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Aug 2020

Last Updated: 12/08/2020

Business

Harrogate bed and breakfast diversifies to survive coronavirus

by Newsroom

| 12 Aug, 2020

Bed and breakfasts are seeing a big drop in guest numbers. Acorn Lodge in Harrogate is trying a new way of getting people to stay..

A Harrogate bed and breakfast has altered the way they work to maintain high booking numbers through coronavirus.

As of today, Acorn Lodge owners Ali and Phil Standen will be starting a new initiative. Future guests will now be able to book out the whole property for a family stay rather than just bed and breakfast. The couple are calling it "Acorn Lodge - Your Way".

Ali, deputy chair of the Harrogate District Hotel & Guest House Association, said:

“All members are struggling. This week we should have been at 90% capacity and welcoming guests with the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival, but we're only at 40% and we've lost £1000 from September cancellations. We’ve never seen anything like this."

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The change in their business has already brought bookings in for the 16-year-old guesthouse. But Ali is worried tourists know very little about what the Harrogate district has to offer.

Ali said:

"If you look at places like Keswick, it's bustling. We're on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, we should still be welcoming heaps of tourists. Harrogate needs to get on the map!”

This week The Doubletree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel & Spa announced that they were experiencing “sky high” occupancy and an August on track to be better than 2019. A large part of this they thanked to the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Ali said:

“We thought bed and breakfasts would be okay because we’re smaller, so people would feel safer, but some hotels in Harrogate are continuing to do so well and the smaller guesthouses are struggling."

With events cancelled, including the Autumn 2020 Flower Show and Harrogate's Knitting & Stitching Show, the future for many independent guesthouses in the Harrogate district remains unclear. Ali and Phil will be waiting to see what their next move is after the NHS Nightingale Hospital closes.

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Harrogate bed and breakfast diversifies to survive coronavirus

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