SarahBell Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 http://www.channel4.com/programmes/ruth-watsons-hotel-rescue/4od#3015539 Well worth watching if your blood pressure is low and you don't think you laugh at the TV enough! Mad amercian couple buy an old house and "restore it" by adding a huge spa wing, conference room and extra rooms etc. Only he's a mad man who isn't an architect and likes to fiddle with the plans every five minutes. his site manager holds up a sign "i resign" at one point. 6M ish they spend and they only owe 3.5M so well done british banks for lending to a man with NO business plan, and no experience., Shows the banks up for being TWATS as well as the owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest_FaFa!_* Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Mad amercian couple buy an old house and "restore it" by adding a huge spa wing, conference room and extra rooms etc. Only he's a mad man who isn't an architect and likes to fiddle with the plans every five minutes. Think I have seen this - is it the one with the guy describing his renovation style as off the cuff, like jazz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Think I have seen this - is it the one with the guy describing his renovation style as off the cuff, like jazz? Oh yeah that's him. TBH it made me shout at the TV as well as laugh. It was so funny when he was doing his "dudu cha" stuff. Not so funny when he put his naked body in the lake. yack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzy Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Think I have seen this - is it the one with the guy describing his renovation style as off the cuff, like jazz? I saw this too. Wonder what finally happened to the place. Looked like it was going to be a dog's dinner. Not fit for purpose as a hotel and too massive for a house. They bought 100k of art before they even bought the sheets / towels/ beds etc. What muppets! And as for the banks? Well, I guess any monkey can make a profit in the boom time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackgoose Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 They bought the art just because the woman was an 'Art Historian'. I was longing for Ruth Watson to bring in a proper architect to look at the plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 It is an egoistic reality that most people believe they could write a book, run a restaurant, or a pub or hotel. The tricks are, respectively, finding someone actually prepared to publish the "book": and making a real profit. The problem emerges when banks start believing the myths, too! Many a redundancy windfall was blown away on such as "Inntrepreneur" pub leases back in the late 80s and early 90s................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 It is an egoistic reality that most people believe they could write a book, run a restaurant, or a pub or hotel. Many a redundancy windfall was blown away on such as "Inntrepreneur" pub leases back in the late 80s and early 90s................. Most people COULD run a hotel or restaurant. The trick is being able to run a hotel or pub AND make money to pay off loan AND pay yourself and partner a wage. I grew up by seaside. My teenage years were spent working in a medium sized hotels, pubs + restaurants which was owned by a wide colection of idiots. SOme people just can't cope with people - and I don't the small percentage of scamsters trying to rip you off. The worst owners are public sector, or people who've worked for large monopolistic companies. They have absolutely no sense of business or dealing with people when those people have choice. Oh christ, useless teachers who were pensioned off for being drunk/incompetent/paedo-ish going to run a pub. jeez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 It was a brilliant series. Total HPC. That art historian woman and music guy shouldn't have had a care in the world with all the wealth they'd built up coming up to retirement age. He seems to have been very successful in selling his music jingles for commercials down the years. Instead they spent it all, sentenced all the hard work of running a hotel and wedding venue, and servicing millions of pounds in debt. The Margate couple bought at top of the market, ran out of money doing up their upmarket B&B and obviously had no desire for the chores involved in running a guesthouse full time. That Essex boy who bought the Royal Hotel in Clacton On Sea. Obviously had made lots of money over the years. His Aussie girlfriend running their huge home as a wedding venue. Clearly she wasn't onside with the risk he'd taken on with buying the Royal. Hotel Rescue said it was a 3 million pound project. Have borrowed one and a half million from the bank to buy the property, and plan to spend another one and a half million to renovate it. They financed it from their other businesses and can't afford to go over their budget. Clacton Gazette 5th July 2010 CLACTON'S famous Royal Hotel is to be auctioned off for a guide price of between £800,000 and £1million. Clacton Gazette 14th July 2010 A LANDMARK hotel on Clacton seafront has sold for £850,000 at auction. The Royal Hotel, on Marine Parade East, went under the hammer in London this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 The only way to make money in UK tourism is to buy at the bottom ofthe cycle, hold till the economy picks up and sell it as a lifestyle business to somewide-eyed idiot who thinks there experience as some middle management admin will translate to running a business. The first year is fun - you get a couple of idiots with a vast employment pool, swanning around bossing loads of kids and retired women about. Mkaing subtle changes -my pet hate is snack bars which are taken over and the mad bint (its always a woman) does the standard - No Chips policy. WTF!!! The next is fun. Most of staff go, just left with some idle 14 year old who take thepiss. Owning couple running around causing disasters, shouting at customers. Portion sizes collapses, prices shoot up. And the lifestype - stress + bankruptcy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 (edited) Good anecdotes Spyguy. I can see why some 40 hotels and B&B went up on the market via Rightmove/Goadsby back in 2007, Bournemouth area. Had an arguement with Larujon/TTRTR (?) that this was people bailing at the top. Can't find the thread, and I had a different user name. Edited February 9, 2011 by Money Spinner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Most people COULD run a hotel or restaurant. The trick is being able to run a hotel or pub AND make money to pay off loan AND pay yourself and partner a wage. Now: what did I write? and making a real profit. I also disagree that "most people COULD run an hotel or a pub". I would agree that most people could run an hotel or a pub: badly! They are one of the most demanding, anti-social (hours) and intense activities to take up. My practice was built (The public accountancy side) back in the 1980s, on mainly pub clients: both freehold owners and tenants: additionally, I have been involved in significant consulting and project work on major hotels. The core problem with both is overhead: and with hotels, hitting the necessary occupancy ratios regularly. Both activities suffer (proprietors and staff) from the endemic problem of alcoholism, all too often. Ex professional footballers, for example, take a pub: and believe all they have to do is prop up the bar and drink from morning opening hours till until night time closing: and that fawning fans will cluster around to share their remembrances of great goals, saves, tackles or whatever. Self Delusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Now: what did I write? No argument or disagreement with you. I guess you dealing with pubs from the perspective as an accountant. My comment was based on a wider range of businesses, including pubs, based on the North Yorks coast. My only observation on running a pub is that if you do choose then make sure you go tee-total first. At least town-based pubs have the potentential to be all-year businesses. In my experience, people start running the businesses in Easter or summer, think they are going great than - Wham - schools go back in September - and they are eeking out the odd 'nice' i.e. not p*ssing down weekend til the next easter - potentially 6 months away. The UK does not really have a tourism industry. It has a 'p*ss away your savings and/or redundancy trying to make money' insutry. Unless you have virtually no capital outlay - think ice cream van, or the capital cost has already been sunk i.e. taking over grandad's hotel then, inthe words of Zammo - Just say no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 No argument or disagreement with you. I guess you dealing with pubs from the perspective as an accountant. Mainly as a long experienced Business Strategy Consultant: I HATE accountancy! My only observation on running a pub is that if you do choose then make sure you go tee-total first. Too bloody right! At least town-based pubs have the potentential to be all-year businesses. Again: depends on the terms of their lease (Rent etc) and the cost of their beers etc. The UK does not really have a tourism industry. It has a 'p*ss away your savings and/or redundancy trying to make money' industry. Too true! Interestingly, I found, I that the pubs which succeeded, a little, were run by husband and wife (Or partner) teams: and the wife did 99% of the work: and the husband considered his "Duties" were humping kegs and crates: and thereafter, propping up the bar- on the wrong side!) and gabbing with his mates and the alky regulars whilst lubricating his tonsils. Client of mine bought a leasehold pub a couple of years ago: mainly since a good friend talked him into it. Didn't consult the practice. He is otherwise very successful. Now he is stuck with a lease he cannot sell; and a business which spends all of its residuals on the cost of the manager and the bar and kitchen staff. Great investment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Mainly as a long experienced Business Strategy Consultant: I HATE accountancy! Can't be a lot of work then. I my experience the correct answer to 'Do you think that this pub/bar/restaurant/b+b will make money?' is No 95% of the time. Oh course you might to elaborate 'No' a bit to justify your fees and all that, say large spreadsheet with 'NO' at the bottom. Pubs are nuts at the moment. The PubCos have finally run out of people dumb enough to take on a tied-lease. And boy were they scrapping the barrell recently. They've even given up 'Can;t make money on your pub? Then take up another lease in town'. The most nuts thing I've seen in the last few years was a LL at a loss making pub being convinced to take on a 2nd pub - double your revenue, split your costs. How the guy could serve at both pubs at the same time seems to have escaped the LL and PubCo business rep. The dumbest part was that the 2nd pub was over the road from his existing one. Id suggesed that he does not take on he 2nd one, letting the one over the road shut and hopefully pick up his customers. But - No, the business rep was right. 8 months later he was bust. Also find the concept of a food led pubs to be nuts. Bar takeaways, restaurants make their money on the wine mark-up. The food is a loss leader (almost). Why on earth do you want the extra cost of doing food - capital and chef/waiting staff, when booze is your money maker. Most people used to stay around all night, buying multiple drinks. Unless you have Eamon Holme's local, you will only serve one meal per punter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prescience Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Can't be a lot of work then. Not pubs and hotels: holistic. Hotels abroad years ago: big ones but that was mainly sorting out the project and raising the finance and arranging management contracts. A business is a business is a business. And this, IMHO is where so many go wrong. The number of times I have heard the magic words presaging doom: "Ah! but Florists-Pubs-Garages-Greengrocers-Exports-Property Development, yada yada yada....... is a special area!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Monk Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 The Margate couple bought at top of the market, ran out of money doing up their upmarket B&B and obviously had no desire for the chores involved in running a guesthouse full time. I just couldn't get my head round the maths on that one. An outlay of £470.000 to create a B&B with three rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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