On Monday through Thursday this week, the "Four in a Bed" TV show on Channel 4 has visited Knock Castle in Crieff, Perthshire, Barton House in Blackpool, Well House Manor in Melksham, Wiltshire and Applewood Glamping in the Worcestershire Countryside.

We're the third of those - Well House Manor - and we will be shown on Wednesday night, with the other three sets of owners visiting us. Tonight - Friday, 11th January - is the "reveal" show (5 p.m.), where all the owners come together, read their reviews with a chance to ask questions about what their visitors said, and find out how much they've been paid (it's up to the visitors). A plaque is awarded to the establishment that's paid the highest percentage of its asking price. Until the show is over (17:30 tonight), I can't tell you who won, and how the maths and strategy worked out.

One of the great beauties of the show for us - as accommodation providers - has been the opportunity we've had to visit three other places, selected by Channel 4 and Studio Lambert, that have made us take a deep look at our product and to take a careful look at three other products in the same industry that we would not normally have selected. Personally, in my work as a trainer I stay away in about a dozen different hotels each year so I get a really good chance to compare our place to others, and to learn from them in both a positive and negative way ([example]). However, I don't think I would have selected any of the places that we were teamed up with as a business stop even if I'd been in their area.

Knock Castle ... would simply have been out of my price bracket. When I'm training away from home, I charge travel and accommodation expenses to my customers, and I won't pass on luxury hotel prices.

Barton House ... would have lost me at the top of their web site - "where we cater exclusively for adult couples". Looks lovely, but I'm a lone businessman and they wouldn't have accepted a booking

Applewood Glamping ... would be the sort of thing I would have selected for a few days as a holiday; I would have been concerned for an "overnight" as to whether I could arrive after dark, and whether I could be washed, dressed and cleared out in time for an 08:30 arrival on customer site to give a course.

So it was absolutely fascinating to see places that are somewhat different, and to get strong and robust feedback from the other end of the business. Although it's supposed to be a competition, there really isn't competition between the four sets of us (or at least there shouldn't be). We're all to some extent in niche and different markets, and the chance of my guests at Well House Manor this morning wanting to have stayed instead in a mock Spa in Scotland, an orchard in Worcestershire, or with their partner in Blackpool is zero. And on the other hand, anyone who stayed with Jo in Blackpool last night is hardly likely to have made a choice between her and Well House Manor ...

(written 2013-01-11, updated 2013-01-12)

 M444 - Well House Manor - Four in a Bed
  [3864] Guest Guide for Well House Manor and Melksham - (2012-09-18)
  [3924] The bedrooms at Well House Manor - (2012-11-16)
  [3933] Behind Melksham Spa - Mood Mist over wet fields. - (2012-11-23)
  [3948] Quiet little town? Advanced Technology Centre? - (2012-12-08)
  [3962] Melksham welcomes visitors - new blue plaque trail and more - (2012-12-27)
  [3965] Well House Manor, Melksham - on national TV next week - (2012-12-30)
  [3968] Expecting nothing, but prepared for anything - (2013-01-05)
  [3971] The Experience - (2013-01-11)
  [3972] Four in a Bed - comment on results - (2013-01-11)
  [3973] Well House Manor on Four in a Bed - the ongoing story - (2013-01-12)
  [3975] Being an amateur hotel inspector helps me run a professional hotel - (2013-01-14)
  [3977] A variety of continental breakfasts - (2013-01-16)
  [3984] 20 minutes in to our 15 minutes of fame - (2013-01-20)
  [4112] Really good friends - four in a bed! - (2013-06-09)
  [4138] Should a hotel accept guests who book for just one night? - (2013-07-11)
  [4147] A hidden hotel gem in Melksham - (2013-07-31)
  [4156] A further chance to see Melksham on TV - (2013-08-22)
  [4204] With the Shpigs and Donkeys - (2013-11-10)
  [4232] Not wanted here - hotel guests who will not be happy - (2013-12-30)
  [4241] Four in a Bed - the story continues - (2014-01-27)
  [4468] Four in a Bed - most popular answers - (2015-03-31)
  [4474] Effect on external factors on traffic to our web sites - an update - (2015-04-26)

M401 - Well House Manor - Seeing how others do it
  [17] Differing tastes - (2004-08-17)
  [514] Crazy Day-sies - (2005-12-02)
  [619] If its Sunday, it must be the Norland - (2006-02-23)
  [693] The on line booking experience - (2006-04-21)
  [699] Extremes costs of getting on line - (2006-04-25)
  [714] Room for Octopuses - (2006-05-08)
  [736] New Tape Librarian - (2006-05-28)
  [966] CSL, KISS and RTFM - (2006-12-05)
  [1011] Well House Manor and Beechfield House, Hotels, Melksham - (2006-12-29)
  [1026] The Wheatsheaf 2, The Bell 0 - (2007-01-09)
  [1091] The Psyche is all wrong. - (2007-02-24)
  [1205] Arrival and Departure experiences - another hotel - (2007-05-26)
  [1287] Work and play at Well House Manor - Football and Shell Shortcuts - (2007-08-02)
  [1301] Plastic or China - (2007-08-12)
  [1333] Kasteel Elsloo - Michelin rated hotel. - (2007-09-05)
  [1347] Wireless Internet Access at hotels - an update and some pitfalls - (2007-09-12)
  [1354] Match the Bedroom to the Hotel - (2007-09-17)
  [1356] Crystal Ball - How long do I need to be online? - (2007-09-18)
  [1374] Maidenhead Coffee Challenge - (2007-10-02)
  [1406] Away or home - which do I prefer? - (2007-10-25)
  [1413] The little gestures that can really count - (2007-10-27)
  [1454] From Sunday to Monday, from Melksham to the Balkans - (2007-12-03)
  [1458] The wrong way to put up prices - (2007-12-05)
  [1525] Just one thing let the service down - but that is my memory - (2008-01-31)
  [1547] New bathing idea for hotels from Hotelympia - (2008-02-20)
  [1597] Comparing hotels - as a guest and from the proprietors view - (2008-04-01)
  [1672] The Composting Cone Challenge - (2008-06-10)
  [1758] Lindors Hotel, near St. Briavels, Wye Valley - (2008-08-18)
  [1915] Quietly putting prices up - (2008-12-02)
  [2007] Launch of Melksham Food and Drink Festival - (2009-01-24)
  [2105] Hire Car, from Atlanta Airport - (2009-03-27)
  [2127] Call in the professionals! - (2009-04-12)
  [2308] A new place in pictures - (2009-07-28)
  [2311] Floor to ceiling - (2009-07-30)
  [2413] Sanity checking the price, and selling up to increase income - (2009-09-21)
  [2441] Not your cup of tea? - (2009-10-08)
  [2502] Monday night, Tuesday night - (2009-11-13)
  [2885] Twenty Questions - (2010-07-24)
  [2911] Feeding the Grockles - (2010-08-09)
  [3054] Longhope Hotel - (2010-11-16)
  [3333] Honesty and a friendly welcome goes a long way - (2011-06-25)
  [3368] Well House Manor hotel, Melksham - recommended to you by our customers - (2011-07-23)
  [3754] Eyes Wide Open - (2012-06-06)
  [3776] Some traps it's so easy to fall into in designing your web site - (2012-06-23)
  [3794] Should hotel staff sit on the toilet in the customer bedrooms? - (2012-07-02)
  [3900] The Xxxxx Guest House in Xxxxxxxxxxx - my stay reviewed - (2012-10-20)
  [3963] National TV - Melksham - 9th January 2013, Pre-alert. - (2012-12-27)
  [4058] The highs and lows of customer service - Cheltenham - (2013-04-03)
  [4081] Pushing down the advertised price, pushing up the total price charged. - (2013-05-08)
  [4091] A reminder of why we opened Well House Manor for our customers - (2013-05-17)
  [4093] More things to make sure that we do NOT do ... - (2013-05-18)
  [4109] What might you find at a tiny bed and breakfast? - (2013-06-03)
  [4177] Setting and publishing your hours to suit your customer base - (2013-09-18)
  [4245] It always happens to me when I'm in Borehamwood! - (2014-03-06)
  [4255] Making a personal gain from a more expensive business hotel stay - (2014-04-02)
  [4321] Are administration / review charges on hotel guests acceptable? - (2014-11-20)
  [4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
  [4373] A long and disappointing evening - (2014-12-30)
  [4443] Seventh stay away this year - and it's still only February! - (2015-02-25)

G600 - Well House Consultants - Well House Manor
  [525] Vision AND venture - (2005-12-12)
  [550] 2006 - Making business a pleasure - (2006-01-01)
  [555] Hotel novelties - (2006-01-05)
  [558] Converting between acres and hectares - (2006-01-08)
  [571] Well House Manor - (2006-01-21)
  [575] Eating for the single business traveller - (2006-01-24)
  [582] DWIM and AWWO - (2006-01-30)
  [594] Twice is a co-incidence and three times is a pattern - (2006-02-07)
  [598] Should we cruise around the world? - (2006-02-09)
  [615] Looking for leading not bleeding edge - (2006-02-21)
  [617] Easy, Free, Reliable internet access - (2006-02-22)
  [643] If it's Sunday, it must be Bedwyn - (2006-03-12)
  [667] Well House Manor goes ahead - (2006-04-03)
  [884] Drive time - (2006-10-02)
  [891] Well House Manor Hotel, Melksham, Wiltshire - (2006-10-10)
  [902] Brand new hotel and training centre, Melksham - (2006-10-22)
  [933] Course Joining package - updated - (2006-11-20)
  [963] George Hotel and Well House Manor, Melksham - (2006-12-04)
  [1059] Three sets of twins - (2007-01-31)
  [1072] Well House Manor in the Snow - (2007-02-09)
  [1211] A lot has happened in a year - (2007-05-31)
  [1332] Melksham Hotel - Five Star Kitchen! - (2007-09-04)
  [1388] Well House Manor - a year on - (2007-10-12)
  [1520] Terms and Conditions - Hotel, England - plain English - (2008-01-26)
  [1706] The Story of Well House Manor - (2008-07-12)
  [2565] Bright day, snowy day - (2010-01-06)
  [2962] Well House Manor - the history of the hotel - (2010-09-20)
  [3405] Where do businessmen stay in Melksham? - (2011-08-25)
  [3549] Well House Manor - perhaps the best hotel rooms in Melksham - (2011-12-10)
  [3702] Digital Champions think that Well House Manor is a champion venue! - (2012-04-20)
  [3800] Fancy a weekend away? Try Well House Manor in Melksham, Wiltshire - (2012-07-09)
  [3814] Returning guests - a sign of a good product. Cream teas and hotel rooms. - (2012-07-22)
  [4101] POETS day at Well House Manor - (2013-05-24)
  [4715] Well House Manor - Still five out of five! - (2016-10-30)

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