Last year I was looking at website design companies, what they offered and the cost, when I spoke to one of the pushiest people I've ever encountered. She promised to build and host me a first class site, with unlimited pages and attention grabbing graphics - all for free! It took a bit of effort to persuade her to cut to the chase, which was £65 a month for SEO management services. (Search Engine Optimisation gets Google and other search sites to give your website a high position in the results of people's searches.) 

I said that £800 a year was more than I was willing to pay for a website as it would not be the main source of guests. "Of course it is. How else will you attract visitors?" she asked with way too much smugness in her voice for my liking. 

When I explained that our research was clear that most guests would just turn up at our door on spec, she was aggressively dismissive. She had never heard of such a thing, everyone ALWAYS books their accommodation in advance! Nobody would even think of finding a room on the day! She went on for some time! Eventually I interrupted and said that I had done my research and I knew the local situation, whereas she didn't. It was only when I asked her if she had ever been on a touring holiday, in Scotland or elsewhere that she shut up long enough for me to repeat that I wasn't interested and hang up. 

Well, the past three months have proved how wrong she was. 

Over the summer we've had a succession of anxious people at the door, asking if we have rooms available.  This is good for our business as roughly 50% of our guests are "walk-ins" and having people at the door is usually the prelude to having guests.  But for those looking for accommodation it can be a nerve-wracking experience.

"Thanks be to God!" 

This was the heart-felt response of one of our guests a week or so ago  when I said we had a room available.  He said he'd take it before I'd told him the price and described breakfast.  Fort William has been very full for the last three months and rooms have been scarce.

So our first season is going very well and we are thoroughly enjoying our new business. 😀

Many of Mulroy's guests take photos: usually of the house and views.  Some snap the breakfast table and cold buffet. Every now and then I'll find myself front and centre, smiling at the camera. 

Last week, for the first time the guests sent me a copy of the photo. So, thank you Shuang Shu. We hope to welcome you again. 

This week I've been looking for a new supplier for the tallow-free fabric conditioner that keeps our towels fluffy and absorbent.  (http://www.ecozone.com/products/fabric_conditioner/ for anyone interested.)

The Ecozone web site lists the companies who sell their products, so I spent time going through the list.  Finally found what I was looking for at Big Green Smile and put a case of 6 bottles into my basket.

To cut to the chase, the company charges £16 to deliver to my address!  For orders over £50, delivery is free to "United Kingdom Most Mainland" but this does not include the Scottish Highlands.  The company blames the charges on the courier service they use.

More than a bit miffed at the extortionate cost, I looked at how much they charge for delivery to other areas:
Ireland - £14
Netherlands - £14
Germany - £17
France £17

So delivery from Slough to Fort William costs more than Slough to Dublin and only a pound less than to Dusseldorf?

Of course I left the site and kept looking, then came to http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/.  These guys offer a great range of products, a very friendly service and... free delivery for all orders over £20, including to Fort William!  If they can deliver free to me, why can't other companies?

Anyway, well done Ethical Superstore - you live up to your name, both for your products and your customer service.  Expect more orders from Mulroy, Fort William.

What brings people to the B&B?

Mulroy's first guests arrived at the front door thanks to our neighbour Sandra pointing them in our direction.  She owns and runs Constantia House B&B just across the road and has been a mine of information and advice.  If she is full, she tells visitors to try us or phones to check if we've got rooms available.  

Others find us by themselves.  German bikers said they parked in a small car park just down the hill from us and looked around to see what houses offered B&B.  They saw Mulroy, liked the style of the house and walked up to see if we had rooms.  We had, and they stayed for two nights.  

Others spot our parking sign first.  (When we have no rooms available the sign suffers the indignity of being covered by a black bin bag!)

That accounts for 50-60% of guests.  The others come from our link with a company that runs coach tours for Chinese people.  They are currently booking both rooms for 2/3 nights each week and are also trying to persuade us to carry on after the season ends.  Well, we'll see after October...

You will perhaps have noticed that I've not mentioned the local tourist information office sending us guests.  We don't use them, for a number of reasons that I'm not going to bore you with.  Suffice it to say that when our guests speak of them it is always in a negative way.  Several have told us that when they asked about accommodation, the answer was, "Walk along to the Royal Bank and turn right up the hill.  There are lots of B&Bs in that area, so perhaps you will find something."  It's embarrassing to find myself apologising for the actions of Scotland's official tourist company. (But they do sell lots of very nice, high quality souvenirs and Scottish goods.)

There is one other way that guests might come to us and that is by booking through this web site or from our Facebook page.  No-one has done so yet.  But it really is very easy; just use the "Check availability and book now" button here.

International.  That one word sums up Mulroy's visitors over the last seven weeks.  Our very first evening we had Chinese and German guests and since then we've hosted people from four continents.  (Still waiting for our first folk from Africa!)

Most are from Europe but others are from far, far away - China, USA and New Zealand.  

Few are from the UK; only two couples since we opened and they were both from England.  We've had enquiries from one or two English/Scottish folk but they were put off by the price. They were walkers and obviously on budgets that didn't stretch to £75 per night.  

We've had people touring by car and coach, bikers - one of whom was on a Harley :D - and even a Spanish couple who were walking/using public transport.  From the comments in the visitors' book, they all appreciate the comfy beds and Scottish breakfasts.  And the views, everyone raves about the views!

In my old life I was a civil servant in London. I wrote every day; emails and letters, minutes and notes, briefings and reports.  I passed hours hunched over a desktop or laptop, poring over documents, then napped on the train on the way home.  I enjoyed the work but the commuting left me permanently tired.

Then... redundancy rescued me and I escaped to the Scottish Highlands.


Now I own and run Mulroy B&B in Fort William with my husband Ian and life is good.  No commuting, being my own boss, meeting lots of really lovely people from all over the world.  And this is the scenery that surrounds me!

And another thing that delights me about this way of life is that I get to choose what and when I write.  And I've decided to start a blog about being a B&B landlady.

So watch this space.