“A place more than home in London --- A year ago, but just like yesterday!”Five of us are sitting over mugs of fresh coffee at a large pine table. A fire hisses soothingly in the grate as a plate of mince pies is passed around. We're at Hopton House B&B in Shropshire and the owner, Karen Thorne, has switched on a computer screen, on which we can read the words "Are you ready to run a B&B?" Who hasn't dreamt of escaping to the country, or even made a New Year's resolution to ditch the stress of office life once and for all, buy a cottage and take in paying guests? According to Visit Britain, which grades much of the holiday accommodation in this country, bed and breakfast now comprises almost half of everything it assesses. One can only conclude that new B&Bs are springing up faster than I can say fry-up. This trend has not gone unnoticed by the TV companies. I've heard that both the BBC and Channel 4 have been on the hunt for novice B&B owners for forthcoming TV series, presumably to entertain the viewing public with a few bouts of swearing over burning bacon.
But back to Karen's course. My companions are mum-of-three Jennie Duffin, from Oxfordshire, who has been happily providing accommodation for students in her family home for several years and now fancies offering proper B&B; chocolatier Peter Abbott and his partner Bev Maltby, a social care professional, who are restoring a large, listed house together in Essex with the intention of opening for guests; and Izzy Barnard, a defence journalist currently house-hunting in Shropshire, who's looking for somewhere that suits her dream of doing B&B with stabling. If anyone knows about B&B, Karen Thorne does. Hopton House - a converted granary with three bedrooms - has a five-star grading (putting it in the top seven per cent of rated properties in the country) and a gold award (given by Visit Britain for added excellence). Karen, a former IT employee at British Airways, started the B&B Academy once Hopton House was running smoothly and she needed a new challenge. We're attending her one-day course about getting started.
She has devised another to deal with marketing your B&B and also combines both on a two-day course. It all sounds a bit heavyweight to me. I'm hoping for lively debate about plastic pots of UHT milk and kettle leads which don't reach (two pet hates), but Karen's steering in a different direction. General topics are the skills needed and suitability for this lifestyle (you really do have to enjoy sharing your home with strangers); the importance of location; financial and legal aspects; and the relevance of house layout (imagine having to creep past a guest room every night to get to the loo or have them thundering past yours). Websites come under her separate marketing course, but someone brings the subject up. "Two thousand pounds is not unrealistic," she says. "And I'd advise against writing it yourself." I'm glad she pulls no punches here, as I reject so many places on the basis of a poor website (usually because I cannot see what the rooms are like). We discuss laundry (to send out or DIY?
Fitted or flat sheets? Where to buy affordable good quality?) According to Karen, 95% of guests want a full English, and while you might be a dab hand at family breakfasts, it's a different ball game when six people come down at once and expect their eggs done in six different ways. There's no chit-chat about the value in adding little flourishes, such as a decanter of sherry, because every time such a topic comes up we're pitched into a world of government regulation. Alcohol licensing, for one, but also food hygiene and fire risk assessments. Anyone thinking they'd like to let a room or two for the interesting company it might attract, or harbouring romantic notions of showing off their culinary flair with breakfast menus is in for a shock. Those entering the world of B&B enter a quagmire of red tape. Current regulations seem to demand that every B&B, however large or small, whatever the turnover, satisfies the same criteria when it comes to health, safety and food hygiene.
Peter asks about ceiling height - mentioning that the best room in their house has a very low ceiling. Sure enough, there is a minimum height (6ft). But how can this be? Can't I, as a guest, choose to duck in order to enjoy a historic house - the very sort we want to experience? It turns out, too, that anyone letting rooms - even one or two - now needs to have a hard-wired fire alarm system. I'm beginning to feel rather depressed. Not because Karen's course isn't good - if more people did it, there would be less fun-poking potential for television - but because I'm realising that all B&Bs are treated as commercial premises when surely the whole point is that they aren't - they are people's homes. Otherwise there is a different term: it is "hotel". I'm gobsmacked by the size of the Food Standards Agency information folder which Karen hands to each of us. It is aimed at caterers - but B&B owners are not caterers, they are cooking us breakfast in their own homes. Is anyone put off by all this, I want to know.
Bev and Peter think the rules make things clearer and Izzy merely shrugs. It's tedious, she says, but she isn't daunted. In fact, one of the houses she's recently viewed "is looking better by the minute". I can only admire their positive outlook. The quality of modern bed and breakfast is far superior to what was on offer 10 years ago, and for that, the AA and Visit Britain's strict star rating criteria must be largely responsible. Even then, these optional schemes can mark you down for not putting a wardrobe or tea and coffee things in each bedroom, when these uniform requirements do not always fit the concepts increasingly introduced by a new breed of design-literate owners. Bed and breakfast is also getting more expensive - it's not unusual to see rooms at £150 a night in some locations. I guess if you had to re-plaster and decorate every room after fitting a new fire alarm system you would want to pass the cost on somehow. And what happens if you live in a listed building?
Vital as Karen's course has proved itself for would-be hosts, for me, as a fan of and frequent stayer in the great British B&B, it has thrown up more questions than it has answered. I wish Jenni, Izzy, Peter and Bev the best of luck, but whatever they do, I hope they do their own thing, because the best B&Bs have quirkiness and wonderful owners. The day I start admiring alarm systems is the day I quit. • 01547 530885, bedandbreakfastacademy.co.uk. One-day classroom course costs £125, inc lunch and refreshments. Karen also offers an emailed correspondence course. Rooms at Hopton House from £150 for two nights (min stay, shropshirebreakfast.co.uk). Useful information for accommodation providers from Visit Britain's Pink Booklet available at pinkbooklet.co.uk. Sue and David Stevenson, Harrop Fold Farm, Rainow, CheshireSue and husband David dreamed of living on this working farm on the edge of the Peak District near Macclesfield, after a visit in the 70s. Some 20 years later, they jumped at an opportunity to buy and restore it.
Sue started doing B&B in 2003, after having four children. Daughter Leah now offers lunches and dinner as well as cookery demos in a converted barn. B&B rating 5 Star Silver Award, from Visit Britain.Highs Sharing our dinner table and finding a quiet evening developing into a fabulously interesting one. Visitors who leave as friends (an American guest took our eldest son back to the US for a week of camping and surfing down the East Coast).Lows No more lie-ins. Never being "off duty" - you can't slob around in a nightie and dressing gown.Wish we'd known To get two telephone numbers to keep business and family calls separate. Certainly the kids wish we'd done that.Top tip Think of ways of improving your guests' experience - attention to detail is so important. Not all guests will share our taste, but they will appreciate thoughtful touches.01625 560085, harropfoldfarm.co.uk Jo Gossett and Sam Perry, Higher Westcott Farm, Moretonhampstead, Devon Former Conran restaurant manager Jo Gossett and graphic designer Sam Perry left Hackney, east London, in May 2007 for a farmhouse on Dartmoor and opened their B&B seven months later.
B&B rating We chose not to be assessed.Highs Reclaiming our life, having time with our son and the constant stream of interesting people who come to visit.Lows It's hard work until you find your rhythm and routine. Then it's still hard but very rewarding.Wish we'd known The phone number of a cleaner from day one. Lesley Hornsby, No 43, Arnside, CumbriaLesley Hornsby opened her B&B in a tall Victorian house overlooking Morecambe Bay in December 2007, having previously had a career with the National Trust and then worked as project manager for a local food initiative, where she met many of the suppliers for her B&B now. B&B rating 5 star Gold Award from Visit Britain.Highs Living and working in a beautiful environment. Meeting a diversity of guests. Forging friendships with guests and local businesses. You have to like cleaning. No commuting time to clear your head. The occasional guest who cannot be pleased whatever we do.Wish we'd known About Guestlink desktop online booking system.