Shropshire Star

What it's like to run a bed and breakfast

Sarah Hopper is incredibly proud of her home town – so much so that she throws open the doors of her Victorian house to guests experiencing its delights for the first time.

Published
Sarah Hopper runs Ferndell Bed and Breakfast in Shrewsbury

For the past 12 years she has been running Ferndell Bed and Breakfast in Shrewsbury and welcoming visitors from all four corners of the world.

But it’s more than just a business as it’s also the home the 50-year-old shares with her husband Stuart, 51, and their three children – Bethan, 22, Mae, 17, and 11-year-old Charlie.

Her dream of running a B&B first began when Sarah and Stuart were teenagers and they toured the country in a Volkswagen Beetle staying at B&Bs in the likes of Bath, Devon and Brighton.

“Being able to sit at the table at breakfast time with so many diverse people was really lovely.

“We were the teenage backpacker types sat with a businessman in his suit and an American couple.

“I was keen to recreate the experience of sitting at one table at Ferndell,” explains Sarah, who previously worked in customer service at Severnside Housing.

Guests are made to feel welcome with a cuppa and a slice of cake as soon as they step through the front door of the picture-postcard house in Underdale Road, Abbey Foregate.

“I want people to feel at home and for them to be able to relax and feel part of the family. I don’t like barriers and I don’t want people to feel isolated.

“The doors are always open, guests see my children having their breakfast and getting ready for school. I want everybody to feel included,” says Sarah.

She had fallen in love with the charm-filled property, which was built in 1882, before she had even stepped inside and knew it was the perfect place for her bed and breakfast.

“For me it was all about kerb appeal. I had always wanted to live in a big house and I wanted a house that looked really lovely from the outside.

“As soon as I saw this house, I knew it was the one because of how beautiful it looked. It’s just so lovely inside too. Even now I still can’t believe it’s my house,” Sarah tells us.

It turned out it was also a house with secrets as hiding on a pallet in the cellar were two beautiful stained glass windows, which Sarah’s husband Stuart, who is an antique restorer and cabinet maker, was able to bring back to life.

Now they hang proudly in the kitchen where they are constantly admired by guests staying in the two spacious twin and double rooms as they chat over breakfast.

Sarah’s day starts bright and early to ensure everything is in place for a hearty first meal of the day – a traditional English.

“I’m usually up a good hour before the guests to get the bread, which I have got ready the night before, in the Aga.

“I then tidy my kitchen because it can often look like a bomb site and I’m usually ready a second before the guests come into the kitchen.

“I offer them tea and coffee and cereal – although they usually want the cooked breakfast – and then I get the bacon, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes in the Aga while the bread is cooling.

“There are some games like Chinese checkers for people to play while they wait but mostly we chat.

“I love chatting to people and I’m genuinely interested in finding out what has brought them to Shrewsbury.

“Once me and my mum were still sat at the breakfast table chatting to one couple at 1pm,” she tells us.

Next on the to-do list is getting the bedrooms ready for any guests arriving that evening.

“I turn the rooms around and then I’ll be doing the washing and ironing. I might do some baking because I always make sure I have a cake in the tin like chocolate brownie, lemon drizzle or banana loaf,” explains Sarah.

It’s important to her that the rooms look inviting and everything is as perfect as it can be.

“I know the rooms are lovely but because of programmes like Four in a Bed I always worry that people might criticise them or complain about a crease in the duvet but it never happens and people seem to love them,” says Sarah, who also runs art and craft taster sessions in her kitchen.

Her job also sees her act as a tour guide – a role she’s more than happy to take on.

“I’m always giving guests lots of advice. I find that 90 per cent of the time they are people who have never been to Shrewsbury before.

“They’ve found us by accident. They might be visiting friends or attending a wedding nearby or it might be that Shrewsbury is a halfway point in their journey to somewhere else, like they might be going to catch a ferry at Holyhead.

“I think Shrewsbury is still a secret because it doesn’t get promoted that much.

“People absolutely love it and mountains of them come back time again,” Sarah tells us.

To help people explore the town and discover many of its hidden gems she has devised two treasure hunts which take about an hour and a half to complete.

She has also hidden free tickets to the famous Shrewsbury Flower Show in the town for people to find and enjoy.

“I’ve lived in Shrewsbury all of my life so I love promoting the town and shouting about it because it’s such a lovely place to live and visit,” says Sarah.

Throughout the year she also gets together with other B&B owners in the town.

“It’s nice to meet up because we are all working by ourselves so we can share ideas and spur each other on.

“There is never any competition. If my rooms are full I will recommend one of the other B&Bs and if they are full they will recommend me. We look after each other, it’s lovely,” she tells Weekend.

Running a B&B has been everything Sarah thought it would be and more, she says.

“It’s never going to make me a millionaire, I’ve only got two rooms after all, but it gives me a lovely lifestyle.

“I get to be at home for the kids and meet lots of lovely people from all over the world,” she adds.