcohol by volume.

CONSISTENT QUALITY

When Chris’ father acquired the property, at its heart was a farm building that had been there for well over 200 years that was converted into a bed & breakfast in 2000. Chris

HOTEL 6WLOO DW D ČľHGJOLQJ VWDJH DQG KDYLQJ WR SURYH themselves to the mass market, but with demand at very high levels, English wineries

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 14 - Autumn 2019

says: “It has been very popular since the day we opened, and occupancy in the last couple of years has reached an average year-round level of 90%. In the local area people are crying out for accommodation,â€? he says. “We knew from the potential number of rooms and facilities that there was potential to make it a much more all-embracing RÎ?HU IRU RXU FXVWRPHUV VR WZR \HDUV DJR we set about developing the B&B into a hotel, increasing the number of rooms and RÎ?HULQJ QHZ IDFLOLWLHV :H SUHYLRXVO\ MXVW KDG D EUHDNIDVW URRP DQG QRZ ZH DUH RÎ?HULQJ D full-blown brasserie restaurant that overlooks the vineyard.â€? The owners have also developed an outdoor al fresco dining space in a patio area and several cabanas that are heated, and which provide light at dusk time when guests may enjoy wine and cheese while looking out over the vineyard. Chris adds: “We now have a bar which we didn’t have before, and we are making use of the cellars in the old farm buildings. The bar will be open to residents and the general public,â€? he adds. As part of phase one of the new hotel the restaurant and bar opened in July along with WKH Č´UVW EHGURRPV :KHQ WKH KRWHO LV IXOO\ opened with all 17 bedrooms and all facilities, he will seek formal accreditation. “We are still deciding which accreditation body to go with at the moment,â€? he says. The hotel has accessible rooms for disabled users as well as several suites with interconnecting rooms. “We like to think we have WKRXJKW RI HYHU\WKLQJ LQ WKH RÎ?HU WKDW ZH have in our hotel,â€? Chris says.

100% CARBON-NEUTRAL When the owners embarked on the project to create the hotel two years ago, a key aim was to have the building sit and blend into its natural surroundings in the vineyard both from an aesthetic point of view and environmentally in keeping with its surroundings. Chris says: “Our goal was to make it 100% carbon-neutral, something that two years ago was a bit of a stretch. However, over the last 18 months as new technology has become available, we have been able to install stateof-the-art Tesla batteries throughout the hotel and solar panels, which means during the day we can produce up to 22 hours energy with our panels and we can store up to 15Kw in our Tesla batteries.

# #@( % @ @ % !#@ %! @ @ ! @ # @ @% ' # @ !! ! @

@ :12,14/8@ @ 549-498@ @ :814-88@ 49-77:69154@ 5;-7@ @ :*21+@ @ 3625>-78@ 1)*1219>@ @ :814-88@ -/)2@ =6-48-8@ 5;-7@ ? 5<@ =+-88@ 57@ 2)138 ? & @$0-.9@ @ ++1,-49)2 )3)/-@ >@ :-898 ? @"-+:719>@ 54,191548 Running a B&B or guest house is hard work and ringing around for days on end getting insurance quotes can be hassle and stress you don’t really need. Hodgson Insurance Services are an independent family run insurance broker based in Bude, Cornwall. We have been insuring guest houses all over the UK for over 40 years and understand the needs and insurance requirements of the modern-day B&B owner. You won’t ever be dealing with a call centre, you will always be speaking ZLWK WKH VDPH RU WUDLQHG VWDÎ? PHPEHUV (YHU\ EXVLQHVV LV GLÎ?HUHQW VRPH RÎ?HU D IXOO EUHDNIDVW RWKHUV allow guests access to cooking facilities. Some provide an element RI KROLGD\ OHWWLQJ PD\EH XVH RI D KRW WXE VRPH HPSOR\ VWDÎ? :H take time to understand how you run your business, as independent brokers we don’t just use one insurer, we have access to a number of specialist guest house insurance schemes and will search the market

WR Č´QG WKH EHVW PDWFK for your business, so you don’t have to. We don’t just sell on price, we make sure the covers are adequate for your needs. All guest house schemes have GLÎ?HUHQW WHUPV VRPH require security on doors & windows, some don’t, some include full Theft By Guests and some RQO\ RÎ?HU WKHIW FRYHU by forcible or violent entry. What excess do you have to pay in the event of a claim? All policies vary!! A burst pipe causes water damages to rooms which you can’t now rent for 6 months, will the policy compensate you for lost business?? An insurance broker should always fully explain the main conditions of a policy to ensure it meets your requirements. As general insurance brokers we don’t just do guest house insurance, although hospitality is a large part of our operation and we can look at quotes for holiday homes, restaurants, public houses etc, we also insure many landlords, shopkeepers and private motor vehicles. For more information or advice on your insurance needs please contact our brokerage.

H PT ( S I :

- In Depth / English Wine -

“This means that the hotel is now completely carbon neutral: the energy we produce during the day not only stores energy we use during the evening when we need it most, but it also stores up the hot water for showers and other use in the hotel during the day, and DW QLJKW LW Č´OOV XS WKH EDWWHULHV $OO WKH H[FHVV goes back to the grid,â€? he adds

CHALLENGES One of the biggest challenges the hotel development has thrown up has been sticking to budget, says Chris. “There have been opportunities through the design for example to renovate the entirety of the old facility and add a restaurant and put in a bar, which we didn’t conceive in the very early days.â€? He adds: “Ensuring we remain carbon neutral has presented immense challenges, and at times it did not seem remotely viable in terms of return on capital employed, buying so much state-of-the-art equipment, but it works. It was a bit more expensive, but I think it was a price worth paying.â€? It was also something of a challenge, he says, to achieve the goal of ensuring all the rooms overlook the vineyard. “We wanted to ensure there were unimpeded views of the vineyard from the restaurant you see the garden lawn of the hotel and the vineyard itself with no gates or fences. He adds: "Also, we have a wine machine in the hotel that enables guests to load up their room card and can taste all of our wines and ZKHQ WKH\ Č´QG WKH RQH WKH\ OLNH WKH\ FDQ XVH the machine to administer a full glass rather than a taster and drink it at their leisure."

LOCAL PRODUCE Denbies supplies many of the local hotels and inns and a lot of their guests visit the vineyard. Meanwhile most of the food products used in the restaurant are locally sourced. "At the moment the menu includes lamb from the estate. Even the lambs are fed on spent products from the brewery. Because we are as local producer, we like to follow that ethos for the products we sell and the food we sell in the restaurant," he says.

CHANGING GUEST PROFILE The original B&B was used by many people visiting the area for business or attending events at Denbies. Chris says: “Having opened WKH Č´UVW JXHVW URRPV ZH KDYH DOUHDG\

QRWLFHG WKH FXVWRPHU SURČ´OH KDV FKDQJHG )Xture bookings are from people coming to stay on leisure as a destination rather than using it for a stopover while they are attending our events within the visitor centre, and we have more families staying. "The remainder of the rooms are opening DV ZH JR WR SUHVV DQG E\ WKH HQG RI WKH Č´UVW two weeks of August it will be fully operational. All 17 rooms have already been booked out towards the end of August." 'HQELHV LV XQLTXH LQ EHLQJ DEOH WR RÎ?HU luxury guest accommodation, he says: “It will bring more customers to the site. The fact that it gives us an opportunity to sell our wines direct to the customers makes it much more rewarding, because you can see enjoyment in the product that we have taken many years to craft. Rather than just selling to the trade or supermarkets, it’s nice for some of our business Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 16 - Autumn 2019

to involve selling directly to customers through the restaurant or through our shop. There we get direct feedback on the wines, which is very useful for our product development.� Having the hotel also means those visitors that are driving are not restricted on the wines they can try out and enjoy, he says. “They can stay here and have a few guiltfree drinks without having to worry about driving home. “Also, when they are drinking and overlooking the vineyard, we can tell hem the exact spot those grapes came from to produce that glass of wine, which is really exciting for the customers. They then walk away from that experience with a much greater understanding of the way their wine was produced on the south-facing slopes, giving them a much more embracing experience than simply knocking back a glass of wine,� he concludes.

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- Readers Comments / Social Media -

Which social media channels do you use, and which do you find most effective?

:H XVH 7ZLWWHU ΖQVWDJUDP DQG )DFHERRN DQG ZH XVH WKHP IRU GLÎ?HUHQW SXUSRVHV 7KH\ DUH QRW DOO OLQNHG WRJHWKHU :H Č´QG 7ZLWWHU LV PRUH IDVW SDFHG LQWHUDFWLQJ mainly on the wine level with win professionals and local suppliers and other local traders, principally on the wine front. We tend to use Facebook to target our family market, so it is a lot slower paced than Twitter. We use it put out ZRUG RI SURPRWLRQV WRXUV ZLQH WDVWLQJ DQG DQ\ RWKHU VSHFLDO HYHQWV ZH DUH GRLQJ DQG VR IRUWK UHDFKLQJ RXW WR DQ DOWRJHWKHU GLÎ?HUHQW PDUNHW WKDW WHQGV to be people who are also visiting the estate, so I’d probably say Twitter is a far wider catchment. Instagram we really use for the impact of the beauty of the estate, so we really try to avoid using it as a sales vehicle unless we are doing as promotion that may lead into what wines you might want to buy for Christmas. Chris White, Denbies Vineyard Hotel

I only use Facebook. I don’t even have the time to keep on top of that. So I am not reliant on social media. I know that I should be doing a lot more but Ζ VHHP WR EH FRSLQJ ZLWKRXW LW ΖW LV VR GLÉ?FXOW WR NQRZ ZKHUH WKH EXVLQHVV comes from. There must be some coming from there, but I don’t rely on it. Joyce Evans, Y Garth B&B

We use Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is the most HÎ?HFWLYH D ORW RI SHRSOH FRPH back here and book tables or rooms or to order cream teas, and Facebook is the only one that comes up in conversation as having been viewed by guests. Andy Purkis, Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 18 - Autumn 2019

- Readers Comments / Social Media -

We use Instagram mainly as a platform on social media as it’s one picture that tells a story. Some weeks I feel I have no imaginative pics or ideas but I keep trying! Videos on Facebook have been very good, but I don’t think I am such an expert on Facebook. I keep trying!! Alex Johnson, Ty Croeso B&B

Twitter and Instagram. Instagram is the PRVW HÎ?HFWLYH ERWK WKH KRWHO DQG 2[IRUG are picturesque and Instagram is a great platform to showcase this. We've got a really loyal audience, so our posts get a good amount of engagement; likes, comments and saves. It's a fantastic marketing tool that enables us to boost awareness of our hotel and reach new audiences. We monitor engagement, in the form of likes, comments, saves and link clicks from our ΖQVWDJUDP ELR 0RQWK RQ PRQWK ΖQVWDJUDP KDV VKRZQ WR GULYH WUDÉ?F WR RXU ZHEVLWH ZKHUH people can go on to book a stay with us! :H Č´QG LW KHOSIXO WR ERRVW RXU SRVWV :H have a dedicated monthly budget that we put towards social media. We distribute this across Instagram and Facebook, the aim is to raise DZDUHQHVV DQG GULYH WUDÉ?F WR RXU ZHEVLWH Cristina Raduica, Vanbrugh House Hotel

We do use social media for our business, but we are not very good at it. I’ve never used Twitter and I wouldn’t know how. The same goes for Facebook, which seems to have been useful for us. My sons know how it works and we have paid people in the past to keep our name in the frame on social media but I wouldn’t say it’s been wonderfully successful. But that could be because we haven’t used it properly or done it correctly. Peter White Sunnybank Guesthouse,

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 19 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Y Garth -

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 20 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Y Garth -

Delivering that wow! factor Situated minutes from the beach near Newport in Pembrokeshire, Y Garth B&B has been open for 10 years, nine of them rated five-star gold. Bill Lumley meets owner Joyce Evans to find out what gives her property the edge

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aving taken early retirement after working many years as a school secretary, the owner of Pembrokeshire B&B Y Garth chose the property while it was still being built. Her plan was to run it as a B&B, and she was thus able to instruct the architect and builder to acFRPPRGDWH FHUWDLQ VSHFLȴFDWLRQV WKDW ZRXOG qualify it to meet regulations. Joyce Evans discovered that she has a knack for hospitality while still working full time and at her previous home, when she would let out one of the bedrooms as a B&B at weekends. She tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast: “I had enjoyed doing garden teas

during the summer months for many years, and when I was doing them I had about 100 people turn up on a nice summer’s day!” she recalls. “The idea of running my own B&B business really appealed to me. I opened Y Garth B&B over 10 years ago, and I still really enjoy it,” she says. She adds: Her previous experience in hospitality gave her a taste for what it would be like, she says. “I wish I had made the move years earlier. I really did enjoy it,” she says. Despite enjoying the role, she says she would not have let out her original room if it ZHUHQȇW WR KDYH SURYHG LWVHOI WR EH SURȴWDEOH

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 21 - Autumn 2019

“At the time it was just extra income for us. But then I took early retirement and went into it wholeheartedly,” she says. Y Garth B&B gets busy in the summer months, but Joyce still manages to cope withRXW UHVRUWLQJ WR KLULQJ H[WUD VWD΍ ȊΖ UXQ WKH B&B on my own, so with just three bedrooms to let out I am able to get by with it myself,” she says. “Obviously things get busy from time to time, such as in May this year with the two bank holidays when it was absolutely hectic, and I had to rely more on the laundrette to help me out. But when it is not so busy then I do all the laundry myself to save on the costs.”

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Y Garth -

PAMPERED GUESTS The key to delivering guest satisfaction she says is to be on hand for most of the time when the guests themselves are about. “I’ll make them a cup of tea and they’ll often go out to sit on the garden furniture. I also make VXUH WKHUH DUH ČľRZHUV DQG FKRFRODWHV LQ WKH rooms and Welsh tea on arrival.â€? With distant sea views towards Fishguard Harbour and Strumble Head and picturesque RSHQ FRXQWU\VLGH YLHZV KHU VW\OLVK % % RÎ?HUV relaxing, luxury accommodation. Her role is to ensure the guests are happy, relaxed and pampered, she says. Special attention to detail is evident everywhere. “Whether guests are looking for a romantic getaway, are on a business trip, celebrating a

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 22 - Autumn 2019

birthday or simply need a relaxing break from their hectic everyday existence, our stylish rooms are the perfect place to unwind and relax,â€? she says. Each of the three individually decorated rooms is furnished and equipped to a high standard and, they all have that certain Wow factor, she says. “From the beginning I knew just what I wanted at the end of it. I am really into interior design and I designed everything myself, rather than hiring interior designers. Because I am really into that side of things, everything has to match. It was a challenge to get it as I wanted it, but having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am happy with the end productâ€? she says. Each room is named after its respective views - Preseli, Strumble and Carn Ingli. Preseli refers to the Preseli and Carn Ingli mountains, Carn Ingli and Strumble Head is the famous lighthouse on the coast. Joyce says: “One bedroom is facing the lighthouse, so you can see the lights going around when it’s dark at night. I wanted to choose names that were relevant to the area. In the Strumble room is a painting of Strumble lighthouse; in the Preseli room I have a painting of the Preseli mountains, and in the other room is a painting of Carn Ingli mountain.â€? Illustrating the levels to which she goes to deliver luxury for her guests, she says: “The sumptuous double or twin bedrooms have large, dreamy beds with snuggly goose-feather and down pillows and duvets, as well as luxurious furnishings that combine to create that special wow factor, with the emphasis on luxury and supreme comfort. Dressing gowns; fridges with fresh milk and bottled water; FRÎ?HH PDFKLQHV KRPH PDGH FDNHV IDEXORXV UDLQ VKRZHUV WKHVH H[WUD OLWWOH WRXFKHV PDNH DOO D GLÎ?HUHQFH Č‹ The same attention to detail and quality applies to her breakfasts. “I ensure that as well as sleeping in an extremely comfortable bed, guests enjoy a breakfast that impresses with its quality, quantity and variety,â€? she says. “Local produce is used wherever possible, and menu choices range widely. In fact the range spans from the traditional Welsh breakfast, vegetarian breakfast, sweet American-style pancakes with fruit compote, fresh fruit and yogurt, smoked kippers with scrambled egg served on a bed of spinach, smoked salmon with free range scrambled eggs on a bed of asparagus, to Eggs Benedict. “It’s very important that guests enjoy a warm welcome and a Welsh tea on arrival is always appreciated,â€? says Joyce. Keeping on top of everything is also very important, she says. “If things are marked on a wall in a bedroom, then I will paint that straight away. I don’t let things go so far that you’d look at a bedroom and think it could do with a fresh coat of paint, because I keep on top of it all the time. The stairs and landing for examSOH KDYH KHDY\ WUDÉ?F DQG ZLWK SHRSOH FDUU\LQJ WKHLU EDJV XS WKH stairs they are forever marking the walls, but if you turned up here now you wouldn’t see those marks because I deal with them almost immediately.â€? She is careful to accommodate the needs of walkers and tourists. “Located in the beautiful Pembrokeshire National Park, Y Garth B&B draws guests from far and wide and I am always happy to point them to the obvious and less obvious attractions West Wales has to RÎ?HU 7KH DUHD DOVR DWWUDFWV PDQ\ FRDVW SDWK ZDONHUV DQG Ζ DP KDS-

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Y Garth -

py to collect them from Newport or Fishguard or organise a local taxi,â€? she says. “There are plenty of glorious scenic walks to take in golden sandy beaches, spectacular FOLÎ?V PRXQWDLQV DQG DQ HVWXDU\ QHDUE\ Č‹ VKH says. “The headland at Dinas Cross is one of the most spectacular along the Pembrokeshire Coast, which is saying a great deal, and provides excellent views across Fishguard Bay to the south and Newport Bay to the north.â€?

REPEAT GUESTS Joyce actively encourages guests who have booked through an online travel agent and who may be returning in future to do so directly with the B&B. “When people come here, if they booked through booking.com I do tell them that if they want to come back again, here is my card – just make sure you book direct,� she says.

But she says: “Although I do get repeat booking, I am in an area where there are a great deal of walkers, and I have learned they generally only come back to the same DUHD HYHU\ Č´YH RU VR \HDUV 7KH\ ZDON WKH Pembrokeshire coast path, which is 186 miles. If they are up in the north of the county then they come to stay with me, but by the following year they will be walkLQJ D GLÎ?HUHQW VWUHWFK RI WKH SDWK VR WKH\ wouldn’t be coming back that year. By then they are further down south of the county, so I probably wouldn’t see them back for DQRWKHU IRXU RU Č´YH \HDUV E\ WKH WLPH WKH\ fancy doing that sort of walk again. I am situated close to the coast path, so I obviously draw a lot of walkers,â€? she says. “The downside to that of course is that they are all one-nighters!â€? she adds.

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 24 - Autumn 2019

MUDDY WALKING SHOES Being situated on a walking trail does pose its problems, notably mud brought in from walkers’ shoes or boots, and Joyce has learned that gentle persuasion is a better approach WKDQ RUGHULQJ JXHVWV WR WDNH RÎ? WKHLU VKRHV when they enter the B&B. “It really does not go down very well with guests if you ask them to remove their shoes, which I did a few years ago,â€? she says. “I was trying to be polite about it, but people just object to it. They really don’t like it at all. And the fact that they had been asked to remove their shoes would come out in the online reviews, so I have to be very careful.â€? The solution she has come up with is to leave a tray in the front porch that she bought VSHFLČ´FDOO\ IRU SHRSOH WR OHDYH WKHLU PXGG\ walking shoes, with a sign saying, ‘Please leave muddy walking boots here’.

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Y Garth -

Over the years Y Garth has consistently ZRQ Č´YH VWDU JROG DZDUGV IURP 9LVLW :DOHV IRU nine out of the 10 years it has been in operation. Joyce says: “I put much of this down to attention to detail and going the extra mile wherever possible. I always strive to provide the highest standards of accommodation and hospitality and hope the wow factor helps make it a memorable stay. “I’m also proud to have yet again been DZDUGHG WKH 7ULS $GYLVRU &HUWLČ´FDWH RI ([FHOlence Award signifying that we have consistently earned outstanding feedback from TripAdvisor travellers,â€? she adds. 7KH FKDOOHQJHV RI DQ XQHYHQ SOD\LQJ Č´HOG LQ WKH FRPPHUFLDO DFFRPPRGDWLRQ VHFWRU RÎ?VHW some of the positive side, she says. “I believe there will always be a demand for top-end B&B establishments, but that doesn't mean it is all plain sailing,â€? she says. “The rising popularity of Airbnb is a worry, particularly as they appear to be getting away without complying ZLWK WKH ULJRURXV UHJXODWLRQV ZH DV RÉ?FLDO B&B establishments have to conform with.â€? She had been in business at Y Garth for two

years when she was forced to spend ÂŁ4,500 to meet stringent regulations. “It was a brand new house when I bought it and it was in the process of being built when I saw it for sale, so I had been able to have a lot of input into how I wanted it, and I upgraded a lot of things MXVW WR PDNH VXUH Ζ ZRXOG KDYH WKDW Č´YH VWDU rating when the time came,â€? she says. ȊΖQ WKH Č´UVW \HDU < *DUWK ZDV D IRXU VWDU property because the outside garden wall hadn’t been completed, and they couldn’t give PH WKH Č´YH VWDUV IRU WKDW VLPSOH UHDVRQ Č‹ VKH says. “The following year the wall had been Č´QLVKHG DQG Ζ ZDV GXO\ DZDUGHG WKH Č´YH VWDUV At the end of that year I was given the gold award, which I have won every year ever since. There have been other unexpected challenges, she says. “The costs of things like KDYLQJ WKH Č´UH GRRUV DUH KLJK :KHQ WKH Č´UH safety inspectors came around two years later and checked, and we had to change all the doors again because they weren’t the regulaWLRQ Č´UH GRRUV Furthermore, even though Y Garth had WKUHH KDUG ZLUHG Č´UH DODUPV Č´WWHG DQG Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 25 - Autumn 2019

maintained in the house, she had to install yet PRUH LQ RUGHU WR FRPSO\ ZLWK Č´UH UHJXODWLRQV “Now I have one in each bedroom and I have D WRWDO RI VL[ Č´UH DODUPV MXVW LQ WKH KRXVH ΖW is ridiculous. It’s these kinds of challenges that make my heart sink, and ask do we really have to have so many? ȊΖ XQGHUVWDQG \RX QHHG Č´UH DODUPV DQG DQ extinguisher, but I am required to have three here, one upstairs, one downstairs and one in the kitchen. It seems to be going overboard for a small bed & breakfast. That lesson cost me ÂŁ4,500,â€? she says. The inspectors paid her another visit six RU VR PRQWKV DJR DQG FHUWLČ´HG WKDW DOO WKH measures she had taken previously meant she didn’t have to spend anything extra. “Competition keeps you on your toes, but it LVQ W D OHYHO SOD\LQJ Č´HOG DW WKH PRPHQW Č‹ VKH says. “There are occasions when visitors to WKH DUHD Č´QG D QLJKW RU WZR LQ D EXGJHW KRWHO Č´WV WKH ELOO SHUIHFWO\ EXW DW RWKHU WLPHV JXHVWV want something a bit special. And that is what I try and provide at Y Garth. I concentrate on providing that wow factor!â€?

The secret to a good stay Spilling the beans on the secret to guest satisfaction

* NESCAFɎ in association with 3GEM, survey of 120 people who have stayed at a B&B or guest house in the last 12 months, October 2018 &HQWUH IRU (FRQRPLFV DQG %XVLQHVV 5HVHDUFK &RÎ?HH DQG ΖWV ΖPSDFW RQ WKH 8. (FRQRP\ $SULO

- Comment / Guest Feature -

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or a great start to a great stay, JRRG FRÎ?HH PLJKW EH WKH VHFUHW bed and breakfast ingredient, a new survey from NestlĂŠ Profes-

sionalÂŽ has revealed*. The study of people who had visited a guest house or bed & breakfast within the past year VKRZHG WKDW JRRG FRÎ?HH UDQNHG KLJKHU WKDQ cleanliness* ΖW DOVR UHYHDOHG WKDW D JRRG FXS RI FRÎ?HH LV QHDUO\ DV LPSRUWDQW WR EHG DQG breakfast guests as a quiet night's sleep*. &RÎ?HH FRQVXPSWLRQ KDV ULVHQ E\ PLOOLRQ cups a day over the past 10 years, with Brits QRZ GULQNLQJ D WRWDO RI PLOOLRQ FXSV RI FRIIHH HYHU\ GD\ DFFRUGLQJ WR WKH %ULWLVK &RÎ?HH Association (BCA)**. :LWK VXFK D VLJQLČ´FDQW ULVH LQ FRÎ?HH FRQVXPStion, it is perhaps no surprise that it factors so highly among guests' list of requirements. NestlĂŠ Professional’sÂŽ survey showed that QLQH LQ WHQ JXHVWV H[SHFW FRÎ?HH WR EH RÎ?HUHG in their room, when staying in a B&B or guest house* ΖQ DGGLWLRQ D VWDJJHULQJ SHU FHQW DJUHHG WKDW VPDOO JHVWXUHV VXFK DV RÎ?HULQJ FRPSOLPHQWDU\ FRÎ?HH PDGH D GLÎ?HUHQFH WR WKHLU VWD\ DQG SHU FHQW VDLG WKDW LW PDGH them feel they got more value from their stay*. Lynn Little, Channel Lead for Hotels at NestlĂŠ

ProfessionalÂŽ, said: “For us, the results of our research came as no surprise. At NestleÂŽ we KDYH RYHU \HDUVȇ RI FRÎ?HH PDNLQJ H[SHULHQFH DQG WKLV KDV WDXJKW XV WKDW JRRG FRÎ?HH FDQ PDNH DOO WKH GLÎ?HUHQFH ZKHQ LW FRPHV WR JXHVW VDWLVIDFWLRQ ΖQ IDFW SHU FHQW RI WKH SHRSOH ZH VSRNH WR VDLG WKDW JUHDW WDVWLQJ SUHPLXP FRÎ?HH demonstrates high levels of customer care and quality, and overall it increases their positive perception of the accommodation*. “Our knowledge also means we know how to deliver the very best in instant hot beveragesâ€?, continued Lynn. “With our sachets and stick range, B&B owners can rest assured that their guests have access to a wide selection of FRÎ?HH VKRS VW\OH FRÎ?HH Č‹

SCORE YOUR B&B To help B&B owners and managers find an ideal coffee solution for their guests, NestlÊ ProfessionalŽ has launched a new online tool. Score your bed and breakfast by visiting nestleprofessional.co.uk/bandb_coffee_score and answering a few simple questions. You'll get tips on improving guest satisfaction when it comes to your coffee offering, and NestlÊ ProfessionalŽ will send you some NESCAFɎ samples to get started.

ARE YOU MAXIMISING THE COFFEE OPPORTUNITIES IN YOUR B&B? šÎĹ’Äš ƼĺĚ Ć?ƭĿǕȥ ǛŠē ĹŤĆ­ĆĽ Ç‹ĹŤĆ­Ć‘ ÄŒōIJIJĚĚ Ć™ÄŒĹŤĆ‘Äš Ę ÄŒĹ•ĂŽÄżĹž your free NESCAFɎ B&B coffee samples* ĺƼƼĆŽĆ™Č ČŹČŹÇ…Ç…Ç…ČŚĹ ÄšĆ™ĆĽĹ•ÄšĆŽĆ‘ōIJĚƙƙĿōŠÎĹ•ČŚÄŒĹŤČŚĆ­Ĺ’ČŹÄ‹ĂŽĹ Ä“Ä‹Č­ÄŒōIJIJÄšÄšČ­Ć™ÄŒĹŤĆ‘Äš

*T&Cs apply | https://www.nestleprofessional.co.uk/Nescafe_BB_coffee_sample_terms

SPILL THE BEANS So, what should B&Bs be thinking about when trying to boost customer coffee satisfaction? Providing in-room coffee facilities should be the first port of call. NestlÊ Professional’sŽ survey showed 92 per cent of guests agree being offered a good cup of coffee in the comfort of their room could turn an average experience into a great one*. Good coffee ranked far higher than a television (13 per cent) and good pillows (5 per cent)*. The secret ingredients to a great B&B coffee experience: 1. Put coffee-making facilities in every room to keep guests happy. A kettle and sachet options should do the trick. 2. Offer a choice of everyday & premium beverage types - for example NESCAFɎ Azera and Gold Blend, alongside NESCAFɎ Original. 3. Refill the rooms every day so guests can always make their beverage of choice, whether it's day one, two or ten of their visit. 4. For busy breakfast services, consider investing in a NESCAFɎ Dolce GustoŽ Majesto Automatic Coffee Machine nestleprofessional.co.uk/ nescafe-dolce-gusto/majesto

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Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 28 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Vanbrugh House -

Historical heart of the city Around 95% of Oxford boutique hotel Vanbrugh House’s guests are either from the US or Asia. Bill Lumley stays a night at the

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formidable property located in the heart of the university city

ituated a short walk from the Ashmolean Museum, the Oxford Playhouse, many colleges and the main shopping streets, the 22-room Vanbrugh House boutique hotel could hardly be better placed for exploring the sights of perhaps the world’s most famous historical university city. It stands just yards from the Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate, which has overlooked the city for more than a thousand years. The hotel is also situated opposite the university’s debating society the Oxford Union. Five and a half years ago the building, dormant after having previously been used DV FRXQFLO RÉ?FHV ZDV WDNHQ RYHU E\ 6SOHQGLG Hospitality Group, a family-owned business that owns a variety of luxury and boutique hotel properties across the UK.

ORIGINAL FEATURES The building had fallen into a state of neglect. Splendid Hospitality undertook a certain DPRXQW RI UHIXUELVKPHQW WR WXUQ WKH RÉ?FH

space into 22 bedrooms while carefully retaining much of the intimate character of the 17th and 18th century building. 7KH JURXQG ČľRRU RI WKH 2[IRUG KRWHO VKRZcases beautifully panelled rooms. Hidden

6KH FDPH WR 9DQEUXJK MXVW Č´YH PRQWKV ago, and the key task she and the team have, VKH VD\V LV WR HQVXUH WKH KRWHO IXOČ´OV LWV promise as a distinctive boutique hotel, one that guests will remember.

behind the cellar walls lie vestiges of the origLQDO IRUWLČ´FDWLRQV ZKLFK ZHUH EXLOW WR JXDUG Oxford from Viking invasions, and date back to the time of King Alfred. The reception at the luxury hotel also features beautiful original delft tiling that has been commented on by the famous Oxford Ashmolean Museum, which specialises in archaeology. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments mentions the painted alcove as being of special interest.

“Rather than thinking of the building being just a hotel, we think of it as our home,â€? she says. “Check in is not a typical hotel check in, which involves queuing at a desk. Instead, JXHVWV VLW GRZQ WR EH JUHHWHG ZLWK WKH RÎ?HU RI D FXS RI WHD RU FRÎ?HH WR PDNH WKHP IHHO at home. We don’t just tell guests how to go to their room, wherever possible will show everyone to their room. ČŠ:H WU\ WR RÎ?HU DV SHUVRQDOLVHG VHUYLFH DV we can,â€? she says.

BOUTIQUE CREDENTIALS

GUEST PROFILE

9DQEUXJK +RXVH GLÎ?HUV IURP D FRQYHQWLRQDO hotel in more ways than one. Prior to coming to Vanbrugh, general manager Cristina Raduica says she had never actually stayed in a boutique hotel, loyalty schemes having kept her from straying beyond particular hotel brands.

Guests staying at the Vanbrugh House Hotel are overwhelmingly visiting the city for leisure rather than corporate purposes, and roughly break down as 65% north American tourists, 30% Asian tourists and around 5% European.“ :KHQ LW Č´UVW RSHQHG DV D ERXWLTXH KRWHO Vanbrugh House used to provide a full VHUYLFH KRWHO RÎ?HU LQFOXGLQJ EUHDNIDVW lunch and dinner. “Over the years many big restaurant chains have moved into the area, and it has since become impossible for small hotels to compete against them by providing dinner in house,â€? explains Cristina. “Covers on an average night here were EHWZHHQ WKUHH DQG Č´YH ZKLFK ZDV QRW UHDOO\ sustainable from a business perspective.â€? The owners therefore decided a few PRQWKV DJR WR VWRS RÎ?HULQJ EUHDNIDVW IRU a period of time during which instead they struck an agreement with Bill’s restaurant next door for breakfast. However, Cristina tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast magazine: “We are planning now to bring breakfast service back in house to reinforce the personalised nature of the hotel.â€?

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 29 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Vanbrugh House -

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 30 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Vanbrugh House -

HISTORY The property was for many years home to three generations of the Peisley family, stonemasons of Oxford associated with many of the city’s most beautiful buildings such as the Chapel at Trinity College. The family is best known for work at Blenheim Palace where, in the early 18th century, Bartholomew Peisley created the palace’s magnificent bridge. English architectural historian, journalist and critic the late Giles Worsley said: “No one built grander houses than Sir John Vanbrugh, soldier, possible spy, playwright, opera impresario, herald, garden designer and architect. Witty and indiscreet, Vanbrugh was the architect you would most want to have to dinner, and it was probably at the dinner table of the Kit Kat Club that Vanbrugh gained many of his commissions.”

Work has begun downstairs at the hotel to redevelop the breakfast room, which as ZH JR WR SUHVV LV H[SHFWHG WR RSHQ ȴUVW ZHHN of September. However, she says the dining DUHD ZLOO RQO\ EH R΍HULQJ EUHDNIDVW DQG QRW lunch or dinner, when she says guests will be spoiled for choice as to where they can eat. “We are extremely lucky that our location in the city means that guests have such a wide choice of options for dining out all within easy reach of the hotel. We are really looking IRUZDUG WR EHLQJ DEOH WR R΍HU RXU JXHVWV breakfast once again when the refurbishment on the dining room is complete," she says. The owners have been limited to some degree by the level to which they have been able to conduct renovations. For example, they have not been allowed to install air conditioning in the rooms because of the structural changes that would be required. However the dining room was already in situ, so they are simply having to refurbish it as a breakfast dining area. “We are not having to make any structural changes there,” says Cristina.

Sir John Vanbrugh himself was known to have no formal training or experience in architecture. However, he did have a close working relationship with Nicholas Hawksmoor, an accomplished clerk of the great architect Sir Christopher Wren. With the aid of his college, Vanbrugh took control of the largest architectural commission in the kingdom; a new house for the Earl of Carlisle, now known as Castle Howard. With an impressive project to his name, Sir John Vanbrugh was granted permission to build Vanbrugh house. It was built on the line of the Old Medieval City Wall of Oxford and instead of being terraced like other townhouses of modest size at that time, Vanbrugh house stood on its own, freely.

BEDROOM DECOR The bedrooms all feature quirky lamps, rococo mirrors and several bright cushions which form a contrast to the dark classical colours of the walls and the wooden panelling, the RULJLQDO ȴUHSODFHV DQG WKH VDVK ZLQGRZV The hotel has a capacity for a total of 44 guests, all of whom will be accommodated Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 31 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Vanbrugh House -

in the breakfast area when it reopens if they choose to take the most important meal of the day at the same time. 1RW EHLQJ DOORZHG WR Č´W DQ\ DLU FRQGLtioning is the biggest challenge, she says, when it comes to explaining to guests why they can’t provide facilities. “We simply are not allowed to, just as we cannot change any of the windows facing the main road, since that would change the aspect of the building. There are therefore downsides to having such a lovely building with an amazing history, restrictive when it comes to modernisation to meet our guests’ requirements, and we do all we can to explain this to our guests prior to visiting in order that their expectation are met,â€? she says.

HOTEL GUESTS Oxford is busy all year round but is at its busiest at the start of summer during the graduation period. In December and January, the city and therefore the hotel tend to be less busy, but Cristina says: “With just 22 bedrooms it PDNHV LW TXLWH HDV\ WR Č´OO Č‹ The hotel has had its fair share of celebrities who have come to stay, she says. “Being close to the theatre also brings us a fair number of actors.â€? The hotel has also had quite a few marriage

proposals taking place, she says, and the week before my visit, two couples that had married that weekend decided to spend their Č´UVW KRQH\PRRQ QLJKW DW WKH ERXWLTXH KRWHO

LUXURY ROOMS The bedrooms are currently equipped with 32-inch TVs with, beneath them and built into a drawer, a panel of sockets that accommodates USB or other audio and/or visual plugs, enabling guests to watch whatever form of entertainment that they have brought with them on a larger screen. 7KLV ZDV YHU\ SRSXODU Č´YH \HDUV DJR DFcording to Cristina, but with the evolution of digital technology since, it has had its day. “In the next month we are looking to change it,â€? she says. “We will be replacing the 32-inch TVs with 43-inch or 55-inch models, and at the same time we will get rid of the EODFN ER[HV Č´WWHG WR WKH GUDZHUV EHQHDWK the TVs. Unfortunately, all our drawers are customised, handmade for each of the rooms, ZKLFK PHDQV ZH DUH KDYLQJ HLWKHU WR Č´QG WKH same company that can remove the black boxes and replace them with panels of the same size, or just replace the entire drawers.â€? Unlike many hotels, each room at Vanbrugh +RXVH LV GLÎ?HUHQW ZLWK LWV RZQ KLVWRU\ DQG each is named with a framed history of the Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 32 - Autumn 2019

- ΖQ 3URȴOH Vanbrugh House -

She adds: “There are also quite a few serviced accommodation properties including luxury apartments, and of course we have Airbnb, which is still competition for us even WKURXJK LW LV D GLÎ?HUHQW OHYHO RI FOLHQWÂŞOH ΖW still dilutes our market. And that is very unfair competition since Airbnb doesn’t have to comply with anything like the costly levels of regulation that we have to.â€?

GUEST PERCEPTION She says a certain number of guests seem somewhat confused over the comparatively high price for a stay at Vanbrugh House, when actually she says it is a matter of the location of the hotel in the heart of the city, its associated history and the level of service received. “Obviously in our location we lack parking facilities, which many guests are unhappy about,� she says. To address this, she says the hotel is currently changing its website to highlight the fact its owners are trying to be environmentally friendly and recommend guests make use of the local park-and-ride or take the

corresponding history of the room. Two of the rooms have gardens. I stayed in one of these, the Vicarage Suite, and I found the garden perfect, both for eating dinner – I chose a burrito from down the street – and for breakfast, which I bought in a nearby Prêt a Manger. Ȋ7KH JDUGHQV DUH QRW XVXDOO\ D VSHFLȴFDWLRQ for guests when they are booking with us – it comes as a bonus for them.,� says Cristina. Despite being situated in the heart of Oxford, the garden is a peaceful place to unwind, undisturbed after a busy day exploring the historical city. The Vicarage Suite has twin bath tubs and a stand-alone, glass-walled shower cubicle. Shower rooms in the standard doubles are smartly presented with White Company toiletries.

COMPETITION CHALLENGES Originally formed with the establishment of a river crossing for oxen in around 900AD, Oxford is now the 52nd largest city in Great Britain, and the famous university city and county town of Oxfordshire is growing fast.

Cristina says: “As it grows, there are quite a few new hotel properties that have been built in the last five years since we opened, branded and independent. A new Hilton is to open soon at Westgate and this year quite a few hotels are opening or undergoing refurbishment nearby, so demand for us is falling slightly due to the increase in competition.� Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 34 - Autumn 2019

environmentally friendly oxford buses $V ZHOO DV RÎ?HULQJ D SHUVRQDOLVHG JUHHWLQJ service and providing a reception area that is open 24 hours a day, the hotel can also arrange personalised visits. For example, a walking package combines an overnight stay with an informative two-hour private tour DFFRPSDQLHG E\ D TXDOLČ´HG ORFDO JXLGH They've thought of everything.

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Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 35 - Autumn 2019

- In Depth / Payment Systems -

Embracing alcohol-free beers A growing public awareness of the hazards of drinking to excess, coupled with great strides in taste and quality of low-and-no alcohol beer has led to such brews providing a boost this year both to brewers and to the on trade. Bill Lumley finds booze-free beer can help your bottom line

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LOW AND NO ALCOHOL STATISTICS • The low and no alcohol beer market in the UK grew by 26% in 2017 • From 2013 – 2017, the low and no alcohol beer market in the UK grew by 150% • Approximately 43 million pints of low or no alcohol beer are now sold annually in the UK • Research conducted by The Portman Group in January 2019 showed that nearly a quarter (24%) of British Drinkers have either already switched some of their drinking to low alcohol alternatives or are considering doing so Source: British Beer and Pub Association/BBPA

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- ΖQ 3URȴOH Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel -

Restoration of a silk purse Built as a coaching inn in 1701, the 27-bedroom Grade II listed Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel in Dartford is the town’s oldest inn. After being thoroughly neglected for years by its previous owners, it was acquired by South Coast Inns two years ago. Bill Lumley takes a look around an impressive restoration in the heart of a town lacking a reputation as a tourist destination

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 38 - Autumn 2019

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Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 39 - Autumn 2019

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- ΖQ 3URȴOH Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel -

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- In Depth / Payment Systems -

Securing payment New payment services regulation comes into effect in September, and payment service providers and banks have been adapting their security systems to accommodate the increased security requirements of the new European Payment Services Directive, PSD2. Bill Lumley asks what criteria independent accommodation owners should follow when choosing a new point of sale system

R

unning an independent hospitality EXVLQHVV FDQ RIWHQ DSSHDU VWLČľLQJO\ complex, with rafts of regulation that indirectly or directly impact the owners of businesses in this sector. Beyond WKH EXUGHQVRPH UXOHV DÎ?HFWLQJ LQVXUDQFH RU health and safety are rules concerning customers and payment systems – the terminals you use to process your guests’ payments in person or over the phone. The latest European Payment Services Directive, PSD2, comes into play in September just weeks before the point where various politicians are promising to take Britain out of the European Union. There are a number of considerations any independent hospitality business with a traditional POS card payment system ought to bear in mind. According to Gary Munro, principal conVXOWDQW DW &RQVXOW +\SHULRQ WKH Č´UVW LVVXH WR consider relates to the volume of transactions you as a business make per week and whethHU WKHLU QXPEHU MXVWLČ´HV SD\LQJ D UHQWDO IHH for a point of sale device. “If a small boutique hotel or a B&B is only taking half a dozen to a dozen transactions for rooms, then the cost of paying to rent that device becomes questionable,â€? he explains. Traditionally a merchant would rent a point-of-sale system from one of the larger acquirers such as Barclaycard or Worldpay IRU D ČľDW UDWH RI SHUKDSV e HDFK PRQWK This is a high price to pay for a small number of transactions, but if you are doing many transactions it is less of a burden. Gary says: “If you are only conducting a small number of transactions each month that cost can be too high, considering you generally sign up for the system for a two-year period.“

MOBILE POINT OF SALE In the last couple of years there has been an emergence of mPOS – mobile point of sale devices. This development has opened up D GLÎ?HUHQW SULFLQJ PRGHO IRU PHUFKDQWV WR consider. “For mPOS solutions the merchant EX\V D 3Ζ1 SDG IRU D RQH RÎ? SULFH EHWZHHQ e DQG e 7KH\ȇOO WKHQ SD\ D KLJKHU IHH SHU transaction but there is no monthly cost to SD\ RI DERXW ZKLFK ZRUNV RXW FKHDSHU if you are only processing a couple of dozen transactions per month,â€? Gary says. “Bearing in mind he cost of transactions, there comes a point where it is cheaper to rent a terminal from one of the traditional providers, but for low volumes or lower YDOXHV LW LV PXFK PRUH FRVW HÎ?HFWLYH WR ORRN DW an mPOS system.â€? If your POS contract is nearing the point of renewal it may be worth considering drawing a line under it as the end of your contract approaches and look at acquiring a new mPOS device.

VALUABLE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION A fundamental bonus to virtually any mPOS solutions arises from the fact that they all run from a tablet or a mobile phone. “For a small hotel or a B&B for example this system works very well, because an associated app automatically builds up your complete sales records, whether it be breakfast or standard room or double room or minibar, restaurant or bar charges. It provides you with a whole pile of data sent back from the service provider giving a concise breakdown on how you are trading, what is selling well and what is not. As a hotel or guest house management Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 46 - Autumn 2019

tool, an mPOS becomes a valuable management tool to have, rather than just a machine to take payments. “There are businesses who use this app even if they are simply taking cash as it gives them all the transactions they have made,â€? he says. The downside to mPOS is that the service is dependent on either a mobile phone signal or :L )L $ VPDOO EXW VLJQLČ´FDQW QXPEHU RI UXUDO or remote UK properties struggle to get either form of signal and would remain at the mercy of the fees charged by traditional POS systems. If your premises can’t get either a reliable phone signal or dependable Wi-Fi then it is probably not worth investing in an mPOS device. mPOS systems were originally developed for market traders but were soon taken up by largHU PHUFKDQWV ZKR Č´QG WKHP FRQYHQLHQW DQG WKH\ Č´QG WKH GDWD WKH\ JHW EDFN LV KLJKO\ XVHIXO for their business. “Even if they are processing higher volumes of transactions it’s worth the extra per-transaction charge,â€? says Gary. If accommodation business owners are not happy with their existing system or its associated fees, and if the system is nearing the end of its typically two-year life, if they KDYH e e WR VSDUH RQ RÉ?FH HTXLSPHQW WKH\ PD\ Č´QG LW KLJKO\ XVHIXO WR EX\ DQ P326 and bite the bullet on perhaps the last two or three months with an mPOS system. 2QH UHDVRQ ZK\ LW PD\ EH ZRUWK ZULWLQJ RÎ? a couple of months of rental fee is that with an mPOS there is no monthly rental fee or minimum monthly service charge. Another strong reason to switch is that all such devices are equipped with highly useful transaction analysis apps. Gary explains: “The nice thing is they all come with this generic app which enables you to man-

- In Depth / Payment Systems -

Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 47 - Autumn 2019

- In Depth / Payment Systems -

type in their PIN then this means you have carried out strong customer authentication.� For hotels and guest houses, he says, that can be a little more troublesome. He explains: “You may have pre-authorised additional payment RI XS WR e ΖI WKH FXVWRPHU KDV VSHQW D ELW more in the restaurant or bar, and you have to do a top-up authorisation, this may raise some questions about customer authentication. The schemes and the providers are currently working out a way of overcoming that, and it may soon lead to some changes in the way they do things in this regard,� he suggests.

PRE-ORDER APPS

age the business side of things. You can email a receipt to your customer and on the email you can provide your web address and a certain amount of marketing material. It moves things on quite a bit from the paper receipt,â€? he says. 6LQFH WKH V\VWHPV ZHUH Č´UVW LQWURGXFHG along with their capability to gather personal customer detail, the advent of GDPR has occurred. Gary warns: “If you are taking the email address just to send them a receipt WKDW LV Č´QH :KDW *'35 VD\V LV WKDW \RX DUH DOlowed to use emails for the purpose for which they are given. As long as you don’t use the HPDLO DGGUHVV IRU DQ\WKLQJ HOVH \RX DUH Č´QH If you as a B&B owner then start sending the customer a pile of marketing material then that would be in breach of GDPR.â€?

POS VS MPOS This raises the question as to whether in fact mPOS predecessors, the traditional POS, have had their day, Gary responds: “Not yet, but there is a recognition that they need to up their game. The non-mPOS systems are

changing, and the answer really depends on the market in question. For businesses turning over high volumes of transactions such as supermarkets, normal POS systems are DEVROXWHO\ Č´QH %XW ZKHUH D PHUFKDQW ZDQWV to capture data and understand a bit more about quite how they are trading, for example in a boutique hotel environment, the traditional POS is in trouble. The small business insights provided by mPOS are invaluable. One merchant he knows has discovered that she sells more lemon drizzle cake on a Tuesday, thanks to the analytical information from her mPOS app, he says.

PAYMENT SERVICE DIRECTIVE 36' VKRXOG QRW DÎ?HFW LQGHSHQGHQW DFFRPmodation providers materially but some organisations may change in the way they operate after its introduction in September.â€?PSD2 means that when a transaction is carried out, a strong customer authentication process must also be carried out,â€? says Gary. “If the customer is in front of you and they Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 48 - Autumn 2019

A variety of specialist complementary apps have been developed that connect to various facilities such as pre-order from a breakfast or restaurant menu, he says. “They are specialist apps, and you need to seek them out. For instance there is a company called Touch Bistro, D IXOO PHQX V\VWHP ZKLFK ZRUNV RÎ? DQ L3DG HQDEOLQJ \RX WR ORRN DW GLÎ?HUHQW DVSHFWV RI WKH menu, and you can run your entire restaurant RÎ? LW ΖW KDV D PHQX DQG \RX FOLFN RQ HDFK GLVK and it brings up a picture of the dish, nutritional information, allergy information and so forth. Rather than the customer being handed a menu, you hand them an iPad.â€? It is still early days, but there are more and more of these kind of apps available and coming onto the market, and you may be advised to keep a lookout for such devices.

CHARGING CONSIDERATIONS All mPOS systems must be kept charged at all times in periods when they may be in use, and they must not be left unucharged for VLJQLČ´FDQW SHULRGV RI WLPH RU WKHLU EDWWHU\ ZLOO cease to function altogether. “A B&B may have may do only a couple of transactions in a week. The mPOS needs to be kept charged up. It may sound a bit silly but it only has a little battery, and it needs to be kept charged up in order that it is ready to be used when you need it," says Gary. “Furthermore if you let it run out of charge completely then it will trigger what we call a tamper: If you left it without a charge for say WKUHH PRQWKV WKHQ HÎ?HFWLYHO\ LW EHFRPHV XVHOHVV and you need to replace it. This has happened from time to time at B&Bs: it will get to October and they’ll put the device away in a cupboard for the closed season. Then they get to March take it out again and it won’t work. You don’t want to be SD\LQJ e HYHU\ \HDU IRU D QHZ P326 Č‹ KH VD\V

- In Depth / Payment Systems -

And he suggests: “It needs a bit of discipline. Set a note in your diary to charge it up perhaps once a week.�

CUSTOMER PROFILE One particularly important consideration when it comes to choosing a point of sale system is whether the device caters for all the debt or credit cards of your guests. For instance, if a proportion of your guests are from China then you need to make sure your system can handle the cards they are likely to use, such as UnionPay, the world’s largest card scheme. Zhihong Wei, director and head of Europe for UnionPay International, tells Luxury Bed & Breakfast magazine: “There is huge potential for UK hospitality providers in meeting the needs of visitors from China, as many more Chinese tourists are now travelling independently rather than with organized tours. This means they are spreading their spendLQJ RYHU D ZLGHU YDULHW\ RI Č´HOGV DQG ZLOO EH attracted to merchants which accept payment methods they are familiar with.â€? According to VisitBritain, Chinese visitors are among the highest spending tourists to the UK so there are clear advantages for businesses to appeal to them. “UnionPay has the largest cardholder base in the world and we are working with partners across Europe to ensure merchants can accept UnionPay cards and UnionPay mobile payments. Earlier this year we signed an agreement with Barclaycard which will see its almost all its UK merchants to accept UnionPay through a phased roll out that will begin this summer,â€? says Wei.

KEY CONSIDERATIONS There are a number of key considerations that B&Bs, guest houses and independent luxury boutique hotels should make when choosing a new payment system. Edward Hallett, managing director at mPOS provider iZettle UK, says: “Firstly we’d advise hoteliers to consider capability, costs and contracts when it comes to choosing a new payments system.â€? The second most important consideration is capability, he says. “Work out what features are essential to help you run your hotel. Is it simply the payment function, or do you need KHOS PDQDJLQJ VWDÎ? VWRFN DQG WDEOHV WRR" :KHQ \RXȇYH Č´JXUHG WKLV RXW \RXȇOO EH DEOH WR Č´OWHU WKURXJK WKH SD\PHQW V\VWHPV WKDW DUH available and best suited to your business.â€? Thirdly comes the issue of costs and

contracts. Edward says: “Luckily, there are QRZ PDQ\ DÎ?RUGDEOH 326 VROXWLRQV DYDLODEOH with low fees and no contracts. We’d always recommend steering clear of getting locked down with unnecessary lengthy, and often expensive, terms.â€? For smaller hotels just starting out, he says: “We’d recommend testing a pay-as-you-go POS DSS Č´UVW Č‹ KH VD\V L=HWWOH IRU H[DPSOH FKDUJHV a one-time cost for a card reader, followed by D IHH RI SHU WUDQVDFWLRQ 7KH 326 DSS itself that comes with the reader is free. “The biggest operational change concerns the heightened requirements on customer authentication, to gain a customer’s permission to use his or her transactional and payment data - and to verify their identity. “Hotel and guesthouse owners already working through online booking platforms should make sure that their booking engine uses two-step authentication processes like ' VHFXUH RU VLPLODU :KLOVW WKH KLJKHU UHquirements on customer authentication may increase the workload on some businesses, Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 49 - Autumn 2019

LW ZLOO EULQJ EHQHČ´WV LQFOXGLQJ UHGXFHG IUDXG and chargebacks,â€? he says. With regards to PSD2 he suggests: “We’d recommend merchants prepare by getting familiar with the various thresholds of amounts/number of transactions that trigger strong customer authentication. As hoteliers are the ones in direct contact with customers, they should be prepared to answer any questions customers may have regarding the additional authentication - how it works, why it’s required, and where to turn if they have additional questions.â€? The last word comes from integrated SD\PHQW SURYLGHU & 3D\PHQW ZKLFK KDV D strong focus on hotel and food and beverage and retail sectors. A spokesperson says: “Luxury hotels are now trying to work on understanding their guests better - knowing who they are, what they spend money on and where in the hotel etc - so that the hotels can RÎ?HU WKHP UHZDUGV DQG RÎ?HUV WR LQFUHDVH loyalty. Tracking them through the payment process can help with this,â€? she concludes.

- In Depth / Last Orders -

the pub landlord Comedian Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, talks to Innkeeper on fashions and other issues threatening the British pub

ARTISAN DRINKS What are your views on fruit cider and its growing popularity? I gather much of it originates from Sweden. Well first things first, cider always was fruit cider, unless these people know something about apples we don’t. The growth in popularity of these drinks points directly to the question of more ladies in pubs, what with them being fruit based drinks, and that can only be a good thing. The Swedes have to export booze because they can’t sell it at home what with it being thirty-five pounds a pint. What do you make of the growing trend for craft beers? Everyone needs a hobby of course, but should making beer be a hobby? One of my earliest encounters with the possible gastric distress bad beer can cause was homebrew at a teenaged pal’s fifteenth birthday party. I shan’t paint a picture, it would only be upsetting. But if people want to add that element of excitement to their drinking, who am I to stop selling them madly marked-up beer? Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 50 - Autumn 2019

How do you view the growth in the popularity of gin? Landlords around Britain are filling up the space behind their bars to cash in on the emergence of gin as a drink of choice. Is this wise? Gin is back! Gin constitutes hope, and I’ll tell you why: no one actually likes gin, so just imagine how much booze we will sell when someone starts a trend for something they actually like. Likewise, flavoured vodkas are also creeping in and occupying the space a couple of feet behind the beer pumps. Is this something you accommodate or on which you have any views? I don’t know if you remember the alcopop years, an era that played on the conscience of every publican, bar manager and pub staffer day and night. Delicious booze? No! Your first taste of booze as a youngster should make you wonder why on earth anyone would drink, and what deep and sweet mysteries might lie in the glass or bottle that compel adults to partake. So yummy drinks are problematic in that respect. But anything which makes vodka more palatable for the punter is a good thing. The innkeepers of this country will also be keen to hear your expert opinion on what the next big thing will be to replace artisan drinks. I reckon once we’ve got through the artisan thing you’ll be going in the other direction altogether, so we’re looking at beer made by A.I. – Robo-brew, Laser-beer, Digital-hops. Purest ingredients, probe-picked by robots, sterile environments, vacuum treated nano-barley. Even though it’ll taste the same.

- In Depth / Last Orders -

BRITISH WINES Do you encourage patrons in your pub to go for English white wines, as opposed to those imported from across the Channel or the other side of the world? :HOO RI FRXUVH 7KH FRQYHUJHQFH RI JOREDO ZDUQLQJ DQG %UH[LW PHDQV %ULWLVK ZLQHV DUH JHWWLQJ EHWWHU DW SUHFLVHO\ WKH PRPHQW ZHȇUH JRLQJ WR QHHG WKHP $QG ZKDWȇV JRRG DERXW (QJOLVK ZLQHV LV WKLV ZKHQ \RX EX\ D ERWWOH RI ZLQH WKH ZD\ WR EH VXUH LWȇV DQ\ JRRG LV LI WKH ODEHO RQ WKH EDFN LV LQ WKH VDPH ODQJXDJH DV WKH SODFH LWȇV IURP )UHQFK RQ D %RUGHDX[ *HUPDQ RQ D 6SDWEXUJXQGHU ΖI LWȇV D GXG LW KDV DQ (QJOLVK ODEHO RQ WKH EDFN Ȃ ȊJRRG ZLWK PHDWȋ WKDW VRUW RI WKLQJ 6R ZLQH IURP WKH 8. PXVW EH JRRG EHFDXVH LWȇV JRW D ODEHO RQ WKH EDFN LQ (QJOLVK <RX FDQȇW DUJXH ZLWK WKH ORJLF

MUSIC IN PUBS Does anyone really want to see a live band when they’ve popped into their local for a swift half? *RRG TXHVWLRQ 8VXDOO\ WKH RQO\ SHRSOH LQ WKH SXE DW WKDW SRLQW DUH WKH EDQGȇV SUHVV JDQJHG SDOV %XW FODVVLF SXE PXVLF OLNH 2DVLV KDV LWV SODFH RI FRXUVH :HPEOH\

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Do you approve of bars selling nonalcoholic beers, or do they simply occupy valuable space gathering dust behind you at the bar? Ζ KDYH RQH RU WZR SDOV ZKR IRU WKH JRRG RI DOO VKRXOG SUREDEO\ QHYHU GULQN DQ\WKLQJ WKDW PLJKW LQWR[LFDWH WKHP HYHU DJDLQ EXW ZKR KDYH SLQW VL]HG KDQGV DQG ORRN GDIW DQG GHIHDWHG ZLWK D VRIW GULQN VR WKH DOFRKRO IUHH EHHU SHUIRUPV DQ HVVHQWLDO NLQG DQG FRQVROLQJ UROH

GENERAL ADVICE TO PUB LANDLORDS At a time of unprecedented closures of pubs around the UK, how do you suggest pubs and inns stand the best chance of surviving nowadays? 7RXJK TXHVWLRQ ΖQ WKH HQG LWȇV XS WR GULQNHUV WR UHDOLVH WKDW D SXE RU DQ LQQ LV OLNH D VH[ OLIH Č‚ XVH LW RU ORVH LW %XW ZKDW WKH WUDGH FDQ GR LV ZKDW LWȇV DOZD\V GRQH EH IULHQGO\ ZHOFRPH RSHQ DQG RÎ?HU VRPHWKLQJ HOVH QR RQH GRHV D KRPH IURP KRPH DQG SRUN VFUDWFKLQJV

PRIME MINISTER Do you have any aspirations to revive your political ambitions? 1R 7KH QDWLRQ KDG LWV FKDQFH SHRSOH VWRXW KHDUWHG .HQWLVK PHQ DQG ZRPHQ PDGH WKHLU FKRLFH DQG WKH\ NQHZ WKH\ ZHUH ULJKW %XW \RX FDQȇW EH DKHDG RI \RXU WLPH DOO WKH WLPH Would you continue as the pub landlord after you become Prime Minister? 2I FRXUVH LWȇV ZKDW WKH\ FDOO DQ XSVFDOH WKDWȇV DOO 7KH\ȇUH EDVLFDOO\ WKH VDPH MRE .HHS WKH SODFH UXQQLQJ NHHS WKH Č´[WXUHV DQG Č´WWLQJV VSLFN DQG VSDQ PDNH VXUH WKH VWDÎ? DUH KDSS\ +RZ KDUG FDQ LW EH" What measures would you take to support innkeepers and pub landlords? 7KHUHȇG EH D WHPSWDWLRQ WR QDWLRQDOLVH SXEV WR VWHP WKH FORVXUHV %XW PD\EH WKH WKLQJ WR GR ZRXOG EH PDNH UXQQLQJ D SXE WD[ IUHH $QG ΖȇG GR VRPH SROLWLFDO ZDÉžH WR MXVWLI\ LW 3XEV SHUIRUP DQ HVVHQWLDO VRFLDO FRKHVLRQ UROH 6HH WKH ZDÉžH LVQȇW KDUG

ΖW LV LQFUHDVLQJO\ GLÉ?FXOW WR DWWUDFW DQG NHHS JRRG EDU VWDÎ? :KDW DSSURDFK do you take to achieve this? Or does a JRRG SXE ODQGORUG QRW QHHG VWDÎ?" <RXȇUH RQO\ DV JRRG DV \RXU VWDÎ? /HDG IURP WKH IURQW /HDG E\ H[DPSOH $QG ZKDWHYHU \RX GR GRQȇW ZRUN ZLWK IDPLO\ XQOHVV \RX VLPSO\ KDYH QR FKRLFH OLNH HYHU\RQH ZKR ZRUNV ZLWK IDPLO\ Should pubs serve food at all, and if yes, what food would be best received? ΖȇYH VDLG LW EHIRUH ΖȇOO VD\ LW DJDLQ Č‚ WKH ZRUG JDVWUR EHORQJV LQ IURQW RI WKH ZRUG HQWHULWLV %XW WKH JDVWUR ORW DUH GUHDPLQJ WKH LPSRVVLEOH GUHDP Č‚ WKH\ȇUH PDNLQJ WKHLU PRQH\ RQ WKH IRRG DQG EHFDXVH WKH\ȇUH SUHWW\ PXFK UHVWDXUDQWV WKH\ȇUH PDNLQJ PRQH\ RQ WKH ERR]H 'RXEOH ZKDPP\ What’s the best way of keeping \RXU JRRG EDU VWDÎ?" 7KH EHVW ZD\ WR NHHS VWDÎ? LV WR SD\ WKHP PRUH PRQH\ DQG KDYH WKHP ZRUN OHVV KRXUV <RX JRWWD KDYH D GUHDP ULJKW"

Would you lower or even abolish alcohol duty? (YHU\ SLQW \RX GULQN LV DQ DFW RI SDWULRWLVP 7KDW PRQH\ȇV WKH 4XHHQȇV 6KHȇG KDYH WR 2. LW How would you adjust the licensing laws, RU GR \RX WKLQN WKH\ DUH Č´QH DV WKH\ DUH" :HOO ZKDW ZHȇYH ORVW VLQFH SXEV RSHQHG DOO GD\ LV WKH VZHHW MR\ RI WKH LOOLFLW SLQW LQ WKH DIWHUQRRQ DQG WKH VZHHW SOHDVXUH RI WKH ORFN LQ $QG \RX NQRZ VRPHWLPHV \RXȇUH NHHSLQJ DQ H\H RSHQ IRU WKH KDOI SDVW WKUHH SXQWHU ZKHQ D QDS PLJKW EH LQ RUGHU %XW WKH\ȇUH QRW FDOOHG SXEOLF KRXVHV IRU QRWKLQJ Č‚ WKH\ȇUH RSHQ WR WKH SXEOLF Č‚ DQG WKDW PHDQV HYHU\RQH 7KH 4XHHQ LVQȇW DOORZHG LQ WKH +RXVH RI &RPPRQV Č‚ VKH FDQ FRPH LQ P\ JDÎ? QR ZRUULHV Luxury Bed & Breakfast - 51 - Autumn 2019

The Pub Landlord is appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August – information and all other tour dates are available at: www.thepublandlord.com

D scover our 2019 collect ons

Novell n UK offers a full range of bathroom products; nclud ng bespoke shower enclosures, wet-rooms, steam rooms, spa baths, furn ture and much more. All our products are des gned and manufactured n Italy ensur ng qual ty and ava lab l ty. We have an extens ve showroom fac l ty at our HQ n Italy to support spec f cat ons and techn cal needs., If you are nterested n talk ng to us about future projects or v s t ng us n Italy, for more deta ls and ava lab l ty, please contact our contracts manager Steve Sh rley: s.sh rley@novell n .com. Products ava lable nat onw de v a our merchant partners. Why not v s t our webs te or contact us d rectly for more deta ls on our products and serv ces.

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