Alex Polizzi, The Hotel Inspector, knows a thing or two about running successful hotels and about turning struggling establishments into ones that really thrive. While watching an episode on the TV recently, it occurred to me that some of her ‘rules’ can easily be applied to many other businesses.

The episode that inspired this blog focused on an historic hotel in St Albans, where the owners were trying to do too much. The building was extremely old and had all sorts of history attached to it. There was also rumour that the hotel was inhabited by ghosts, so one of the owners – part of a husband and wife team – had decided that her guests really wanted to know about all things paranormal. On arrival the Hotel Inspector was told about all the ghostly inhabitants and shown a bizarre – and somewhat tacky – collection of Halloween decorations, masquerading as a ‘secret scary gallery’. The stunning dining room, with its oak panelling, was rather downgraded by the menu that featured a number of ghost-related dishes and the landlady was planning to convert the cellar into a themed room – probably a dungeon or torture chamber!

Aside from the ghostly goings on, the landlady also wanted to upgrade the bridle suite by spending up to £25,000 on redecoration and a brand new bathroom. Her husband was not impressed by most of her ideas; neither was our hotel expert.

Some programmes of this type carry out total renovations of homes or hotels, spending thousands of pounds on the work and implementing expensive marketing campaigns. This one was refreshingly different because the main recommendation was to simplify the business. Instead of scaring guests, they were treated to historical tours of the town and a menu that reflected the age of the building – something that none of the other eating establishments in the town were offering. A simple £10 lunch menu was created to encourage more day time passing trade – any elaborate ideas for themed evenings were turned down. In addition, Alex Polizzi suggested that the husband and wife take very clear, separate roles within the hotel.  The wife was put in charge of learning the history of the hotel and the town, so that she could lead walking tours and talk to her guests – something that she realised she loved doing.  The husband was responsible for the menu and for keeping it simple (and for keeping his wife out of the kitchen so that their staff could get on with their jobs!) This allowed him to carry out very simple, inexpensive local marketing, to bring more customers through the doors, where they could enjoy good food without be scared by the prices.

What about the bridle suite? The landlady got her wish of a new one, but for a mere £7000 and it was extremely tasteful and in keeping with the old building.

I’ve realised that the times when things haven’t gone so well with my business are when we’ve tried to do too much. When you lose focus on what you’re really good at, it can be all too easy to throw money at a new idea or an expensive marketing campaign – probably the worst thing to do if money is already tight. Instead, focus on what you’re good at and look for ways of doing it even better than before. That way, you can build a business on your reputation, with a simple marketing message, without the need for gimmicks and a huge budget.