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In this series, you’re going to discover the secrets that transform you as the owner/operator of a guest house, hotel or B&B from a host into a hero.

And with your transformation from host to hero you’ll witness the amazing effect becoming a guest house hero will have:

on your bookings,

your rates or tariffs,

your popularity and success as a guesthouse, B&B or hotel,

the improvement in your guest reviews,

the competitive edge you’ll hold over other hospitality establishments all trying to attract patrons into parting with their hard-earned cash,

…and, most importantly, your profitability!

In becoming a Guest House Hero, not only will you inevitably become more successful but you’ll enjoy the rewards and process more as well.

You have the choice to run a guest house, B&B, or hotel as normal and be…just normal. Or you have the choice to up your game and be the preferred choice of establishments by adopting our Guest House Hero secrets, tips and tactics.

One of the great advantages of the internet nowadays is that everyone has instant, excellent, verified information at their fingertips.

It’s no longer an option for those offering hospitality to rely on the old ways to bring custom to your establishment. More than this, it’s now more important than ever, in this tough old world, to be ahead of your competition.

We’re all facing a world of massively elevated energy costs that cripple hospitality profitability. Many hospitality businesses are shutting down…crumbling with the onslaught of higher costs and increased competition.

This doesn’t have to be. You can protect yourself, insulate yourself, set yourself apart by offering what guests really want…and what they want is value for money!

In this on-going series, I am going to share with you all the tips, methods and secrets we have learnt in building a guest house business up from scratch to being recognised as one of the best in the world in the space of a few seasons. If you’re already established, this series will help you transform your business stratospherically with little effort.

There is no size limitation as regards your hospitality establishment in applying these tips and secrets to your own benefit. You can be running a small B&B with just one lettable room or be an employee in a massive hotel chain.

And there is no geographic limitation to what you’re going to discover in this series. The tips, methods and secrets will succeed anywhere in the world…whether you’re running a hotel in the USA, a small guest house in Thailand or a traditional B&B in the United Kingdom.

In this series you’ll learn:

• What makes a great host…a Guest House Hero. The psyche or mindset that distinguishes a Guest House Hero from a mediocre host
• Pre-arrival contact that will wow your guest
• Guest-room appointments that won’t break the bank but which will impress your guests
• The importance of the initial greeting of your guest on arrival
• The first 30 minutes with your guests after their arrival (possibly the most important and most memorable of your guest’s entire stay
• The importance of constant communication with your guests that will ensure they feel special and looked after
• What linen to provide your guests that will ensure they’ll claim having the best night’s sleep ever
• Pillow stories
• Breakfasts for your guests to remember and want to come back for
• Tips to manage breakfast so that each guest feels well looked after
• Afternoon treats
• Payment before or on departure. How to make the process smooth effortless and pleasant
• The goodbye envelope
• Communicating with your guest AFTER departure
• Tips on cleaning rooms and effortlessly coping with room turn arounds
• Which booking platform to choose and which OTA to link up with
• Minimum night stays
• Taking phone reservations versus online bookings versus walk-ins
• Marketing your establishment
• The massive importance of positive quality reviews and how to get them

These are just a few of the topics covered which will ensure you become a Guest House Hero

This series is about becoming a Guest House Hero…making the transformation from great host to superhero host.

So, let’s first address what makes a great host.

What is the psyche behind being a great host?

Some fun:

You don’t need to be drop-dead gorgeous.

You don’t need to be witty.

You don’t need to be the life and soul of a party type person.

You don’t need to be a performer.

We believe most people already have the latent qualities or personality traits to be a great host.

In our opinion, the most important traits are:

 An overriding desire to ensure your guest feels special.

 It’s about providing your guest with the utmost hospitality.

 It’s about making your guest feel they’ve received value.

And the Cambridge Dictionary appears to agree as it defines “hospitality” as

“the friendly, generous, and welcoming reception of guests, visitors, or strangers. It involves providing comfort, food, drink, and entertainment to make others feel valued and at home”.

Think about any outstanding memory you have of a hotel or guest house stay…or any experience for that matter. Isn’t it almost always the interaction with hosts or hospitality staff that make the stay most memorable and set the establishment apart from the rest?

I’m sure there must have been occasions when a host was an absolute laugh-a-minute joker, or had a fabulous personality…but I don’t remember those experiences so much as the hospitality shown by genuinely caring hosts and staff.

I remember staying at a five-star hotel in Kolkata. The hotel was beautiful. It was a grand old lady of a hotel that had pictures of famous past guests on the walls. But the most endearing and enduring memory was of one of the staff who made our stay special (even to the point of bringing us a herbal tea that was not on any menu but which he personally made up from ingredients in the kitchen to combat a condition one of us was suffering).

I remember staying in another top, very expensive hotel in Bangkok. It was very nice. But none of the staff stood out. They were undoubtedly well-trained and very pleasant as Thais are, but no-one made our stay particularly special.

I will never forget the owner of a B&B in Cornwall who took our money up front and then told us that breakfast would be served at a particular time and that neither she nor her aga waited for anyone!!

The reviews for the guest house we run almost always rave about one particular aspect of their experience…their positive interaction with us as owner/operators.

In many ways the single most significant and desirable aspect for guests choosing a guest house over a big hotel is the interaction with the hosts and the hope, belief or expectation that they as guests will have a more rewarding experience because of the local knowledge and advice that can be imparted by the owner/operator of of a B&B or guest house to help them get the most out of their stay.

(There is no reason guests shouldn’t expect the same of large hotels…and that’s where management and staff watching these Guest House Hero series of videos can up their game and outshine the competition).

Neither of us (as guesthouse owner/operators) are extroverts. Neither of us are life-and-soul of party types. We’re just simple folks. Not jokers. Hell! I can never remember a joke let alone tell one.

But both of us are driven to ensuring that our guests have the best experience possible.

That means listening to your guests. What do they enjoy? What rocks their boat. What are their preferences? In listening to your guest and getting them to reveal their likes, you then have the opportunity to make suggestions (as a local expert) that will contribute to them having the most enjoyable stay.

We’ll cover the importance of communication prior to guests arriving in a following article. We also cover the importance of the initial greet and introduction in a later article and how these aspects contribute massively to positive overall guest experience.

Right now, the important takeaway from this episode is to recognise that you have the innate qualities to be a great host and those qualities together with the tips, secrets and methods shared with you in the rest of this series will ensure you become a Guest House Hero and become incredibly successful with your guesthouse, B&B or hotel.

Note: In a future article we’ll cover pre-arrival and how to ensure your guests feel they’re receiving great hospitality before they’ve even arrived.