To Own A Costa Rica Bed and Breakfast – My dream…

My dream is to own a B&B… Wake up, wake up from that nightmare! Yes, shake yourself, make sure you don’t eat real late at night again.

Owning a B&B sounds romantic and great, it seems like a real money maker and it can be… It can also be a real nightmare.

First of all you have to enjoy sharing your space and time with people. The concept of a real B&B is to be a friendly, home like atmosphere, with comfortable surroundings.

Unlike a hotel a B&B’s personality depends upon the owner. If the owner is a very friendly and welcoming person, you will notice that welcoming feature at first glance. If the owner is a distant type and just wants the guest to remember that they are just paying to visit, you will recognize that upon your first days visit as well.

When deciding to own a B&B your success definitely depends on where you are located, and the type of guest you want attract. It may sound like I’m giving an expert opinion, but remember it is my opinion based on my personal experience.

My husband and I did not plan on owning or operating a B&B, we just happened to purchase a house which has a separate building with a couple of rooms and an apartment. At first we thought to fix up the rooms and have a nice place our children could come to visit and maybe some of our other family members and friends.

When I came up with the B&B idea was after thinking it would be a good way to earn a little income. For me it seemed that all you had to do was put some furniture in the rooms and put a sign up saying vacancy.

It take so much more then that of course, but when you look at what others have done or are doing you figure, I can do that. Of course that assumption is made with out any real information on what it actually takes to be a B&B owner. So, many things appear much easier then they really are.

Running and operating a B&B seemed almost effortless. That was until one night while driving to Panama, we stopped in a town by the name of Puerto Veijo in Limon an checked into a small hotel. That night at the hotel really opened my eyes. If you put a sign up on the outside of you place of business it invites everyone in. It is not that I don’t like everyone but there are some things I refuse to expose myself to. That night in the hotel opened my eyes to a reality that was unknown to me.

These two old men had gotten a room next to our room, they came in drunk. Evidently they had set up a plan for a prostitute to come visit them in the room and she stood them up. All night they talked about things that cannot be repeated. Finally the manager was called and he made them quiet down. After the incident I begin to remember that all tourism is not the same and some people coming and renting accommodations have a variety of reasons for renting accommodations.

What I realized after that night was that we had to decide how we were going to build our client base and who the people were that we wanted to attract to our B&B. There were so many things to learn and during your learning time it cost money.

In order to open a B&B you need money to operate and money to live on first. It may take some time before anyone knows that you are open. The things we had to learn went far beyond just having a couple beds and preparing breakfast. Owning a B&B can be a very successful business but it takes time, patience and money.

No matter how small your business is, you will have the same expenses and problems a large business has. If you are thinking about opening a B&B so you can live off the income from it, do not quit your day job. Your first five years are building block years towards success.

If you are in an area that is very popular vacation spot then your competition is usually much more difficult. It is impossible to discount of offer some things large businesses offer. If your B&B is in an area that is not a real popular tourist area there are other difficulties to overcome. You have to work harder to make yourself known.

There are so many of my guest who tell me that they dream of owning a B&B, they have no clue. I often think that I’ve made owning and operating a B&B look to easy as well as a lot of fun. They of course think about money that goes into the teal and not the money that is coming out of the teal.

At our B&B which I call a guest house, we do not allow smoking on the grounds near the rooms. I remember my first guest who smoked like a chimney, when I told him we do not allow smoking he pointed out that my web page did not indicate that.

Being a business owner the first lesson you need to know is that you do not argue with your customer. I told him that he could stay but he would have to smoke in our garden area. He agreed very cordially, but every time he and his wife would come over to the house to talk to me I started coughing.

It was embarrassing for me but I’m allergic to smoke and he and his wife smoked very heavily. They would go out into the garden have a cigarette and come back to talk to me on the terrace. I did a lot of self talking and worked very hard to make my guest feel welcomed and also feel comfortable. It worked because they had reservations for two days and they stayed four nights.

You have to adjust, there are some things that are an absolute and some things you have to just give in to. The one thing that was absolute for me was the two guys who rented a room for two nights and on the first night they picked up some guest from I don’t know where and invited their guest to spend the night.

The next morning one of them told me that they were having guest for breakfast. I almost went crazy and then calmed myself. It was hard for me to muster up that sweet disposition, but I managed. The charge for their guest breakfast was outrageous but I charged it. After their guest left I nicely told them that the only people who could be in the rooms were registered guest. I think from the look on my face they got the picture.

Then recently the B&B guest from…, hell!

I recently had a guest who made reservations, I told her the price of the accommodations. She got here and decided she wanted to get a discount. It may have worked if she had not called herself finding reason as to why I should give her a discount. That did it, I allowed her to stay one night and escorted her off the premises and pointed out the location of cheaper accommodations.

Sometimes you have to make decisions on the spot and you can not be afraid to say no and face the consequences, nor can you be afraid to say yes and accept the results. Majority of people traveling are wonderful people, it is just the few that seem to cause a problem. In the seven years we have been open the two problems I’ve mentioned were my biggest challenge.

Owning and operating a B&B can be a dream come true but make sure you like people. It is a people business and you can not be afraid to share your life with others. Making money is a small by-product of the business, getting to know people is the real bonus.

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Written by Jeanetta Owens who owns the lovely La Terraza B&B in Grecia which is about one hour from San José, Costa Rica. For a taste of living the good life in Grecia, Costa Rica, may we suggest you to book yourself into Jeanetta’s B&B for a nice long vacation.

Jeanetta’s B&B has been rated the #1 B&B in Grecia, Costa Rica by Trip Advisor. You can find her blog here at La Terraza Blog

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.