Hilton Smythe is delighted to advertise The Barge B&B, a modern canal boat, which has been converted into 3 separate letting rooms. The barge has been trading as a B&B for the last 18 months. Only now does the barge come to market as our client is looking to focus on his other business.
The B&B business is currently advertising on Airbnb, booking.com, Agoda, and many other sites. Our client uses a channel manager that is very cost effective and pushes the advert listings to dozens of booking sites, which is recommended to the purchaser.
The canal boat features 3 individual cabins that are not connected in any way and all have their own separate entrances. Each has its own wet room en-suite. There are 2 double cabins with king size beds and one family sized cabin which has a king size bed and standard double cabin bed which is slightly raised. There are steps onto the barge that adjust themselves to the height of the water, so they are very safe to use to access the rooms. In total, 8 adults can be accommodated.
The walls are clad in a hard-wearing wipe clean surface and the floors are engineered wood throughout, so there is very little cosmetic maintenance. The rooms have electronic do not disturb systems and key card operated sockets and lights, so electricity isn't wasted by guests leaving things on when the room is unoccupied. Our client is offering the barge furnished or unfurnished.
The barge was originally built in 2005, but the entire superstructure, roof windows, doors and the interior was completely replaced 2 years ago to a very high standard.
It is clad in cedar, fully insulated and features foam insulation which is sprayed onto and into all metal parts. The roof is very easy to maintain fibreglass and is very hard wearing. Traditional boats of steel require rigorous maintenance of the paint work to protect the steel roof.
The windows and doors are double glazed PVC.
All of the electrics onboard are 240v, there is no low voltage system, so it is easily maintained by a traditional electrician.
It features water storage tanks for cold and hot water and a black water (sewerage) tank. This is emptied automatically by a pump which will be plumbed into the mains drain of any property it is moored at. The showers toilets and sinks are fed water by pump system, the basin and shower water is pumped overboard like a traditional boat.
It is well suited to those even without experience of boats as it is just essentially a floating building.
The Boat is currently located not far from Heathrow so 90%+ of the customers are 1 night stays.
It is especially popular on Airbnb as it is a quirky stay, so it appeals to those looking for a night away somewhere different.
This is an excellent opportunity for anyone with a canal side business to expand. Viewings are strictly by appointment only, as the boat is fully booked with guests.
