sebastiano's activity

This is considerably cheaper than purchasing the expensive cylinders (which, of course, run out at dinner time etc.Therefore can guarantee the hot water/ cooking gas at all times.we use this system although for heating we have "moved on" to using wood for our heating.As this place is very large even at E.0,61 X LITRE it's too expensive to heat with.but it makes sense for cooking/heating water.

hi penny,i don't use them..yet but have been thinking about it. traditionally they are a well organized serious company ..they extract gas and petrol all over the world..so i guess this is a natural progression for them into distribution it could prove to simplify things having a single supplier.We already know about ENEL.....and the miriad of gas companies..it might be worth going for this option

due to the fact that some of the italian" categories" are rather obscure and unfamiliar to foreigners many places like "affittacamere/country house/agriturismi/ostelli/rifugi etc" also advertise them selves under the category of B&B on internet sites in order not to "lose" the potential trade of those simply seeking a lodging with breakfast ...so as Penny rightly says probably most of these would be actually registered under other categories of places.

yes,you are all right the regulations differ from region to region,in fact i took those relative to Lazio because that's where he'd like to do this initiative. The fact is,and i presume similar to most european countries the rules concerning the purchase-preparation-cooking-storing of foodstuffs are quite stictly controlled just to give you an idea( although we are not a b&b) we had to have a full industrial kitchen,no heating allowed in the kitchen,open vent on floor level for gas escape emergencies,nearby fire extinguisher,H.A.C.C.P hygeine regime (it's the same as in all restaurants/hospitals here ( it's the law present also i believe in Britain concerning Health/hygeine/crtical points and angles)health inspection every 12 months ca.we have a chill blaster which allows us to freeze food down to -21°c then store it providing we label and date the foodstuffs involved,a walk in cold room,4 seperate freezers for different kinds of foods,our own preserves and processed foods are subjected to micro biological analysis every 6 months and certified (by a private lab) and samples are also taken by the health authorities.Obbligation ,as a business, VAT number and all fiscal obligations ,personel on national contracts with national health and accident insurance,premesis with third party insurance in case of accidents /injuries to staff/guests etc.fire brigade inspections anti fire regulations in place...it's all quite a lot of fuffing actuallyHowever one can imagine that businesses like ours (which is actually quite a small business could hardly accept ( given the extensive legislation in place to which we are obliged )that someone else comes along thinking they can just open up their house/building to guests serve foods (BTW B&B'S in the uk can also no longer serve for example home made jams/preserves as they do not possess the health requisites unless they have extended particular licences to do so)The point is that our friend here wants to open a fully licenced business here and to my mind would be better off searching for expert advice on the kind of business category which would be most appropriate for his needs/expectations ...there are other categories of "extra alberghiere" structures which would allow him to operate the kind of activity he is contemplating like perhaps "country house" for which there are other parameters (more similar to our own)i would also suggest that he visit some of the numerous wedding venues in Lazio to get an idea of what one is looking at ,see their facilities,find out under which category they are operating (i'm sure some would be more than happy to give some impartial advice providing they're not "round the corner" from where he wants to do this...

this is quite a long answer to yr.question but hopefully will put things into perpestive for you.firstly b&b as a concept is a relatively "new" appearance in what are called "strutture extra alberghiere"in italy.that is places which are NOT defineable as hotels but provide accomodation (like hostels,refuges,holiday appartments and houses,agriturismi ,affittacamere etc) each category has very specific requirements and or limitations.B&B was in fact started in Lazio to respond to the huge lodging demand during the vatican jubilee event a few years ago.Lazio was the first region to write down a specific regional law for this since used as a matrix for the other regions as this activity is governed by regional legislation.(see- legge regionale n°16 of the 24/10/08 -BUR 7 N° 41,5/30 of 11/2008 -Lazio Region) in simple language it says that the owner must be domiciled on the premesis,that there can be a maximum of only 3 bedrooms for guests min space for double room 14sq.mts min for single room 8 sq. mt.Only industrial foodstuffs with appropriate expiry dates etc can be served to guests as a normal household b&b does not have the sanitary requirements to cook/serve/store un prepared food.The house must have it's certificate of habitabilty,and all the heating /gas electrical systems certified to norm.This activity is NOT considered as a business ( no VAT number required) and has to be inactive (closed) for a minimum of 60 days per annum.Despite not being a business all incomes derived have to be declared in the "modello unico" tax declaration,and a simplified receipt matrix todemonstrate income kept by the owner.IF a  stay exceeds the the sum of Euro 77,74 a government stamp of the value of Euro 1,81 must be put on the receipts.However you mentioned this place as a wedding venue this would put you right off the screen of the possibilities of a b&b.Firstly consider that a wedding venue would have to be able to accomodate at dining tables at least up to 500 people(the size of a pretty large wedding here,i went to a wedding the other month there were 350 guests and two other weddings going on at the same time!!),would require full industrial kitchens, requisites for the providing of food and beverages ( b&b's cannot serve meals or alcoholic drinks ,wines and spirits)in fact what you want to do is actually make a hotel!!! or are there things you didn't add to your question

As a witness of our daily "dose" of possible measures to implement in the economic manouvre,this latest one risks being only propoganda.In theory under actual legislation the penal code enters in fiscal matters at (already) at Euro 30.000 but rarely applied and would anyway block up the already full lists of judicial activity etc.The pubblication of personal incomes of everyone is great but i fear would not actually have much effect or produce particular results this was proposed about 10 years ago and subsequently blocked by the guarantor of privacy(!!??).As always and in particular with this government they are unable and or unwilling to adopt any serious efficient legislation which could be effective over time but reduce their own popularity or electoral consencesus...Maybe the only effective way to combat widespread vat and other fiscal evasion would be to adopt some kind of american system giving everyone the possibility to deduct something from their taxes provided that it is documented with regular invoices/receipts etc and to lower to very low levels eg. 500 euro> the traceability of transactions..then maybe we'd see a very different picture (but as they say hope is the last to die)

Yes,i've actually been in four of these in different places.None of them were crystal clear and the final result of the water is actually quite unpleasant, as the other replies state, because chemicals are anyway required...as near as you get to a soup! IF the problem is that you don't like chlorine then you can always use the more expensive (quite a lot btw) bromide based chemicals.Lots of people including many pool owners seem to be unaware that all these products are not used "for fun" but without proper treatments a pool can be extremely dangerous( to the point that i no longer go in people's private pools)and nasty infections can be picked up ,i actually got a serious ear infection from a pool.Anyway the bottom line would be just get a normal pool installed ,then follow EXPERT advice on water treatments,then you're looking at 20.000-30.000 plus of course paving lighting and whatever else......................

taking into account all the variables because things can be different from region to region.One could be a non italian national and have access to a grant PROVIDING that you were a permanent resident ,tax paying/social security paying in Italy.Eventual grants are always discretionary on the part of the regional government,excluding agriturismo which is directly linked to farming status, there are grants for B & b's and what are called country houses.Most regions have this info on their institutional web sites,the Marche does it may even have the info in english assome parts of their web site have a language mode.The fact of having to be a permanent tax paying resident is not a racial pregiudice but in any eventuality of non conformity of the numerous laws involved allows the public authorities to get you or get their money back which would be objectively difficult in the case of foreign owners not permanently residing and tax paying in the country.The fact is in Italy ALL businesses/enterprizes are considered as such and consequently VAT is ALWAYS payable there is no VAT free business level in Italy as there is for example in the UK.in order to have a business in Italy you have to obviously be a permanent resident and classified for VAT in order to get access to the available EU and or Italian grants for such activities.I have the impression that some estate agents deliberately mislead their clients /buyers into thinking that they can easily accede to such grants in order to achieve their house sales.A lot of people take residency when buying a property in order to lower their tax rate on the purchase even though they are not actually living here full time this is not sufficient to gain access to grants and the authorities are, all be it slowly "waking up" to this phenomenum, which in the long term for some could have quite heavy consequences.If on the other hand you are living here full time/working and paying taxes then it shouldn't prove too difficult to be eligible for financial aid.  

Unless your flights are all booked up i might advise that you get here a bit earlier than foreseen in order to "get the stuff in x christmas" because as penny says a lot of places including restaurants are actually closed at christmas....unless something unusual happens there isn't generally any snow around christmas or not enough for skiing.

now = 1-2 years, shortly 2-5 years, near future 5-10 years......!!??