The B&B Hosting Years
Fast forward to 2018…
A dear friend suggested that as I was living alone, I should rent a few rooms.
That was the start of my two years as a Booking.com host. I really dragged my heels on this. I was so reluctant to have guests in my home and fearful of being judged. After receiving confirmation from the company, I waited for about three weeks before finally making the property live. And maybe it was a feeble attempt to self-sabotage because I made it live even though it was not quite ready. You see, I didn’t really believe that anyone would want to stay at my home…
I made the property live at about 11 a.m. and continued pottering about. I checked at one o’clock to see if anyone had looked at the property, only to find that a couple had booked and were due to arrive at 2 p.m.! I was shocked, nervous and really apprehensive. I scrambled around and got the place tidy just as the visitors knocked on the door!
They were a lovely young couple who had just arrived from Eastern Europe and about to start a backpacking holiday in England. I quite enjoyed chatting to them.
The rest they say is history. I enjoyed speaking to the couple and to the 300-odd other guests who stayed at my home over the two years. I managed to maintain an 8.9 rating both years whilst undergoing treatment. I tell you, it was a very calm, positive and in control period of my life because I was earning money, a good income actually, from the comfort of my home and I was loving what I was doing…all good for my treatment and enjoyable company for the majority of the time. It was a very good experience and served to reinforce my desire not to go back to work in any organisation.
One of the key things I learnt from that little business was that there never is a right time to start! There were many things I tweaked over the years to make the place more attractive and comfortable for guests. I tell you, if you want to do a business, get the foundations in place and just go for it. You just have to do it. I wasn’t ready but I was the best host I could be when that guest arrived on my doorstep!
I enjoyed being a host and did that right up until the start of the 2020 pandemic but by then I was ready to wind things down…