b&b business advice

dvdfan

Hello,

Just thinking about something at a very early stage and hope people can help on a few questions. Thinking of taking a long term rental on a building which is basically a shell unit and want to turn it into b&b's.

1) How many b&b's do you reckon you could place in a 2400 sq metre building considering i just want very basic b&b rooms with bathrooms. Because of the space i would be thinking compact, small bathroom and small rooms but not cramped. I would need to allow room for the hallway aswell but not a kitchen as breakfast would be served in an adjacent building as would the reception area.

2) This question is for builders if theres any reading this post or someone who has some knowledge in this area (even good gessers are welcome), whats a good estimate of what it would cost to have theses b&b rooms set up considering this is just a blank canvas, no partion walls etc in place just the 4 walls and the front and back door. This was a previous business so phone lines, electricity, water etc shouldnt be a problem. You will need to know the question to answer 1 to know how many rooms. Again not looking for anything spectacular, compact and cosy would be the theme. A rough estimate would be helpful i.e to the nearest 5,000 euro.

3) From what i know of it the b&b trade seems to be very busy here in Athlone, the property would be very close to the new shopping centre which is due to be completed in 18 months and will be one of the biggest outside of Dublin, its also very close to 2 nightclubs and on the main street and at the moment only a couple of minutes walk from the golden island shopping centre.

Id like to hear from other b&b owners or people who regurly use them, they always seemed to be booked up, is this the case or is it only weekends, bank holidays and the summer time that business is done. Whats the trade like from september to May, is it terrible, average, good etc

Thanks and would like to hear anyones taughts!

homeOwner

Just make sure the property you rent is allowed to be used as a B+B.

If it is a commercial unit it might be required to be kept as a commercial premises as oppsed to being converted into residential, which is essentially what you are proposing to do.

lomb

cost could be 20 grand a room+, lease may not allow b+b as home owner stated, also the planners may not allow it either.
i think it a bit ambitious, ur better geting a running one if anything otherwise it will cripple u within no time financially

antoinolachtnai

it sounds like it would hold an awful lot of rooms. The problem is that most of them would have no windows.

Drainage, etc. for a hotel is a whole lot different from what it would be for an industrial unit. Also, the floor loadings would be different.

You cannot make money for the first few years, because you wouldn't be known well enough. It is only worth going into this business if the rent is very good, or you have strong tenure on the property (i.e., the landlord can't just throw you out when you've built up the business).

In principle, it is possible to do this cheaper than the price mentioned. You can actually buy ready-made bathrooms and hotel rooms that just slot in. The problem is that you wouldn't be able to fit these into this building.

You would be better to just buy a hotel, or build one from scratch.

dvdfan

Thanks lads, alot of sensible replies there and looks like a no starter.No harm, plenty of other opportunities available. Its just it would have been handy because there would have been very little maintenance, i have a cafe business nearby that would have acted as the reception and also where i could have served breakfast so the only work involved would have been letting people in and out and sending one or two of my staff to clean the rooms.