FAQ Feedback needed

We are having a new website created. I'm creating most of the copy while the web designer is handling the rest.
I want to include an FAQ page and have cut my list of potential questions down to 13. It could still be shorter, so I'm asking for your feedback. These are not in any particular order
• Why choose a Bed & Breakfast over a regular hotel?
• Can more than 2 people stay in a room?
• Do you accept children?
• Do you offer early check-in? (I want to talk owner into charging for early check-in)
• What is a “Suite”? (we have optional add-on rooms to convert a room to a 2-room suite. I can be confusing)
• Is there internet access?
• Is there a minimum night’s stay required?
• I have dietary restrictions. Can you accommodate me?
• Will we have to share a bathroom with other guests?
• Can we use the kitchen to prepare meals?
• Can we purchase gift certificates?
• Are you handicapped accessible?
• My spouse is unable to climb stairs. Will this be a problem? (You have to climb stairs to get into the house, so it's important that guests are aware of this)
Thanks!!!!

OK, you have some I don't have, so I'll borrow!
Here are some I have that you don't mention. Some may be of use to you, others maybe not.

• Is there a minimum age to make a reservation? (I require that at least one person in the party be age 24 or over)
• Can we bring our pets with us?
• Can we smoke?
• What’s there to do in your area? (Links to my things to do in the area page)
• How do we find you? (links to my location page)
• What is your cancellation or no-show policy?
• How close can we fly to your location, and what about a rental car?
• What do we need to bring with us? (Not everybody knows we furnish the towels and sheets!)
• What can I expect the weather to be like when we’re there? (displays an accuweather.com 5 day area forecast in a frame)
• Is an advance deposit required before we arrive?
• What is your checkout procedure?
• In case of a medical emergency, where would we go?
• Ask a question not covered here. (links to my contact us page)

one's I have that you don't
what are the parking arrangements?
How far are you from? - then a short list of the BIG attractions
Do you take credit and debit cards?

So you want fewer questions and we're all tacking on more!
What are the top 5 questions you answer via email or phone everyday? Put those in. What are the top 5 peeves you deal with because no one 'knew that before they arrived'? Put those in.
Even tho I answer the top 6-7 on my homepage, at the top of the page, in prime real estate, in a bulleted list, no Q&A format, I am still answering the same questions everyday. I had a FAQ page and it got fewer hits than the policy page which is right down there at the bottom of the list! And we still have guests who exclaim, 'I didn't know...'.
'We get breakfast? I didn't know that!'

Why keep the FAQ list short? If it answers one question for one person so I don't have to deal with it personally, that's a win for me and for the potential guest.

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc.

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.
.

Click to expand...

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.

Madeleine said:

So you want fewer questions and we're all tacking on more!
What are the top 5 questions you answer via email or phone everyday? Put those in. What are the top 5 peeves you deal with because no one 'knew that before they arrived'? Put those in.
Even tho I answer the top 6-7 on my homepage, at the top of the page, in prime real estate, in a bulleted list, no Q&A format, I am still answering the same questions everyday. I had a FAQ page and it got fewer hits than the policy page which is right down there at the bottom of the list! And we still have guests who exclaim, 'I didn't know...'.
'We get breakfast? I didn't know that!'.

Click to expand...

I agree. Even if the information is in all caps in their face, some people will still ask. I think picking out the top 5 is a GREAT idea.

white pine said:

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.
.

Click to expand...

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.
.

Click to expand...

white pine said:

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.

Click to expand...

I still don't get it. If it takes pages and pages to list the questions, wouldn't it also take pages and pages to also list just the answers?
The "well organized" you mention is the best answer, but not sure how you do that when every topic is pretty much its own subject.
Look at the list of questions the original poster presented. Would putting them in a different order help you find your answer faster?
If the questions were replaced with the anwers, which as I said would often be much longer than the questions, how would it take any less time to wade through it all?

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.
.

Click to expand...

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.
.

Click to expand...

white pine said:

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.

Click to expand...

I still don't get it. If it takes pages and pages to list the questions, wouldn't it also take pages and pages to also list just the answers?
The "well organized" you mention is the best answer, but not sure how you do that when every topic is pretty much its own subject.
Look at the list of questions the original poster presented. Would putting them in a different order help you find your answer faster?
If the questions were replaced with the anwers, which as I said would often be much longer than the questions, how would it take any less time to wade through it all?
.

Click to expand...

I have had about a dozen calls and emails recently "It says two night minimum but we only want to stay one night" when they go to reserve online (and it tells them they need to stay one more night)
You all know I have very few TWO NIGHT MIN weekends here...

Arkansawyer said:

Why keep the FAQ list short? If it answers one question for one person so I don't have to deal with it personally, that's a win for me and for the potential guest..

Click to expand...

Arkansawyer said:

Why keep the FAQ list short? If it answers one question for one person so I don't have to deal with it personally, that's a win for me and for the potential guest.

Click to expand...

Yes, if it is a separate page. If it is just tacked onto another page, keep it short. I totally agree with having as much info as possible. But I am wordy and I know big blocks of text just do not work in this 140 char Twitterverse.
I would have it be just the question and then a 'click' for the answer. That makes the text block look shorter.

a big one
DISCOUNTS

Joey Bloggs said:

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.
.

Click to expand...

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.
.

Click to expand...

white pine said:

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.

Click to expand...

I still don't get it. If it takes pages and pages to list the questions, wouldn't it also take pages and pages to also list just the answers?
The "well organized" you mention is the best answer, but not sure how you do that when every topic is pretty much its own subject.
Look at the list of questions the original poster presented. Would putting them in a different order help you find your answer faster?
If the questions were replaced with the anwers, which as I said would often be much longer than the questions, how would it take any less time to wade through it all?
.

Click to expand...

I have had about a dozen calls and emails recently "It says two night minimum but we only want to stay one night" when they go to reserve online (and it tells them they need to stay one more night)
You all know I have very few TWO NIGHT MIN weekends here...
.

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

I have had about a dozen calls and emails recently "It says two night minimum but we only want to stay one night" when they go to reserve online (and it tells them they need to stay one more night)
You all know I have very few TWO NIGHT MIN weekends here...

Click to expand...

Totally amazed that they just don't move on to the next place. I know we get those calls as well and I refer them to places without the min. Which confuses them even more because we're all the same place, right? Why don't those other places have a min? Because I don't want to work so hard. Because I don't want to rent all Sat nights on a 3 day hol just to have people call and want 3 nights and I don't have it any longer!

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Arkansawyer said:

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.
Breakfast
* Breakfast is served in the dining room between 6 and 10 am
* We can arrange for special dietary restrictions if give 24 hours notice
Handicap Access
*We do not have an elevator for rooms on the second floor
*A wheelchair ramp is available at the west side of the building
etc..

Click to expand...

white pine said:

Why not just a bullet list of facts? Why make them read the question? Why not answers to faq? People hate to read. You could break them out under headers.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion: I'm much rather scan a list of single sentence questions and click the one I'm interested in to get the answer I'm looking for, like all FAQs on the Internet.
No way would I want to wade through a bullet list of all the facts, which of necessity often must be longer than the questions, sometimes a paragraph or more, to find the facts I'm looking for.
.

Click to expand...

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.
.

Click to expand...

white pine said:

I spent the better part of yesterday searching for the answer for a couple of problems I was having. I went through pages and pages of faqs, none organized. Search terms just pulled up all. HATED to waste my time. Just give me the facts, well organized. Doesn't matter, THOSE guests will ask anyway.

Click to expand...

I still don't get it. If it takes pages and pages to list the questions, wouldn't it also take pages and pages to also list just the answers?
The "well organized" you mention is the best answer, but not sure how you do that when every topic is pretty much its own subject.
Look at the list of questions the original poster presented. Would putting them in a different order help you find your answer faster?
If the questions were replaced with the anwers, which as I said would often be much longer than the questions, how would it take any less time to wade through it all?
.

Click to expand...

You might read them, but just feel If people didn't read the information on the webpage in the first place, they aren't going to read a long list of faqs.
They will CALL.
I like Maddy's post--- the top 5 ideas.

Pets was the first thing I saw that was not there.

and of course, to all the bullet point, but a positive swing on them. "WE LOVE PETS< but unfortunately...blah blah blah..."

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback. I've been completely distracted with taxes (UUGHH!) and our networking event (update coming soon) and just let you all have at it for awhile on this topic.
I do want to have the FAQ, not just a bulleted list of information. I don't know if it will be a clickable link to bring up the answer or if it will all be visible on the screen. I'll have to get with the web guy.
Here's my final list in final order. I added a few you suggested and removed some that were already explained in our Policies. I know most won't bother reading, but I'd rather it was all there to reduce the questions for those smart enough to do the research.

• Why choose a Bed & Breakfast over a regular hotel?
• What is a “Suite”?
• Can more than 2 people stay in a room?
• Will we have to share a bathroom with other guests?
• Is there internet access?
• What do we need to bring with us?
• What are the parking arrangements?
• Is there a minimum night’s stay required?
• Do you offer early check-in?
• Are you handicapped accessible?
• My spouse is unable to climb stairs. Will this be a problem?
• Can we use the kitchen to prepare meals?
• Can you accommodate my diet restrictions?
• Can we purchase gift certificates?

I know that you have all the answers from everyone here. (I did not read them) My first thought when I saw some of your points was that most of your FAQ's could be answered in the room descriptions. I did that on my website, and it works pretty well.
So for instance, "can more than 2 guests sleep in this room?"
answer:
"Cottage #1 — Sleeps one couple
Knotty pine walls and a light nautical theme enhance the charm
of this fully carpeted cottage featuring one comfortable
full-sized bed and a private bath with shower."
3 questions answer in one swoop.
I am one for being upfront. Hopefully it conveys that we are not mincing words, you know all there is to know - take it or leave it.
etc., etc., etc

IrisoftheWayfarer said:

I know that you have all the answers from everyone here. (I did not read them) My first thought when I saw some of your points was that most of your FAQ's could be answered in the room descriptions. I did that on my website, and it works pretty well.
So for instance, "can more than 2 guests sleep in this room?"
answer:
"Cottage #1 — Sleeps one couple
Knotty pine walls and a light nautical theme enhance the charm
of this fully carpeted cottage featuring one comfortable
full-sized bed and a private bath with shower."
3 questions answer in one swoop.
I am one for being upfront. Hopefully it conveys that we are not mincing words, you know all there is to know - take it or leave it.
etc., etc., etc.

Click to expand...

The reason we wanted to include that question, is that we have a weird set-up and can convert several of our rooms into two-room suites. So, this would allow more than 2 people in a room, but only certain rooms apply and there are extra charges and restrictions. Yes, we will include the suite conversion in the dialog on that room's page, but we thought one good entry about this would help someone narrow down what rooms they should consider.