We've been invited to breakfast meetings a couple of times before but the nature of our business is that we're usually busy working away between 7 and 10am with our own guests' breakfast preparations, serving and clearing away so are usually unable to attend.
However, this time of year it's gone a lot quieter and I was able to leave Julian to cope with the small number of guests we had in on his own.
Attending things like this are often nerve wracking and to walk into a room of strangers where many already know each other is never easy. I was hoping I'd spot a friendly face that I recognised but I was met with nothing but strangers. Luckily I wasn't the only newbie and very quickly after grabbing a coffee, a local interior designer said hello and we were soon chatting away.
It's amazing how many people are aware of The 25 already, and this lady was no exception - she had already had a look at our website as we were different to other B&Bs in Torquay and asked who did our interior design. She was a little surprised when I said I'd designed the rooms myself.
Breakfast was served not long afterwards and to my horror we had to go round the room of fifty or so people and introduce ourselves in around thirty seconds. I didn't have much time to worry about this or to prepare as I ended up being third in line.
There were many people who had already heard of The 25 and I was asked to tell the room about our recent award success which gained a round of applause.
You never quite know where business may come from and as the only hospitality business there, it would be nice to think that the next time they need to refer someone to a local accommodation provider, it would be us that they think of.
I've been asked to be one of the main speakers at the next meeting in November to let everyone know how and why we feel we've had so much success and were chosen as Tourism & Hospitality Business of the Year in the South Devon tourism awards recently. I've said yes so I'll have to have a think about that one - why do you think we've been successful? Post a comment & let us know.