What would you want from a Diving B&B??
- Thread starter Gunpowderboy
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FPDocMatt
Contributor
1. Good flat-screen cable TV with movies that can be purchased. (This may be more than one can expect from a B&B, but you asked.)
2. A place in or attached to the room where I can hang my wet suit to dry.
3. A dive op on site with the boat coming directly to the dock, also on site. If you're going to have a shuttle to and from the dive op, that's fine, but you need to emphasize to customers that it's a great shuttle with frequent trips, lots of help carrying your stuff, etc. Because I wouldn't want to get there and find out that there's a van that shows up once or twice a day with a grumpy guy expecting me to do everything etc. There are so many resorts where you have everything at hand, that having the dive op not on site will have to be handled in such a way as to make it almost as good.
4. Full length lockers, ventilated. Otherwise you just have to carry everything back to your room to dry it out between days. At the Cozumel Invasion I didn't use the half-size lockers for this reason.
5. The food needs to be at all times of the day, with an attractive menu. Not necessarily all items all day, but something available at all times. That way, when you're not diving, you know you'll have a place with nice atmosphere where you can sit and have a cappuccino or whatever. Compare the deck bar at the Sunset House in Grand Cayman, where you can sit in a pleasant atmosphere on the deck with a nice ocean breeze and have food or drinks as you please, with other scantily clad vacationers around you.
6. Even if the establishment is not upscale, it should look upscale. Presentation is everything.
7. Very friendly staff. This is the most important item of any resort. If the people who work there are happy to see me, that's 90% of the battle. The other 10% is just icing on the cake. But if they're not happy to see me, then I'm going to instantly become very picky. With a B&B, I have a feeling you'll do well in this regard, since you wouldn't open it if you didn't like to entertain guests.
8. Readily available information about what's available for entertainment nearby. This is sorely lacking almost everywhere I go. They assume you know that the town is 6 blocks that way, but when you've never been to a place you have no idea what's available.
Best of luck in your new endeavor!
2. A place in or attached to the room where I can hang my wet suit to dry.
3. A dive op on site with the boat coming directly to the dock, also on site. If you're going to have a shuttle to and from the dive op, that's fine, but you need to emphasize to customers that it's a great shuttle with frequent trips, lots of help carrying your stuff, etc. Because I wouldn't want to get there and find out that there's a van that shows up once or twice a day with a grumpy guy expecting me to do everything etc. There are so many resorts where you have everything at hand, that having the dive op not on site will have to be handled in such a way as to make it almost as good.
4. Full length lockers, ventilated. Otherwise you just have to carry everything back to your room to dry it out between days. At the Cozumel Invasion I didn't use the half-size lockers for this reason.
5. The food needs to be at all times of the day, with an attractive menu. Not necessarily all items all day, but something available at all times. That way, when you're not diving, you know you'll have a place with nice atmosphere where you can sit and have a cappuccino or whatever. Compare the deck bar at the Sunset House in Grand Cayman, where you can sit in a pleasant atmosphere on the deck with a nice ocean breeze and have food or drinks as you please, with other scantily clad vacationers around you.
6. Even if the establishment is not upscale, it should look upscale. Presentation is everything.
7. Very friendly staff. This is the most important item of any resort. If the people who work there are happy to see me, that's 90% of the battle. The other 10% is just icing on the cake. But if they're not happy to see me, then I'm going to instantly become very picky. With a B&B, I have a feeling you'll do well in this regard, since you wouldn't open it if you didn't like to entertain guests.
8. Readily available information about what's available for entertainment nearby. This is sorely lacking almost everywhere I go. They assume you know that the town is 6 blocks that way, but when you've never been to a place you have no idea what's available.
Best of luck in your new endeavor!
I think the keys to a successful B&B are:
1) Good location
2) Well kept property
3) Nice breakfast
4) Extraordinairily good service....friendly, willing and able to set up activities, etc. A good example is a place I stayed on the big Island of Hawaii, that kept extra flashlights on hand so that they could loan them out to people that wanted to hike at night to a vantage point from which you could see the lava glowing.
Extending this to a dive-centric B&B, I'd add in making it easy to do as much diving as the guest wanted. This probably means forming a very strong relationship with a good dive shop nearby. As a customer, I'd want to minimize lugging around gear, which probably means securing storage at the dive shop, if most of the diving was by boat. If you're considering somewhere like Bonaire, with lots of shore diving, consider investigating the cost of including a truck rental with the room, as that's one less thing people have to think about if they book with you. Agree with others that on-site gear storage and rinse facilities would be necessary, too.
1) Good location
2) Well kept property
3) Nice breakfast
4) Extraordinairily good service....friendly, willing and able to set up activities, etc. A good example is a place I stayed on the big Island of Hawaii, that kept extra flashlights on hand so that they could loan them out to people that wanted to hike at night to a vantage point from which you could see the lava glowing.
Extending this to a dive-centric B&B, I'd add in making it easy to do as much diving as the guest wanted. This probably means forming a very strong relationship with a good dive shop nearby. As a customer, I'd want to minimize lugging around gear, which probably means securing storage at the dive shop, if most of the diving was by boat. If you're considering somewhere like Bonaire, with lots of shore diving, consider investigating the cost of including a truck rental with the room, as that's one less thing people have to think about if they book with you. Agree with others that on-site gear storage and rinse facilities would be necessary, too.
OldNSalty
Contributor
I think some people are mixing 'Dive Resort' with 'Dive B&B'
OP
Gunpowderboy
Contributor
Thank you all for the very good input, much appreciated.
Maybe I wasn't clear enough in terms of what we were thinking on offering. No offence to anyone, but OldNSalty hit the nail on the head. We are not looking at setting up a Dive resort or dive operator business. This is strictly a Bead and Breakfast type operation geared towards the needs of divers as we are both divers and because divers are generally very nice people. Max occupancy would be in the range of 4-6 people.
If we find a good enough property with easy access to shore diving we might be looking at getting a compressor down the line for easy no frills filling (it goes without saying that proper training, upkeep and liability protection is a must).
The place we are looking at relocating to is cold water diving only. For me this means additional needs for gear storage, rinsing and drying. Seeing that I'm Scandinavian I could see a sauna being a future addition as well (nice after a day of cold water diving). A pool that is suitable for equipment checks and general skills work is very high on the list.
+1 on the reference library.
+1 on outside showers (may not be needed, but is a nice feature to offer)
+1 on the spares and extra bit of kit for lending.
+1 on packed breakfast/ Brunch (Food quality will be excellent as we both are very serious about good food and wine)
+1 on full size storage lockers in warm well ventilated area.
+1 on lots of power strips in the rooms
+1 on easy transfers to an from dive operator/ docks and gear storage.
On teaming up with a dive operator. I see no reason to restrict people to a specific one. If you book your stay with us you would get lower prices if you dive with operator X and viceversa. If you want to go with another operator or no operator at all that is perfectly fine with us.
So having said the above any other suggestions? What about the thing you hate the most when you are staying somewhere, be it dive related or not?
Maybe I wasn't clear enough in terms of what we were thinking on offering. No offence to anyone, but OldNSalty hit the nail on the head. We are not looking at setting up a Dive resort or dive operator business. This is strictly a Bead and Breakfast type operation geared towards the needs of divers as we are both divers and because divers are generally very nice people. Max occupancy would be in the range of 4-6 people.
If we find a good enough property with easy access to shore diving we might be looking at getting a compressor down the line for easy no frills filling (it goes without saying that proper training, upkeep and liability protection is a must).
The place we are looking at relocating to is cold water diving only. For me this means additional needs for gear storage, rinsing and drying. Seeing that I'm Scandinavian I could see a sauna being a future addition as well (nice after a day of cold water diving). A pool that is suitable for equipment checks and general skills work is very high on the list.
+1 on the reference library.
+1 on outside showers (may not be needed, but is a nice feature to offer)
+1 on the spares and extra bit of kit for lending.
+1 on packed breakfast/ Brunch (Food quality will be excellent as we both are very serious about good food and wine)
+1 on full size storage lockers in warm well ventilated area.
+1 on lots of power strips in the rooms
+1 on easy transfers to an from dive operator/ docks and gear storage.
+1 on handicapped accessible (if the property allows easy conversion this is a sure thing)
And internet will always be free!On teaming up with a dive operator. I see no reason to restrict people to a specific one. If you book your stay with us you would get lower prices if you dive with operator X and viceversa. If you want to go with another operator or no operator at all that is perfectly fine with us.
So having said the above any other suggestions? What about the thing you hate the most when you are staying somewhere, be it dive related or not?
OK, this is a brainstorm:
1. A good bar, serving good beer and munchies (healthy food options too of course). In fact, you could convince a local microbrewery to create a brew for your place: Deco Draft or Bouyancy Beer anyone?
1.a. BIG tables in your bar/restaurant so that at the end of a day's diving we can relax and spread out with our divelogs and computers.
2. Dive theming: Antique dive gear on the walls, photos of sealife and wrecks. Screens looping videos of dives in other locations.
3. A classroom that can be reserved by instructors and could also double as a function room.
4. Name rooms after local wrecks/dive sites
5. Special offers designed to bring instructors back with their students over and over again.
Scuba_Noob
Contributor
To be honest, I'm not really picky, as long as my gear stays fine.
1. Mostly, I'd like a separate gear rinsing area to the living space - with separate tubs for camera equipment and the rest of the gear.
2a. There should be a gear storage room with multiple security cameras (to dry gear after rinsing).
2b. There should also be a camera room for camera drying and charging of batteries (also with video cameras) - or it could be on one side of the gear storage room.
Other than that:
3. Comfortable beds
4. Maybe a communal living room area (with a TV) for socializing
5. A communal dining area
6. Healthy and/or tasty food too - no need for beer/liquor, fancy food, etc. A snack bar throughout the day between dives is nice.
7. Help carrying gear is not completely necessary - I'm more comfortable to be the only one handling my stuff.
Location is imperative, though. You need to be close to multiple dive centers OR just align yourself with one good dive center, and you need to offer some sort of shuttle system between your B&B and the center.
1. Mostly, I'd like a separate gear rinsing area to the living space - with separate tubs for camera equipment and the rest of the gear.
2a. There should be a gear storage room with multiple security cameras (to dry gear after rinsing).
2b. There should also be a camera room for camera drying and charging of batteries (also with video cameras) - or it could be on one side of the gear storage room.
Other than that:
3. Comfortable beds
4. Maybe a communal living room area (with a TV) for socializing
5. A communal dining area
6. Healthy and/or tasty food too - no need for beer/liquor, fancy food, etc. A snack bar throughout the day between dives is nice.
7. Help carrying gear is not completely necessary - I'm more comfortable to be the only one handling my stuff.
Location is imperative, though. You need to be close to multiple dive centers OR just align yourself with one good dive center, and you need to offer some sort of shuttle system between your B&B and the center.
One thing you could do for gear drying is to have a bathroom fan in each storage locker on a timer, so I could put my gear in the locker and run the fan for 2 hours or so. Probably a lot cheaper than an equipment drying room with security cameras.
Maybe even running a dehumidifier in the locker room.
Maybe even running a dehumidifier in the locker room.
If you're running strictly as a B&B, having a binder with menus from local restaurants that serve dinner would be nice, as well as perhaps some personal comments about each one.
I think, in general, divers are pretty easy to please, if the setup for managing the gear is good. I mean, if you look at the motels in North Florida, we'll put up with a lot . . . If a place is clean and warm and has a good shower, and enough ROOM to deal with my gear, I'm happy. Power strips would be a lovely amenity. One of the things we really enjoyed about the B&B in Australia was a chance to chat with the owners and share our excitement at the things we had seen and done.
BTW, I think they also made a nice small sideline out of selling videos they had made of the sites. They were nice, professional videos, and perfect for sharing the trip with others when we went home.
I think, in general, divers are pretty easy to please, if the setup for managing the gear is good. I mean, if you look at the motels in North Florida, we'll put up with a lot . . . If a place is clean and warm and has a good shower, and enough ROOM to deal with my gear, I'm happy. Power strips would be a lovely amenity. One of the things we really enjoyed about the B&B in Australia was a chance to chat with the owners and share our excitement at the things we had seen and done.
BTW, I think they also made a nice small sideline out of selling videos they had made of the sites. They were nice, professional videos, and perfect for sharing the trip with others when we went home.
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I dive with a group of regular buddies. Just good friends of both sexes. For us, many B&B's aren't ever considered because they often only have 1 queen bed per room - which most solo travelers don't want to share. I presume that a large percentage of divers that travel are in the same situation. Among my group more travel solo than as married couples - male or female.
Some liveaboards have a way of splitting/combining beds to make either a queen or 2 singles. I've seen one where they had a foam insert to bridge the crack between the beds when used by a couple. Maybe something like that - or a second bed in a room would increase your potential customer base. Since you plan to cater to divers - it makes sense to cater to the demographic.
Some liveaboards have a way of splitting/combining beds to make either a queen or 2 singles. I've seen one where they had a foam insert to bridge the crack between the beds when used by a couple. Maybe something like that - or a second bed in a room would increase your potential customer base. Since you plan to cater to divers - it makes sense to cater to the demographic.
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