WHAT SHOULD WE LOOK FOR?

The last thing you need to do before embarking on the search is to decide exactly what it is you are looking for.

Don’t be surprised if you end up with something entirely different to what you are now envisaging. Many do. It is mainly for this reason that agents tend to send out details of everything they have within a buyer’s price range. ‘That looks nice’ is often at odds with the sort of property you thought you wanted. So if the agent is going to send you six-bedroomed properties when you had stipulated ‘not less than ten’, just throw the unwanted details away. After all, you’re not paying for them.

Now is the time to open a dossier on your business plans; an inexpensive ring binder will do nicely. You know roughly how much you will have to spend. Now is the time to record what you might be spending it on.

Which Location?

Just as location is important in a house, as you will find out when you come to sell, so it is of the utmost importance when you are choosing not only a home, but your main source of income.

Do you already have a location in mind? If it is your favourite holiday haunt, ask yourself why you enjoy it so much. Is it because it’s always packed with holidaymakers? Or is it the opposite – peaceful, uncrowded, relaxing?

Your familiar holiday haunt might not be a good idea. Remember, you are looking for a business and to succeed businesses must make a profit.

• Few people can mean empty bedspaces.
• Empty bedspaces mean less profit.
• Less profit (or none at all) can spell disaster.

As you will find out when you start looking, there are many types of location. A few of them are shown on the sketch plan of Surfbourne, a mythical small, but expanding, seaside town with good beaches (see Figure 1).

Are you aware that a number of large retailing companies employ staff specially to sort out locations for their stores? Many factors are taken into account, eg proximity to car parks, bus stops and terminals, railway stations and the routes people take from one amenity to another.

If your hotel is the sort that relies heavily on passing trade, its location (and its presentation) can be vital.

Not every hotel is in the same price bracket, nor do the same criteria necessarily apply to hotels as to stores; but take each location shown on the sketch plan in turn and list what you consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of each from the point of view of attracting passing trade. Many are obvious, others not so obvious. Which location would you prefer to occupy, and why?

• ‘A’ is in the prime location for casual trade. When holidaymakers go to the seaside the majority prefer a sea view, at least from the lounge or dining area if not from their bedrooms. The fact that there is plenty of competition around means your hotel will need to stand out. When potential money-spenders are weighing up which door to knock on, a smart, clean appearance can tilt the balance. Yet, to go too far in making your hotel stand out could be unviable since your prices would have to stay roughly in line with those charged by similar hotels. The provision of off-street parking and better facilities could give you an edge.
• ‘B’ is away from the main stream and may well be overlooked by a large number of holidaymakers. Yet it has the advantages of a sea view and accessibility to the beach. It could appeal to those requiring a quieter holiday – once they know about it. Incidentally, it is highly unlikely that planning permission would be granted for any directional signs.
• ‘C is right in the middle of town but without a sea view and there is a busy main road to be crossed to get to the beach. Most people visiting the town would come across it since they tend to gravitate from the various amenities towards the sea. Providing there isn’t a surfeit of available bedspaces, it should fill up regularly from passing trade. Noise could be a problem, particularly if the church has a chiming clock. Fig.1.Plan of Surfbourne
• ‘D’ is situated in a side street, well off the beaten track and hardly in a good position for providing a regular, reliable living. New owners will need a lot of help in getting known. Both ‘C and ‘D’ may appeal to the business traveller. Parking and off-loading supplies could be serious problems.
• ‘E’ will derive much of its trade from business customers. However, most visitors arriving at the railway station will not see it. If an advertisement in the railway station were possible, it could greatly enhance trade. Its saving grace might be the business park, where its presence should be well advertised.
• ‘F’ is in the location least liked by many bank managers who are asked to lend money. In a remote village the amount of passing trade is virtually nil. The rateable value should be lower than for town properties and there will almost certainly be no parking problems. There will just as likely be no streetlights. If you are a townie, do you know what real darkness is? With no moon or starlight, the blackness is nothing short of eerie. Being on your own, how will you get on with the locals? Will tradesmen be willing to deliver supplies without stipulating what to you may appear an unrealistic minimum order? Are you financially equipped to cope with a short season or will you need to diversify until your advertisements bear fruit?

Unless you are in a location where you have a captive audience, eg ‘A’ and ‘C,’ why, you may ask, do you need to advertise when the present owner has built up a substantial following?

The answer lies in the question; it is the present owner who has built up the trade, not you. Many visitors return only to see the proprietors they know. It has been known for an owner’s appeal to override daily burnt breakfasts!

For potential clients to ring off when they realise there has been a change of owner is commonplace. As with shares, evidence of past performance is no guarantee for the future!

If you find you have decided on a location, or if you receive details of a hotel you really like the sound of (enlarged on in Chapter 3), a telephone call to the local Tourist Information Centre for statistics about visitors to the area, compared with bedspaces available, could prove invaluable.

Returning to the subject of stores, customers are unwittingly channelled into parts of the store where they are likely to make an impulse buy. In towns, particularly where there are peaks of activity such as festivals and conferences, the hotels that do best are those that people come across without really looking and are immediately impressed with.

Try it! It is only by being there and exploring (on foot in the town) that you can accurately assess the level of trade and the potential, a word used by many agents to lure the buyer into thinking a business can do better than it has before.