A place in the country
The north coast is hardly lacking when it comes to quality B&B’s, but Sharon and David Schindler’s boutique guesthouse, just a mile from the town, has no equal…
Shola Coach House, Sharon and David Schindler’s stunning north coast getaway, was ranked number two in the world in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2015
That’s hardly surprising – this beautifully renovated 19th century coach house is the last word in comfort and elegance – but what does give pause for thought is the revelation that when Sharon and David visited Northern Ireland for a holiday from their home in New Zealand three years ago, they had no intention of opening a B&B at all.
“We took some kind of crazy notion that we would look at properties,” Sharon tells LCN. “When we saw this place, I think we just fell in love with it. It was lovely, it was unique and when you drive into it, you just feel really relaxed straight away.”
First impressions were enough to convince the couple, who returned to New Zealand – where Sharon worked as a sustainable tourism advisor – and began to make preparations for a new life back at Shola. That was in October 2012 and they had their new venture in Northern Ireland open for business by St. Patrick’s Day the following year.
Sharon comes originally from Omagh, but she had been away from Northern Ireland for 25 years by the time she made her first visit to Shola. Her husband, David, is a Londoner and the pair had been living in New Zealand for the previous 12 years.
The guesthouse itself was built around 1840 and is located about a mile from Portrush. The previous owners had run a B&B in the nearby town for years before retiring to Shola, which they had also operated as a guesthouse before selling it to David and Sharon.
There were three en suite guest rooms in the property at that stage and after a year, David and Sharon converted a ground floor sitting room to add a fourth en suite bedroom, now known as the Garden Room.
Sharon says that almost from the start, business at Shola has been strong:
“In the beginning, we were just concentrating on building a reputation and a customer base, but once word of mouth began to spread, we really started to see the difference,” adds Sharon. “After three months in business, we were ranked as number one on Trip Advisor for Portrush B&Bs and after that happened, the level of enquiries just boomed and from all over the world.”
About 40 per cent of those who visit Shola now are from the US and Canada; about 25 per cent come from Northern Ireland and about 25 per cent are from places in Europe and other long haul destinations.
“It’s hard to say exactly what type of guest the house really appeals to, but it’s very romantic here and it suits people who are looking for a quiet and relaxing location and who are happy not to be based in the middle of a town,” says Sharon. “I think our marketing tends to attract people who like the finer things in life and who want to escape, maybe play a little golf or enjoy the scenery of the north coast.”
Sharon says that word of mouth is hugely important to the business. They also use facebook, Twitter and Instagram to engage with consumers and they have their website, which they built themselves and which deals with the majority of their bookings.
“I think one of the main factors in our success is just the level of customer experience that we provide, we believe in providing the absolute best and whenever people get that, when we go above their expectations, then they’re more likely to return and stay with us again and recommend us to their friends.”
Occupancy levels are so consistent at Shola that Sharon admits they’ve seen little adverse impact from those factors – such as the VAT rate and the strong pound – that have so negatively affected many others in the hospitality sector.
“We’re small and it doesn’t take long for us to fill our bedrooms,” she says. “The advance bookings that we have for this year are already very positive and we have a waiting list for cancellations, so long may that continue.”
As for future priorities, Sharon says that she hopes simply for more of the same:
“We would just be happy to achieve the same occupancy rates this year as we did last,” she adds. “We can’t better them, we were pretty much full and if we can maintain that, then we would be very happy…We’re happy with where we’re at and we aren’t planning to expand any further in the future. We still provide a personal experience and service to every one of our guests and that’s something we don’t want to jeopardise.”
She also indicates that ultimately, when it comes to retirement time, She and David could sell the business on as a going concern:
“We’d like to be able to sell it as a profitable business to someone who is keen to offer guests the same level of comfort and service that we do,” says Sharon.
