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Welcome to Our January 2022 Newsletter Hello friends,
Welcome to our January newsletter. 🌨️ We hope you all had a wonderful (and busy) holiday. With a new year comes lots of new opportunities and events. Here at Private House Stays, we look forward to working with our amazing clients while looking to bring more people into our network. We are excited to announce that we have rescheduled our “Scotland’s Year of Stories: How to tell yours” webinar to the 24th of February. 📖 Join us to learn how to create copy for your website that will illuminate and educate your guests on what you have to offer. You will be shown the ropes by Neely Khan and Emma Greer, the expert writers ✍️ who are the main feature of our webinar. Cassie is looking forward to the 23rd-29th March when she hopes to finally travel to the Shetlands (barring any more natural disasters).This will be a welcome opportunity for her to met with potential clients and expand Private House Stay's visibility in the Islands. 🐴 Cassie is enjoying her latest course, the Destination Leadership Course at Edinburgh Napier University. This programme is created to provide leaders within tourism with the knowledge, abilities, and systems they need to lead effectively. 🎓 Through this course, she has discovered more about her strengths and weaknesses as a leader and what it takes to get the best out of herself. Learning from university Professors alongside other industry leaders from around the world, it has also been an excellent opportunity for networking with like-minded business owners.We're pleased to introduce you to our two new Kickstarters, Oliver Bayliss and Euan Nicholson. They will be joining us as Marketing Assistants working in copywriting and content creation and are looking forward to collaborating with guests and using their skills to draw more attention to your wonderful properties.
In RemembranceThis month, we're thinking about the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, Holocaust Memorial Day, as commemorated across global news this week. The marking of this tragedy is important in order to remember history and the lives unfairly taken. It is also important for the ways in which it reminds us of the vitality of human kindness. The stories we have heard this week are stories of inconceivable loss - but also of incredible strength.To mark the day, portraits of seven of the UK's last remaining Holocaust survivors have been commissioned by the Prince of Wales, now displayed at the Queen's Gallery. The painting pictured above is of Anita Lasker Wallfisch - painted by Peter Kuhfeld - curtesy of the Royal Collection Trust.
You can read more about the memorial collection on BBC news here.
Thank you for reading our newsletter, and please feel welcome to reach out with any enquiries. We wish you all the best for the new year ahead.
Take care,Beth and Oliver / The Private House Stays Team 🏠 |
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New date - 24th FebScotland's Year of Stories: How to Tell Yours |
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Meet Neely Khan: Following years’ of experience across various hospitality roles, Neely decided to merge her love for the industry with a lifelong passion for writing.
Neely’s business ‘Neely There’ specialises in storytelling and content writing services for the hospitality industry. This in-turn, increases lifetime guest value, and encourages paying guests to return to a brand, again and again. The writer’s unique storytelling approach has lead her to carve content for some of the industry’s biggest influencers. Neely has created brand stories for the likes of I-PRAC, Boostly, and Zeevou. She values working with her partners on a long-term basis, to really explore the crux of their brands, as well as their ideal customers. Neely There is a proud part of Wow Group of Companies, which has several other agencies under its belt, in the area of design, digital marketing, and IT support.
Meet Emma Greer:Emma is a copywriter who started her own business, Magnetic Copy, in August 2021. She offers website copywriting, email marketing, and blog writing services to small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, with the goal of helping her clients refine their target audience and convert them into customers using the power of words. Prior to starting her own business, Emma’s professional career was in the travel industry, including time as a Content Writer for Barrhead Travel and over three years as a Marketing Executive in the domestic market for award-winning tour operator McKinlay Kidd. She is delighted to have the opportunity to dip her toes back into a world she loves so much by speaking at the Private House Stays talk.
The webinar will be held over Zoom, and you can book in by clicking the link below.
If you have any questions about the event please email beth@privatehousestays.com.
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Want to learn more about digital marketing?Try these free resources
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Going into 2022, digital marketing has never been more important – research shows that 75% of consumers took a new interest in the online activities in 2020 (source)
At Private House Stays, we are proud of the amazing quality of the properties we represent and want to do all we can to support our clients to show them off. Digital marketing is absolutely key to this; not only is an easy way to reach a massive customer base, grow your reputation and share your values, but when 80% of consumers opt for brands whose values align with their own (source) that picture of your dog or post about sourcing local produce for your breakfasts could really be the difference between whether or not you get that booking!
If you want to learn more about what you can do to show off your business, we highly recommend Digital Boost’s free webinars. The line-up for Feb-March 2022 has just been announced, with many great talks available to attend for free all aimed towards businesses in tourism, including:
- The basics of digital marketing
- Instagram for Tourism businesses
- How to build an online reputation
- And many more!
Find the complete catalogue of upcoming webinars on Visit Scotland here.
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If webinars aren’t your thing but you’re interested in learning more, Visit Scotland has some brilliant resources on how to build your digital skills to support your business.
The collection of quick reads and animated clips will guide you through the basics in no time at all, and you can move through them at your own pace.
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Now under the care of new owners Alex and James, this lovely 2 floor flat overlooking Drummond lawn tennis club was where Cassie ran her B&B for 12 years and learnt all the tricks of the trade! Situated in Edinburgh's trendy New Town, famous for its beautifully preserved neo-classical and Georgian architecture, 9B sits in the artistic centre of the capital and offers the perfect base for fringe-goers, with all fringe venues within easy reach.
Easily accessible, 9B Scotland Street is only 15 minutes by foot or a 5-minute taxi from Waverley Train Station (where the airport bus terminates for the city centre). The property itself comprises the lower half of a traditional Georgian townhouse converted over two floors. This means that one floor of the flat is built into the lower ground so has a garden, a charming historical feature iconic of New Town architecture.
9B is a 5 bedroom flat that sleeps up to 10 people, with 4 doubles and 1 twin room , each with their own bathroom - ideal for a large group to share. They are currently taking bookings from mid June through to The Edinburgh Fringe, if you or anyone you know is looking for quality accommodation in a stellar location, check out the link below.
For bookings or more information please click here. | |
What should I do if a guest catches Covid-19?Resources for accommodation owners |
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Even if you are following the guidelines to the letter, unfortunately, there is still a possibility of a guest catching Covid-19. If you become aware of anyone staying at your property falling ill with the virus, you can follow these four recommended steps by the PASC.
- It is in your best interest to ask the guests to leave your residence at the earliest possible date. This gives you the best chance of stopping the spreading of the disease to others and yourself. Before the guests leave, you can request that they remove their bedsheets to diminish the risk of further infection.
- According to the PASC, the guest is expected to cover all costs if they cannot return home due to sickness. You cannot be held accountable for the guest’s wellbeing. You, of course, can do everything in your power to make their stay comfier if they cannot leave, but you do not owe them any compensation.
- PPE should be worn by anyone entering your property after a positive result so that you are as protected against the virus as can be. Ventilating the property is highly recommended as this airborne virus does not survive long on surfaces.
- Once the property has been sufficiently ventilated, you should follow the most up-to-date cleaning protocols and resume Covid cleaning.
If you need any more information or a printable poster to keep you and your guests informed on the latest guidelines, you can find everything you need here: https://www.pascuk.co.uk/covid19-resources/.
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STL Legislation:Do you need to apply for a license?
Clarification for B&B and Guest Houses |
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The new short-term lets legislation has caused some confusion since it was passed by parliament, including over who is required to apply and who is except. According to the SGHBBA (Scottish Guest House and B&B Alliance) and the answer is:
For ‘Use-class 9’ properties: yes
For ‘Use-class 7’ properties: no
What's the difference between use-class 7 and 9 properties?
According to Town and County Planning (use class) (Scotland) Order 1997 – ‘use-class 9’ are domestic dwellings where council tax is paid for the whole of the property. Thus, an owner or occupier running a B&B or Guest House from such a property is considered to be ‘house sharing’ so must apply for a STL license.
‘Use-class 7’ properties, on the other hand, are rated non-domestic and classified by the local authority as Guest House, Hotel or Hostel. As such they are except.
Unfortunately, many B&B’s and Guest Houses do fall under use-class 9 categorisation, so will be effected by the new legislation. This is all in the early stages, and we will keep you informed as and when new guidelines come to light.
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| How would you describe your experience with Private House Stays?
Private House Stays is a wonderful organisation to partner with. All the staff are professional and take the time to get to know us as a business. We love the personal service and that they concentrate on promoting businesses that are unique and different. We are looking forward to forming a last lasting relationship with PHS going forward.
It's always nice to know what people are saying about our brand, and about the brand that is carrying your name. For a more complete list of testimonials from the members of Private House Stays please click HERE | | We Would Love to Hear From You
Do you have any suggestions, compliments, or complaints?
We would love to hear from you!
We would love to improve in our Quality, Service, and Accommodation, and you can help us do that.
Thank you for being part of the Private House Stays club. We appreciate you, and we look forward to seeing you again soon. In the interim, drop us a note.
We'd love to hear from you!
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For your convenience, you may contact Cassie on +447990595895 or via email
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