B&B owners who starred on the daytime reality TV show Four in a Bed have shared their plans to expand their business to bring something new to the area.

Laurain Wallace has applied to convert a redundant barn into a tearoom and café for her guests at Stable Oak Cottages, in Harrietsham, near Maidstone.

According to the cover letter submitted to Maidstone council, the 63-year-old wants to support the growth of her “well-established rural business”.

Speaking to KentOnline, she said: “The issue we have now is so many people are running holiday lets and the competition is very strong in this area.

“For us, it is very important to try and keep ahead of the game, give people value for money and give them a great experience.

“I think we need to always look at being slightly different from other holiday cottages so the tearoom will give us a little extra something for people that want to stay.

“We have a lot of returning guests so we would like to expand on that and have more people returning. It is easier for us when people know what to expect.

“I think the tea room is going to be a massive success. I have wanted to do it for such a long time but we have always been so busy doing everything else.”

The proposals submitted to the council said the tearoom, which would have a small food preparation and seating area, would only be open to guests of the cottages in Holm Mill Lane.

However, Laurain said if it proved popular she would look to request further permission to open it up to the wider village.

She added: “We do not have anything like this in this area.

“The Co-op has a coffee machine and you can sit outside but if you want to catch up with friends you do not always want to sit outside of the Co-op, you want to go somewhere nicer.

“I think this would offer that, paired with the wonderful views of the North Downs, the animals and the fresh air.”

Laurain, who is originally from London, has owned the holiday lets with her partner Mick Smith since 2013 and said the countryside business has gone from strength to strength.

The pair met while working on a building site in Canary Wharf eight years before when she was working as a painter and decorator and he was a carpenter.

She was looking to move to Spain but decided to stay in the country and move in with Mick in his childhood home when the land behind the property went up for sale.

Mick had always wanted to buy it so the couple did intending to build their own house to live in when his mother became ill and they stayed to help care for her.

As the land was empty, Laurain thought about starting up a business so the pair built three holiday lets and launched Stable Oak Cottages.

She added: “We were so surprised but it has gone from strength to strength.

“I think a lot of people think running a holiday let is easy as people just come and go but it is not. It can be really difficult.

“I pride our business on locally sourced produce and we are trying to do our best for the environment and local businesses.

“We have got a lot of artisan bakers and suppliers near us so we feel that we should utilise them and use them as much as possible.”

Laurain, who has previously run pubs, said she provides guests with a hamper filled with local produce such as soaps and breads and hopes to continue stocking the tea room in the same way.

In 2021, Stable Oak Cottages was featured on Channel 4’s reality TV show Four in a Bed with Laurain and her daughter Kerry travelling across the country for the show.

She said: “I used to watch it a lot of the time and just thought I would apply, then Covid hit. I was approached and kept saying I did not have time.

“But then I thought let’s do it. My daughter and I had a right laugh.”

Stable Oak Cottages came third and Laurain said it taught her a lot and inspired her to install hot tubs after seeing it at another B&B she visited.

Four in a Bed Four films B&B owners compete to prove their establishments have value for money by visiting one another and deciding how much they would charge.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

A decision on Stable Oak Cottage’s tearoom expansion is expected by Monday, March 10.