UKAPAS - Updated Details

UKAPAS - the UK Accommodation Providers Alert Scheme has reverted back to its old title of SAPAS - The Scottish Accommodation Providers Alert Service.

The new web site is at www.sapas.org.uk and if you run a Bed & Breakfast in Scotland it's well worth signing up for the alert service.

Accommodation Providers in Scotland

If you run a B & B, Guest House, Hotel or self catering establishment in Scotland then it's worth visiting Let's Visit Scotland and adding your business to the directory.

It's free but also worth opting for the Premium Listing at just £12 per year.

Have a look for your self to see what you think.

Image Gallery for web sites

If you want to attract visitors then nothing works better than some nicely presented pictures.

"A picture paints a thousand words ..." as the saying goes.

I've discovered a superb system and have put it into use on our own site at Rhovanion. Have a look and see what you think. If you want one it can be added to almost any existing, or new, site at reasonable cost. In fact, it can all be done remotely and forwarded to your existing designer for incorporation into your existing design.

Contact Us if you are interested.

Theft by Guests

Not something that we've really been troubled with at our own b & b, but it happened this weekend.

Not only did they manage to break a shower fitment and not bother to say anything but they walked away with a new toilet roll plus a full packet of sanitary towel scented disposal bags!

Not a huge value in monetary terms but theft just the same and earns them and the rest of their party a place on the black list. They won't be crossing the threshold again.

I'm told these bags are excellent for dog poo as well (but not too good for sandwiches!).

Mobile Phones - choose a provider

Following on from yesterday's post I've outline below a few pointers when choosing a new mobile provider.

Without doubt the first thing to check is whether they provide coverage in your location. Don't rely on the maps they provide - these are fairly vague in accuracy. If possible, see if you can borrow a phone on each network and see what strength signal you can achieve in a few of the places yoi are likely to use the phone.

Then have a look at handsets and price plans. The only real advice here is to check price plans, it is often cheaper to sign up for 18 months than for 12 months.

The big difference appears to be on support provided and what it costs to call the phone company.

Orange - ring from mobile for free call - otherwise charged at mobile rate.
O2 - charged at 0870 rates.
Vodafone - charged at 0870 rates.
T-Mobile - free from mobile or 0845 local number.

I had to phone T-Mobile as I couldn't fathom out how to change a setting on the phone. Rang, just 2 buttons to press before speaking to someone in England, asked the question and got an immediate answer which worked first time.

Call Orange and be kept on hold before speaking to someone who really doesn't care if they help or not.

No experience of others as no O2 signal and Voda didn't have any phones I liked the look of.

If you need to do an extended test before purchasing most operators offer a free PAYG sim via their web sites and you can pick up an old phone on EBay for £30 - £40. Worth the investment if you need a mobile for business and after tests you can always sell it on again.

Mobile Phone Providers - don't you just love them!

For most people a mobile phone is an essential business tool.

Recently it became necessary to look at a new provider, our Orange service was only available when it felt like it. Initially, Orange blamed the handset - and over the course of a month replaced it five times! They also admitted to having network issues and needing to shut transmitters down but ... as I had made one call they believed they were offering a service that was acceptable.

Next, a brand new different handset was sent out - fine apart from the fact that to make a call you had to use a stylus to tap out a number on the screen !!!

Telephoned again, and interestingly, if you do not call them from the mobile handset you are charged at mobile rates for the call. I was told the sevice provided was fine, if I didn't like it - tough - and their "support" staff suggested I pay contract off and sell the phone on ebay.

I did just that. Sold the phone and made £50 profit over the cost of cancelling contract.

I've now signed up with a new provider - details on the search for that in the next post.

Fire Assessments - A Personal Experience

There seems to be a lot of concern over Fire Safety Assessments for B & B's so it seemed appropriate to pass on our own experience.

To give some background, we run a bed and breakfast and limit it to six bed lettings, although for the new fire regs it is the size of property that is important not the number of bedrooms or people sleeping. Remember though, that the magical six beds is important for other non fire related regulations.

Before the visit. You should have undertaken a fire safety assessment of your premises. For each area consider what could be a fire hazard and what would need to be done to remedy any problems seen. It helps if you write this down rather than keep it in memory, the FB will ask to see it if you have it.

We may be fortunate in that previously our property did have a fire certificate, although this was withdrawn as not needed when the previous owners ran it as a b&b rather than guest house. We also have a mains powered, with battery backup, heat and smoke detection system, emergency lighting and self closing fire doors to all bedrooms and public areas. We also have fire extinguishers on both floors.

The Visit. The FB officer read through our assessment, writing it down makes it clear that you have put some thought into it so i recommend you do that before any visit.

He then looked around the house at all doors - self closures, level or fire retardent built in - ours have 30 minute surrounds apparently which is good. He also wanted to see record of fire drills carried out. I had done these six monthly based on previous office working experience. He suggested this be done weekly using a different test point each time.

PAT - Personal Appliance Testing. This is something you need to decide if you want to pay for. I am quite remote and getting this done is not easy. In discussion I said that I would do a visual inspection each year and replace as needed. In fact, with kettles on sale at under £5, it's cheaper to replace them all each year rather that PAT test.

We were told that we had no problems but should consider PAT testing and also do weekly test of system - which I now do. We will have another visit but were told unlikely to be for at leat 3 - 5 years.

The important thing to remember about this legislation is that it is designed to place the importance of fire safety on the property owner. You can no longer hide behind an old fire certificate. It doesn't really ask you to do anything that you would not expect to find if you were staying as a guest. It may mean some expenditure but there is really only one question you need to ask - "What value do you put on the lives of your guests?"

Fire Specialists. These are cropping up all the time offering to inspect premises and tell you what needs doing. My advice? Ignore them all. The FB do the visits without cost to you and will tell you what work is needed. Why pay somebody to do the same when you do not need to?

Summary. You should welcome the visit as a free assessment of the safety of your premises. Make sure you read the free Government handbook - see earlier post on how to get a copy. If you apply common sense to fire safety, follow the recommendations of the FB and consider the well being of guests as paramount you really have nothing to fear.

Yes, you may have to spend some money in bringing your premises up to specs required but is that a bad thing? You have to consider above all else the safety of your guests.