Has a nice ring to it, doncha think?
[updated: 10 November with pic & new ending]
Yeah, don’t ask. It was one of those spontaneous moments. I was showing the apartment next door (yes, another tenant has flown the coop) and mentioned that I was thinking of finally seeing Inglourious Basterds as it was going to be the last week for it, and the prospective tenant said it was the best film he’d seen all year. Five minutes later one of the present tenants, Nieves, showed up at my door saying she wanted to go to the cinema with me. And five minutes after that we headed out with Nog, not even remotely suspecting we were going to end up not seeing the film and wanting to open a B&B…
When we got to the cinema I found out I’d been looking at the wrong cinema website and Inglourious Basterds hadn’t been showing there for over two weeks, so we headed towards home past the Bellas Artes Museum and thought we would take in the Duquesa de Alba exhibit (her private collection is on loan until January). But when we saw the massive queue we decided to keep going. And about a block up the road I saw a For Rent sign on the balcony of a gorgeous old building – and then saw “500 m²” written below the phone number! – at which point curiosity got the better of me and I called the number just to ask how much it would cost. When the man told me he was just five minutes away and could come and show me the house right away I found myself saying that would be great, and thus it happened that Nieves, Nog and I suddenly became prospective B & B investors.
It started off as a lark, but after being taken through the entire house (four floors and two fabulous rooftop terraces) the B & B idea started to take on a life of its own. And the owner was certainly convinced that we were serious clients. Afterwards we went out for a beer and did some rough calculations and, you know, it was almost doable if we could get the owner to lower the rent, well, quite a bit actually. But there was enough space for me & Nog to share a small apartment and then have about 5 or 6 rooms to rent. As well as still being able to teach some classes in the office on the main floor, and do work online on the computer in the reception area. It was like seeing a whole new life open up with the “working at home” thing having so many more possibilites.
And then suddenly our beer glasses were empty, and Nieves said she was going to try and catch the Barça game at Flaherty, and Nog and I walked home feeling like we’d just woken from a dream. It’s actually been awhile since I’ve had such a pleasant dream. And who knows, perhaps one day it just might come true.
Update: Went by the house again on Sunday and saw that it had been rented. That was fast! Considering we’d just looked at it the previous Wednesday. So oh well. But this time it was daylight and I was able to get a nice photo of the place. Looks great, doesn’t it?
Well, it would be more certain than trying to find tenants for lengthier stays and you wouldn’t have the problem or people agreeing to stay for six months and buggering off after a month….
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I think it’s actually a darn good idea. It would link in well with your other Sevilla promotion stuff. Would there be enough wriggle-room to allow you to employ someone to do the heavy stuff?
Put J & I down as prospective pg’s.
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Well, I love the idea, and this house was really very nice and wouldn’t need too much fixing up. Three of the rooms have ensuite baths and the other two would share a (huge) bathroom down the hall. And there is a small livingroom area up on the top floor that opens onto the first terrace, which would be perfect for serving breakfast on cold or rainy mornings. Otherwise it would be served out on the terrace. There’s a lift and a nice big kitchen. And the “living quarters” on the first floor has a working fireplace, plus the whole place is airconditioned.
BUT … the rent really is too high to make it profitable with only five rooms. *sigh*
Some good news though. The guy who came to look at the room yesterday is moving in this evening. After June I’m going to be losing that apartment so I really need to get more income, um, coming in. Maybe I should go back and talk to this guy about the rent…
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I think it’s a splendid idea, particularly if you could get the guy to give you a break on the rent for, say, the first year while you work the bugs out of how to manage it (since it’s a shorter rental period than you’re used to). I think you and Nog could pull it off — you’re both friendly and outgoing folks, largest hurdle for people in hospitality. Also, you could tie it in with your Tapas blog (and advertise yourselves!).
Dreams are good, and sometimes they help you see other possibilities.
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You gotta love Spanish spontaneity! It really does rub off after a while, doesn’t it?
If you did open one, you’d have two garenteed guests!
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Unfortunately the numbers just don’t add up. Even at €60 per room, per night, we’d need all the rooms occupied all the time to scrape a living. Nice house, though.
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In fact, the two larger rooms with ensuite bathrooms could probably go for about 85€ a night, the smaller one for 75€, and the two with the shared bathroom for about 60€.
And hey, we’ve already got four guaranteed guests!
I know it’s not likely to happen, but I still feel like “playing” with the idea a bit longer. So I may go back this weekend for another chat with the owner and take some photos.
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It’s worth seeing if you could do a deal with the owner.
Would it have enough room for you to be able to run some cookery or language classes there? You know – the Immerse Yourself In Sevilla sort of thing.
Learn to speak fluent tapas in a week 🙂
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6 guaranteed guests – ismarah & DancingTree. The dog would kindly be left with the grandparents.
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I love the idea. That does sound like a grand dream, and I’m all in favor of playing with the idea some more.
Plus I’d have to get back to Sevilla to stay there.
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I just posted an update, including a photo of the house. Somebody obviously loved the place too, and had the means to rent it, because the sign was taken down when Nog and I walked by the other day. Ah well, on to the next dream …
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