19. Running an independent, city centre guest house through challenging times with owner Carla Brooks, Brooks Guest House

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For anyone involved in running an accommodation business in a city location over the past few years, times have been tough. Todays guest Carla Brooks Owner of the Brooks Guest Houses (in Bath and Bristol) shares some useful advice, having survived the recession of 2008.

If you have ever wandered into St Nicholas Market in the centre of Bristol, and glanced up through the iron gates to the huge shiny objects glinting in the sun, that’ll be the air stream caravans on the roof of Brooks Guesthouse in Bristol.

Carla shares her journey from corporate Marketing Director to owning a 22 bedroom hotel in the centre of Bath before purchasing her second guest house in Bristol. We chat about how the business has fared over the past few years, and she talks about how she feels the market will change based on her experience of surviving the market downturn in 2008.

Carla has a unique view of operating a business in different cities in the West of England and the importance of DMO VisitWest to presenting the collective place that allows the area to compete on the international stage.

Enjoy the episode!
Find out more about
Brooks Guest House Bristol
Brooks Guest House Bath
In todays episode I talk about Asana as my favourite project management tool.

This episode is sponsored by Hello Starling.

Hello Starling, is an award-winning Media Planning and Buying agency that specialises in delivering advertising campaigns with great results for visitor attractions and destinations.
They've worked with brands such as Bristol Zoo Project, Visit Shropshire, Visit Conwy, Visit Herefordshire and the National Tourism Office for Poland. If you want to be the centre of attention, visit hellostarling.com today.
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