Become an astronaut? Most of us would rather run a B&B

According to a survey reported in a number of today's papers (I quote the Daily Express):
"It may not be the most glamorous of jobs, but the majority of us would prefer running a humble bed and breakfast to being a doctor, scientist, lawyer or even an astronaut".

"Two out of three Britons said they would choose the quieter life to a high-powered career that brings longer hours and more stress.

"Earning a steady income from the comfort of your own home and working with loved ones is considered more important than reaping a £100,000 salary, driving flash cars or taking exotic holidays.

"And being a £30-a-night B&B or guesthouse owner beat a range of more esteemed professions – from police commissioner to fighter pilot, and fire chief to astronaut – as most people’s dream job."

I'm not sure about "£30 a night" - they are a bit out of date there! - but it is nice to know that we are envied!

You can read the Daily Express report here

British B&Bs "Reign Supreme" - according to travellers

"Britain's B&Bs reign supreme" according to TripAdvisor's users: Britain lays claim to four of the world's top 10 B&Bs, seven of the top 10 B&Bs in Europe - and even takes second and third place in the best B&Bs in the world category. 

TripAdvisor spokesperson Emma Shaw commented: "Yet again, Britain's B&Bs continue to be celebrated as some of the very best in the world" 

Despite narrowly missing out on the honour of world's best B&B to a property in Italy, Athole Guest House in Bath takes second place in the World, while No1 in St Ives, Cornwall comes in third. All Seasons Guest House in Filey and St Michael's Guest House in Scarborough rank in sixth and seventh places respectively.

TripAdvisor is the "world's largest travel website", and its Travellers' Choice winners are based on millions of reviews and opinions covering more than 650,000 establishments collected in a single year from travellers around the world.

TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Awards 2013 
The World's Top 10 B&Bs:
1. Casa Portagioia, Bed and Breakfast, Castiglion Fiorentino - Italy
2. Athole Guest House, Bath - England
3. No1, St Ives, Cornwall - England
4. Chambres d'hotes Saint Emilion Bordeaux: Beau Sejour - France
5. Point Clear Cottages, Fairhope - United States
6. All Seasons Guest House, Filey, North Yorkshire - England
7. St Michael's Guest House, Scarborough, North Yorkshire - England
8. Baan Malinee Bed and Breakfast, Phuket - Thailand
9. The Welsh Hills Inn, Granville - United States
10. Loire Valley Retreat, Chinon - France

Newspaper promotions - do they work for you?

Have you taken part in a newspaper or magazine promotion for B&Bs and hotels this year?  If so, we'd like to hear your experiences - good and bad.

We're keen to know what works and what does not, so we can help newspapers who approach us in future to plan their promotions to maximise their effectiveness - and help our members fill their rooms and achieve incremental income.

Give us your comments on promotions at comment@bandbassociation.org

The Ad Regulator Raps TripAdvisor

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld industry complaints against TripAdvisor, and ruled that it cannot claim to offer trustworthy reviews from genuine travellers.

Chris Emmins of KwikChex, which made one of the complaints, said “real people and their livelihoods are unquestionably being hurt very badly”.

Fake reviews have forced restaurants and hoteliers out of business and caused “great distress” to bed and breakfast owners who “ take it very personally”, he said. Mr Emmins said that he was aware of numerous agencies offering glowing reviews for a price.

“Some of them have hundreds of TripAdvisor accounts and they use proxy accounts [to disguise their identity]. TripAdvisor has absolutely no way of detecting them.”

The ASA upheld complaints that TripAdvisor’s claims to offer “trusted advice from real travellers” was misleading and could not be substantiated.

TripAdvisor argued that it had “advanced and highly effective fraud detection systems” and that the effect of “small numbers of fraudulent reviews was effectively negligible”.

As members know, this is something we have long been concerned about, and will again report on in the next issue of Bed & Breakfast News, due out on Monday (6 Feb).

British B&Bs are "the best on earth"

Great news to hear this week that according to tourists worldwide using TripAdvisor, British B&Bs are "the best on Earth".
British B&Bs took the first three places in the world's best B&B table compiled by TripAdvisor from tourists' reviews. The UK domination was shown by the fact that six English and two Scottish establishments were in the top 10 B&B world table. TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma Shaw said: "These awards celebrate the best B&Bs in the UK and beyond according to those that really matter - travellers themselves. "The UK performed extraordinarily well in the B&B category, laying claim to eight of the top 10."
Our members will be delighted to hear it but (at the risk of being immodest), we are perhaps not surprised! As I told Radio 5 Live this week, British B&B owners are the "unsung heroes" of the British tourism industry.

User reviews can't replace star ratings

On Tuesday night (6th December), the Tourism Society held a Debate at Westminster Central Hall chaired by Lord Thurso MP, with panellists from VisitEngland and TripAdvisor, on the motion "This house believes that the abundance of user-generated rating sites, which are more useful to both he public and the travel sector, have the potential to make grading systems obsolete". The only point made from the hall which raised applause was mine when I said that the user-review sites are not yet doing enough to ensure their content is genuine. The motion was defeated by a considerable majority.

There will be a big feature on user-review sites - and TripAdvisor in particular - in the Dec/Jan issue of Bed & Breakfast news, which should be out tomorrow afternoon (Friday 8th) on the Association's member pages, and a link will be sent to all members then.

As always, give us your views at comment@bandbassociation.org

Bye Bye to the B&B? No way!

There was a very negative article in yesterday's Independent on Sunday under the headline "Bye-Bye to the B&B". It began: "Fusty bed and breakfasts with their loud carpets and louder landlords have remained stubbornly unchanged for decades. And now they could be facing face their final chintzy curtain".

It went on to quote Alex Polizzi, Channel 5's 'Hotel Inspector', as saying "I am not at all surprised budget hotels are killing off the grotty B&B – and I am quite pleased. B&Bs got a bad name because of the standards. I get depressed at how often I have to say cleanliness is important. People are being more discerning."

The article, to be fair, did talk about the threats to us all from the "aggressive" expansion of the budget hotels, and about B&Bs moving upmarket, and quoted James Berresford, VisitEngland's chief executive, saying "Over the last decade, accommodation in England has improved in leaps and bounds." The main thrust, though, was depressingly negative.

I was upset to be misquoted in a way that meant readers might assume I was agreeing with the general tone of gloom and doom of the piece. I have asked the Editor for a "right of reply", and let's see what he says...

What I actually told the journalist, at much more length than he quotes of course, is that B&Bs ARE competing with budget hotels - we ARE fighting back, with individual decor, a friendly welcome, and a freshly cooked home made breakfast - which the budget hotels' boring, soul-less rooms, hotplates of congealing "scrambled egg" and cheap catering sausages cannot rival.

Yes it is tough out there, but the best B&Bs are the best places to stay. To (mis)quote the article, "B&B does stand for Brighter & Better service".