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March 2011
One of Panama's finest B&B's at a location guests rave about can be yours for a price that won't take long to find a buyer.
The world may be in crisis but our numbers are up. We're not really in a hurry to sell but, we have another project underway that will require our time and resources (see www.selvasantafe.com). We are also planning to return to Europe this summer for the sake our kids' education and formation. Since we don't want to stretch our finances nor risk the continued delivery of 1st-class service to our guests so the plan is to sell the Balboa Inn. In June this year, an experienced Dutch/British couple, former guests at the Balboa Inn on several occasions, will take over management of the Balboa Inn while we prepare for our return to The Netherlands.
The Balboa Inn is located in a residential property originally built by the Panama Canal Administration. Over a 10-month period (2007-08) it was renovated and expanded extensively. In December 2009 we added two new triple rooms, bringing the total # of rooms to 9.
But, given the increased demand for rooms at the Balboa Inn we are now planning to add two more triple rooms in our back yard.
All rooms have private bathrooms with high quality European faucets, air conditioning (very quiet split units), ceiling fans, room safes, TV & phone connections and WiFi. All less than 2.5 years old.
We ourselves live 10 minutes away from the Balboa Inn and that works fine. We do take our occasional weekends off by coordinating with our staff and go on vacation at least 2 times a year.
With the current 9 rooms total construction is 520 m2 (5.200 sq. ft.). The property itself measures 688 m2 (about 6.880 sq. ft.) but the former owner (like other neighbors) was able to extend his garden area with an additional 250 m2, taking 'custody' of what used to be a park area. This area is totally integrated with the existing gardens and fenced.
The average daily (net) rate over the 12 months of 2010 was $ 85.30 with an average stay of 2.3 days. The average occupancy 64% occupancy during this period.
Continued word of mouth advertising, increased visibility of the Balboa Inn online and a new online booking system that will tie into more travel reservations systems makes us confident we'll to better in 2011. In fact, for the first 3 months of 2011 we saw an increase of 15% in sales and 7% in occupancy.
Moreover, if we add 2 more rooms by the end of 2011, that would represent an 22% increase in room capacity.
Our visibility on the Internet is excellent. Look for 'Bed and breakfast Panama' in Google, Google maps or Yahoo travel to see what we mean. Or see the over a 150 (!) reviews of happy customers on Tripadvisor.com. Or - for the European market - look for a hotel in Panama on www.zoover.nl, www.zoover.de or www.holidaycheck.de and affiliated sites where we rank # 1. We're listed in almost every online B&B directory and if they feature reviews, we have them. Good ones!
But most interesting is are our web traffic logs that show that most of the visitors search not for 'bed & breakfast panama' as you would imagine but 'balboa inn panama'. That means, they already know us. The power of word of mouth.
All this means that with the current occupancy rate and the 9 rooms, you can have your investment back in less than 7 years. And as our online visibility grows, as we get listed in guide books, as the word of mouth continues to do its work and people continue look for better value when traveling, the occcupancy rate will crawl upwards. At 70% occupancy and 2 new rooms (2012) you can expect a payback time of under 6 years. Now that's return on investment!
We would also be open to the sale of the business and put the real estate in a trust with the provision that ownership will be passed to you within a given period. During that time, you'd pay only interest.
What has made the Balboa Inn successful, besides its excellent location is our dedication to customer service. We have a small but dedicated staff which allows us an enjoyable life style and leverage our experience in hospitality and customer service. Making sure we exceed our guests' expectations every day continues to be our goal.
Add our state-of-the-art online booking system that our guest simply love. Not only does it allow guests to check availability and rates instantly and book their rooms without our intervention; it also cuts down tremendously on e-mails typically associated with booking a room in a small hotel property. Instead of a typical e-mail exchange like "do you have space from day x to day y; yes we have one room left; hello, please book soon; ok, we'll take it; sorry, the room is gone but ..." you get a booking with all the guest data and a credit card to back it up!
Buying the Balboa Inn will give you four great benefits that few B&B's anywhere will give you:
- a well-established turn-key fully licenced business in a safe and beautiful neighborhood in Panama with steady net income from day one from a diverse customer base
- a great lifestyle and way to keep yourself busy with wonderful guests and little work
- no headaches related to building or converting a house (a major headache in Panama we can assure you from experience)
- a beautiful and very informative website with excellent ranking in the search engines that's easy to maintain by anybody who can work with a standard word processor.
- and last but not least the joys of living in thriving, historical & culturally interesting Panama City, with a tropical climate year-round, excellent healthcare, communications and air travel availability
With an average year-round occupancy rate since the opening date of 63% - despite the financial crisis and bird flue - we are confident that the Balboa Inn has a bright future.
To learn more about the Balboa Inn see our website. For more details, including some financials, please click the info request button below.
The Balboa Inn, make it your home in Panama and have it both ways: a great lifestyle and steady income.
Thanks for stopping by!
Saskia Swartz & Thorwald Westmaas
Cel phone: 507-6618-4414 / Skype: panamathor - thorwald @ thebalboainn dot com .
Living in Balboa is for the privileged only. Green, safe and ideally located; outside the busy city yet close to have all its advantages. The Amador Causeway is just a 10-minute walk away.
____________ Phone: (507) 6618-4414 - Skype: panamathor _____________
last update: March 31, 2011