About Scotland... our history
In the Spring of 1995 I started our web site with a simple idea: to use the internet to show Scotland to the world.
My first training at art college was in painting and photography and I then went on to do a post-graduate degree at the Royal College of Art from 1989 to 1992. There I was introduced to early developments in computers and digital imaging and Quantel Paintbox- in the days when a scanner was mounted on a huge gantry connected to Apple Macs in a room all of its own.
When the internet became the vehicle for the new World Wide Web in the early '90s there were no computer programmes for making web pages so I learned to code in HTML right from the beginning. Many thanks to Mike and Kim Forsyth of Calligrafix near Kelso for their help and encouragement.
Carrying one of the very first portable digital cameras, the Apple QuickTake (640x480 pixels) Roselle and I set out to visit , photograph and write web pages for accommodation in the Scottish Borders. We asked the Scottish Tourist Board if they would be interested in us working with them. "No", they said, "the internet is just a passing phase"
Our Home Page from 1996.
From the beginning in 1995 we called our site Scotland HolidayNet. Two years later a company based in Surrey claimed the name HolidayNet was theirs - they had registered it as a domain name - so we changed our name to AboutScotland.
So right from the start we visited, got to know the owners and photographed every accommodation we featured on our site and the site became known for its implicit personal recommendation and celebration of the good things Scotland has to offer.
Summary
Each About Scotland page contains all you want to know to make a booking:
- a comprehensive set of descriptive photographs
- descriptive text
- prices
- contact information
Because we take the photographs, write the text, etc., each page is:
- an objective review and
- an implicit recommendation.
About Scotland is not an agency, there are no commissions, and inclusion is based on annual subscription.
Each page is meant to inform honestly and enable guests to contact you personally, with confidence, and make a booking.
All pages are integrated into the context of other similarly good places to stay so that people can compare and plan their trip around Scotland.
If it's crossed your mind you might be interested in joining About Scotland here are some
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who are you and where are you based?
- Do you visit every accommodation?
- How do you judge suitable accommodations?
- What photographs will you take?
- Will you write the text or will I?
- When can you visit my property?
- Can I supply my own photographs?
- Can I use your photographs for my own website or another website?
- Can my page link to my own site?
- Will you be tempted to accept my rival bed and breakfast?
- How do people find About Scotland on the internet?
- How much does it cost?
Who are you and where are you based?
John Boyd-Brent: web design, editorial, photography, graphics.
Roselle Boyd-Brent: marketing, accounts.
We are based in Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders.
Tel 013873 75859, or preferably:
Tom Craig (of hosting company Canvas Dreams) runs and maintains our server based just outside Edinburgh.
Martin Notcutt: helps with the day to day running of the site.
Pamela MacKinnon: writes articles.
Yes, we visit every property, meet the owners, take our own photographs and write the web page ourselves.
We also have a friendly arrangement with Ecosse Unique, also based in the Scottish Borders. Mark Breed and his team visit all their rental cottages and we feature them on About Scotland. See:Ecosse Unique in About Scotland
In one or two cases at any one time someone will ask to join About Scotland and we can't find an early time to make a visit. In these exceptional cases we sometimes accept the owner's photographs and make a temporary page until we can take our own. These pages state that we haven't visited them yet.
Initially we like to correspond by email, talk on the telephone, or whatever you prefer.
We like to feature every kind of accommodation from simple croft house to town flat to Scots Baronial. The minimum criteria are: genuine hospitality, cleanliness and something that sets you apart from others.
On About Scotland there are both outstanding and unusual properties as well as more modest ones, both expensive and budget.
We are not aiming for an exhaustive database of Scottish accommodations - more a selection of the sort of places we would like to stay ourselves.
This is the question we've always asked ourselves: "If you had saved up for a trip of a lifetime and had travelled 4000 miles to visit Scotland would your stay be memorable and inspiring and would you go home with happy memories of Scottish hospitality?"
Here are some of the things we like:
|
|
|
We don't award stars or grades, and we are not critics. While we don't really mind if your curtains match your bed covers and waste paper basket, we do like eclecticism and flair. We support and encourage individuality, personality and difference.
Using natural and available light
I take sufficient photographs so your guests will be happy and confident with no surprises (other than good surprises...) when they arrive.
- At least one exterior photograph
- At least one or up to three bedrooms
- At least one or up to three bathrooms
- Dining room or dining area
- Sitting room if guests have one
- Kitchen (for rentals) or breakfast table (for B&Bs, hotels)
- One or two other optional photographs to give a sense of character and place.
Exterior photography
Showing objectively what your property looks like as well as honestly indicating its environment.
It would be fair to include the electricity pole near your house, the busy main road or adjacent agricultural building - things which would certainly be experienced by your guests.
Equally if you have an asset such as a wide open space with a wonderful view, a garden, river or woodland let's make sure everyone sees that too.
Interior photography
I'm trying to make photographs where the viewer feels physically present - aware of light, space, colour, atmosphere - physically in the room.
Bedrooms
This is how I like to take a photograph.
I prefer not to take a photograph like this.
Bathrooms
Because it's not always physically possible to photograph a small bathroom sometimes I take a detail just to give your prospective guest an impression of what their bathroom experience will be like.
Currently I mostly use a Kodak Pro DCS SLR (24 x 36 full frame 14mp CMOS image sensor) with Nikon lenses.
Dining
A laid table is always best.
Sitting room
If you have a fireplace a fire looks good, but can look silly on a sunny summer's day.Kitchen or breakfast
A well laid table with all the things you would normally give your guests is very important for Bed and Breakfasts.
We talk, I look, I consult with you and I write the text. I try to bring out the best and most important features in the most concise way I can. I tend to avoid words such as spacious, comfortable, luxurious, extensive, elegantly furnished, impressive, superb, etc.
When I have made the page I will tell you as soon as it's on-line, and you can check it for accuracy and suggest any changes. In the end it will be in my words as it is an About Scotland "review" of your accommodation.
Spring, Summer and Autumn are obviously the best times to visit and take photographs. I photograph using natural or available light (no flash or lighting equipment) so I depend on bright weather.
Sometimes it is possible to take good photographs in the winter, depending on the surroundings of your property. Bare winter trees don't usually work well in a year-round web page, though city properties, e.g. in Edinburgh, often look good in winter in bright sun.
We try to plan ahead, aiming for good weather coinciding with a time that is convenient for you and us, and usually (but not always) when your property has no guests.
We tend to be booked up a long time in advance so please excuse us if we can't visit you quickly. However, sometimes we have a cancelled appointment in which case we may be able to visit at short notice.
It is important to have our own photographs for consistency and a sense of objectivity. There are exceptions:
- Rarely we may come to an arrangement where you supply photographs until we can arrange a visit
- When I arrive having driven many miles we find the weather is too bad for an exterior photograph. In this case you could supply your own taken in better weather.
- After you have been with About Scotland you redecorate or change your rooms so that my photographs become misleading. I may not be able to re-visit and so your own photographs may be suitable.
We only accept photographs that have a minimum standard of quality: Balance, composition, lighting (no camera-attached flash), good range of tone and subtlety, colour balance and space.
Copyright.
In line with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988, our photographs, our text, maps, and other graphics and all the design and coding remain copyright to John Boyd-Brent. License for use of photographs in print media may be granted when higher resolution versions on CD are purchased from us. To continue the individuality and uniqueness of About Scotland we have a strict policy of not licensing photographs, maps and graphics to be used elsewhere on the internet.
On the occasions where other photographs are used we will need you to have gained copyright permission for their use on the AboutScotland.com site. The photographer will be credited.
About Scotland pages do not link to any other web-site you may have. This is because your page is a concise and comprehensive expression intended to summarise and distil the essential characteristics of your accommodation, as well as location, tariff and special details. Its purpose is to attract a viewer to want to get in touch with you directly to enquire about availability and make a booking.
You may have your own web-site with updated availability information in which case you can easily refer them to it when they enquire.
In fact, in practise people tend to find a page they like, then Google it to see what other angles they can get on it before making up their minds to enquire.
Your page is in good company
Each About Scotland page is made to stand-alone individually, but, importantly, is integrated into the context of the whole About Scotland site, a context which may include other perhaps similar businesses and accommodations. This is because we believe in the importance of choice and comparison for the viewer looking for accommodation.
We would certainly consult you first. Generally we aim for a geographical spread, but in some locations close-together accommodation can be adantage for everyone. In the end we believe co-operation and friendship leads to better things for all.
Through search engines and recommendations from other sites around the world, or introduced by friends.
Yes, we are aware of Search Engine Optimisation. Sometimes our site drifts down a bit, sometimes it comes right at the top of the search result, all in the unfathomably mysterious Google cycle.
Annual fee
Your entry in About Scotland is based on an annual fee. We are not an agency and we take no commission; all bookings and transactions are between you and your guests.
The annual fee ranges between £180 and £600 depending where you are and how big your business is. Small bed and breakfasts and self-catering cottages tend to be around £200, larger acommodations and hotels nearer £600. Prices for Edinburgh accommodations are more expensive at around £300 to £400.
One-off intitial set-up fee
In order to help with our costs in the first year there is an initial set-up fee of between £60 and £150.
The annual fee together with the initial set-up fee also includes
- travelling to visit you
- the photography
- the processing of the photographs (which takes an amazingly long time!)
- a location map
- any other graphics
- all the design and coding involved in making your page
- annual tariff updates
We've had many anecdotes from people who remark that perhaps because of About Scotland's attention to detail, clarity, care and honest appraisal, guests are more confident to book, and feel happier, more at home and appreciative!
What it includes, and what it doesn't include
The annual fee includes the updating of your (simple) tariff information and making other very small changes to the text which over time may become necessary.
It covers a whole year and is renewable on an annual basis from the date of the first invoice which we send to you when you are happy with your page.
The fee does not include revisions or new photographs. If these become necessary we charge based on a fee of £50 an hour plus any travelling expences (both based on NUJ Freeland Fees Guide recommended fee scales. We give quotations on request.
The fee does not include adding and removing notices about your availability (e.g. Hogmanay 2020 is fully booked!).
About Scotland is VAT registered. These fees do not include VAT which is charged at the current rate.
In the rare event we get complaints from guests, or for any other reason, we maintain the right to remove any advertisement from our site at our absolute discretion and would in such an event refund on a pro-rata basis any fees paid to us in that year.
© Copyright
All copy, text content, design, images, graphics and photographs on this site are copyright and the property of About Scotland unless specifically annotated otherwise. No part of this site may be copied and/or reproduced without written permission from About Scotland.
Standard Disclaimer:
"While all the information given by About Scotland is given in good faith, About Scotland cannot be held liable in any way for any consequences arising from it. About Scotland is an advertising service and is not an agent. All reservations, agreements, and contracts are made solely between accommodation owners or those who advertise on this site, and/or their agents, and the client/guest. About Scotland cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from such reservations, agreements or contracts."
