David Lewis and Giles Baeton, owners of a bed and breakfast in Swansea, are just like any other eager-to-please guest house owners.
Their imposing house in the Mumbles area receives a great deal of positive feedback from guests but they decided to put the bed and breakfast to the ultimate test by taking park in the Channel 4 reality show Four In A Bed. David and Giles hoped that they would receive at least some high praise and maybe even a win.
When they agreed to take part they didn’t realize that their B&B would be subjected to such high scrutiny.
“We thought long and hard about taking part,” they say.
“But when we received an email to go on the show we thought we would give it a go,” David says.
“We had to have a telephone interview and then researchers came to visit us.
“When we were accepted for the show we were delighted and thought it would be fun. But as we watched the show and saw how bitchy it was, we did start to have our doubts and considered pulling out.
“But we went ahead with it and despite feeling like we were under a microscope and being treated like performing puppets by the programme makers, we enjoyed the experience.”
David and Giles bought the property five years ago and planned to renovate it and resell it.
“After a time the question was whether to continue with it as a private house, sell it on or find another use for the space,” explains David.
“We started looking at flats but they all seemed so small compared to our house which we had been living in for over three years. We used to enjoy having friends over to stay and I think the idea came from there.”
They both had full time jobs at the time but they now both work full time running the B&B.
“At first Giles was unsure about the idea as it meant after a day looking after guests at work he would have to return home to look after our guests.
“But he came around and we decided to let out one room out. We set up a website and it went from there.
“Our first guests were a couple from London who wanted to stay for the weekend. When we received their phone call reality set in and we were really worried. But it went well and it gave us confidence to continue with the business.”
Both owners are now fully employed running the B&B that is attracting customers from all around the world. And it has already been granted four-star status by Visit Wales.
Number 17 Langland Road now brands itself as “a tastefully restored three storey Victorian
The other competitors in the reality show were a traditional B&B, a small hotel and a restaurant with rooms in Felixstowe, Cheshire and Colwyn Bay.
David says: “We were the first to host and we didn’t know what to expect. We were told we had to provide an activity for the guests but we didn’t really have a clue, so we took them to Go Ape in Margam. They hated it! A few of the guests were a bit old for it.
“In the evening we took the guests to Langland Brasserie. The food was great, the weather couldn’t have been better and even the tides were with us.
“When we visited the other B&B’s we were told to expand on everything negative we said.
“The programme is so staged but I suppose that is what makes good television.
“If we made a throwaway comment it was magnified. If we said something negative we always tried to put in a positive comment too. In the end we were afraid to speak! Who knows how we will come across on television!”
They were pleased with the responses that they received and have stayed in touch with one of the couples.
“It was quite flattering as we are relatively new to the business and some of them have been trading for up to 25 years,” said Giles.
“The competition agreed that our location was by far the best of the four. Two of them also commented on the presence of so many delightful independent shops in the Newton Road area.”