what do you think of this idea?

[Jimmyjay]

Hi, we are currently investigating the possibility of starting up a B&B/hostel geared specifically towards road cyclists. People bring their own bikes and the rest will be up to us!

Accommodation will be comfortable and functional. We will offer private en-suite bedrooms catering individuals, pairs, small groups/families. There will be communal living space with sofas and TV, basic kitchen facilities, and a big dining table. Meals will be opt in/out; we’ll provide food specifically tailored toward the cyclist if required. Prices will be competitive and reasonable.

As well as secure bike storage, we’ll have basic mechanical support, basic spares, gels, bars and drinks on offer. There will be Garmin sat navs for hire with pre-programmed routes for all level of roadie (bespoke routes programmed as and when people want them), as well as paper maps and ride info. We’ll drop off at start points if required, and offer pickups in case of problems. Guided rides will also be available. Local information will be cycling specific and wide ranging.

All this will be based in a stunning part of the UK with beautiful scenery and 100s of miles of superb riding. There are gentle hills right through to absolute killer climbs, and everything in between!

The reason for posting is to gather thoughts and opinions. Does it sound like something you’d be interested in? What do you want when you’re away with your bike? We want to provide a genuine and excellent experience, so please give us your honest opinions; they will be very much appreciated. Cheers!

 

[jay clock]

it might appeal to some, but a hostel has undertones of basicness that do not appeal to me. I prefer really nice discreet hotels OR cycle touring with a tent, preferably stealth camping.

It sounds as if it might appeal to slightly less experienced people? Maybe families? Most experienced road cyclists would welcome some route tips but don;t need Garmins pre-programmed(well not me anyway)

I think there is much more of a market for MTB riders. Slightly younger demographic so happier with the hostel vibe?

 

[Telemark]

Depending on how many people you can put up, and how competitive your prices are, you may get interest from cycling clubs, who may want to book the whole place for the odd weekend? I certainly know of running clubs going in long weekend "camps" - often keen on hostel/budget type accommodation. They appreciate space where they can congregate in the evening for training workshops, or just chatting with a bottle of wine or two. Not sure you could make a living of that, though?

If you keep it flexible and also appeal to tourers (rather than just "roadies", unless I mis-read your description) and are near popular long-distance routes, that might broaden your appeal, too. We stayed in a B&B recently near Holy Island, which was on a couple of long-distance walking routes and also on the NCN1 (North Sea cycle route), who had signed up to the "walkers welcome" and "cyclists welcome" schemes of the tourist board. They also have a guest lounge with sofas, TV etc.

I have been day dreaming about setting up a business for outdoors type holidays/get-ways for a while, but am lacking the money to buy the dream property in the ideal location. The more I think about it, the more I would personally tend start off by keeping things flexible and see who turns up, before narrowing down to too specialised a customer type ... if you can appeal to cyclists, walkers (long-distance & hill walkers), runners and offer pick-up/drop-off, you keep your options open. You could also get in touch with various coaches or clubs and team up with them as a place for training weeks/weekends, with you providing the catering. This seems to work quite well in some southern parts of Europe, where they offer late-winter training camps, but your UK season might be a bit more limited ...
During the off-season you could of course also attempt to branch out to other audiences, such as artsy-crafty classes, yoga courses, cookery & baking, depending on the facilities and amount of space you have ...
And if a particular side of the business really takes off, you can decide to specialise, or try to tweak towards your favourite audience, depending on your priorities. Sorry, rambling on, I better stop now.

If you don't mind me asking, which part of the country are you in?

Good luck!

T

 

[hubbike]

speaking as a long-distance tourer here is what I want from a hostal geared towards cyclists.
1. considerable discount for cyclists (especially ones who arrive by bike). let the petrol guzzling tourists subsidise us.
2. track pump or compressed air pump, tools and workstand free to use, spares available to buy. Somewhere to wash bike.
3. basic comfortable beds in quiet rooms.
4. excellent knowledge of local area on request.
5. basic but filling breakfast, i.e. porridge, cereals, toast etc available at a lower price to the expensive (and largely carbohydrate free) fry up grease fest most b&bs provide...
6. very high quality maps of the town, region, county, UK, europe and the world. all up on the wall somewhere where you can peruse them and plan, dream etc...in a hallway or foyer would be best.
7. Free internet or wifi to keep in touch with folks back home...
8. Free ice water, and hot water for drinks.
9. Outrageously powerful and hot showers please! with free shampoo, soap and towels provided.
10. book exchange (1 for 1) with a bias towards cycling, adventure, travel, etc...

Cyclists talk to each other and if there is somewhere really special word gets around. It'll travel internationally too. Don't forget to appeal to German, Spanish and French cycle tourists by having everything translated ready...

 

[Brains]

I think that you 1st set up a B&B.
The cyclist side would always be an brucie bonus on the side, but the money is going to come from your basic B&B business, not the cycling.

Take a leaf out of the books of other 'specialist' B&B's, the obvious ones would be those that cater largely to say the hill walking crowd in say the Lake District, which is more akin to the touring cyclists.
(Roadies more akin to marathon runners perhaps ?), but look at others, what type of B&B's do surfers use for example, if people don't specalise in Newquay for surfers, then why not.

,

 

[Crankarm]

What sort of level of occupancy would you be working on?

Would you start from scratch or buy an existing BnB?

If you buy an exisitng BnB why is it being sold? Falling numbers of guests?

Be prepared to just break even for the first two seasons.

Good luck as you will need it. Running a BnB, of what ever flavour, is bloody hard work.

Where is this idyllic place you speak of, Lambeth?

 

[MontyVeda]

Personally I think it's an excellent idea, so long as you don't market it for cyclists only... at the end of the day it's a B&B/Guest house with plenty of bells and whistles for cyclists.


I've been building and marketing websites for businesses such as yours for years and a good online presence with your two niche markets, you're definately on to a winner.

 

[amos]

Maybe you can aim for something on a par with this place I stayed whilst on my honeymoon in New Zealand.

It really was as nice as it looks, in Winter it was geared up to cater for skiers, in Summer I guess they catered for hill walkers and climbers.

If you set it up somewhere good for Mountain Bikers and offered guided tours, maintenance, rentable bikes and all sorts of other things as extras then you might be onto a winner. You probably need to pick a target clientèle and aim specifically for them, in other words it's either a luxury B&B or a nice Hostel, but not necessarily both. You could even go for a B&B with a bunkhouse in the grounds. Where you set one up though and who you market it too is probably key, I suspect that you'd need a substantial amount of money to get going and do things properly.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I think hubbike's post sums up the challenge you would face in specialising in the cyclist market:

considerable discount ... free to use ... a lower price ... Free internet ... Free ice water, and hot water for drinks ... free shampoo, soap and towels provided

It's not that all cyclists are cheap, but it is representative of a very sizeable slice of the market.

 

[Danny]

I largely agree with Ben (for the second time today ).

You also need to think about how you would differentiate yourself from a YHA hostel, as many already offer most of the of facilities you mention - though not the Garmins, maps, and guided rides. Having had some bad experiences in independent hostels I would now always choose a YHA hostel in preference as this generally guarantees a basic minimum standard of accommodation - and I suspect most other people considering hostel accommodation would do the same.

 

[billflat12]

Would need to include campsite with secure bike storage to appeal to me. ( if secluded wild camping unavailable ) free wifi would also pull me in. for a quick snack i guess.

 

[jay clock]

One thing I would NOT do, is place a posting on Cycle Chat (your very first and currently only posting) then get a good number of replies over 4 days, and not respond in any way at all....

Let us know what you think of our comments and suggestions.

 

[summerdays]

As a cyclist I would consider drying facilities important too. And much of the above.

 

[nosherduke996]

Agree with most of the above and also, depending on location you could cater for anglers if there is good fishing in that area.

 

[fimm]

As a cyclist I would consider drying facilities important too. And much of the above.

Agreed. And if you're going to appeal to hillwalkers as well, a drying room would definitely be needed.
To whoever said they aviod independant hostels and stick to YHA; I've had good experiences at both independants and YHA and wouldn't go for one over the other. That's just my experience, though.