I n this issue ... A warm welcome from LUXURY BNB

Signs of Spring are beginning to appear around the country as the hospitality sector emerges once again from winter slowdown and prepares for the busier months ahead.

This issue of Luxury BnB brings you practical suggestions on how to drive up guest numbers. We examine ways you may not have explored in which you can easily draw overnight visitors. The internet may have brought its problems, not least the advent of the OTA helping itself to your direct commission. Guests’ growing addiction to Wi-Fi has caused a headache to a great many rural properties that are unable, with the best will in the world, to deliver a reliable broadband service, often resulting in devastatingly poor review rankings. There is one particular online approach that you could and should consider capitalising upon if you have not already done so, which is securing an online link to a showcase of your venue with the sites of nearby events, concerts, racing events of festivals.

It costs little or nothing to connect your business, complete with pics and the best reviews you can muster, with the websites of the organisers of all these events. Seasons such as the Cheltenham raving festival in March that draw visitors from far afield are perfect for attracting overnight guests to higherend hospitality venues such as yours. We give examples from around the UK of crowd-drawing events, along with professional advice on how to go about drawing attention of your venue to anyone visiting the website of the nearby festival or event in question.

Meanwhile our cover story on Leeds Castle Hotel illustrates how hospitality businesses close to – or even, in this case, on the grounds of – major tourist attractions, can build up direct associations with local businesses to deliver topquality service to your guests. Whether it be with a high-calibre local florist able to deliver spectacular flower arrangements for wedding parties or a reliable and top-quality local catering business, connecting guests easily and reliably with such services will meet with high approval from the very people who will ultimately be awarding you the five stars you deserve.

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Dominic Johnson dominic@miramedia.co.uk

01892 711 144

EDITOR

Bill Lumley | Words editor@luxurybnbmag.com

DESIGN Tracy Poulsen | Design tracy@miramedia.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

Karen Thorne karenjthorne@yahoo.co.uk

Yvonne Halling yvonne@yvonnehalling.com

Bethnal & Bec relax@bethnalandbec.com

Lisa Holloway looholloway@gmail.com their

4. NEWS

6. YVONNE HALLING

8. COVER STORY: LEEDS CASTLE

Max/maxing out on local businesses to boost your guests' experience

20. 2023 PREVIEW:

Techniques for connecting your business to nearby festivals in the year ahead

22. PRODUCT NEWS

24. BETHNAL & BEC

Where have all the bookings gone?

26. KAREN'S COLUMN

Do you need a licence to sell alcohol at your B&B

28. CLOCKWORK MARKETING

Creating an emotional connection in your marketing message

31. AWARDS

Revealed: The winners of 2023 LBnB Annual Awards

40. MSS

Achieve total mobile coverage through the thickest of walls

43. COCKTAILS

Elevate the mixture of your drinks menu in 2023

44. SUPPLIER DIRECTORY

45. B&BS FOR SALE

Complete mobile coverage in every area of your property, however thick your walls and however widely spread your accommodation, is now a viable proposition

Cameron Castle originates from a mid-18th century castle on the edge of Loch Lomond near Balloch in Scotland. In 1830 the modern Baronial castle was built and then rebuilt following a fire in 1865.

As the image suggest, the walls of the grand castellate mansion are thick and the four-storey historical building itself is sprawling with turrets. In other words, a nightmare for any commercial owner hoping to keep a 21st century guest happy. The endless struggles of the average a fivebedroom domestic property owner to get mobile reception in every room of the house are a picnic compared with the difficulty a venue such as Cameron Castle would have – indeed did have – in providing guests with any let alone reliable mobile reception.

Stories abound of hospitality owners setting up business in remote or sprawling buildings much less complex than Cameron Castle, only for them to discover they are unable to offer one of modern guests’ number one requirement: accessibility with the rest of the world. They are unable to send urgent messages home, let alone to send images of the venue to their Instagram accounts. Meanwhile staff are unable to call on each other as and when required.