Add-ons

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

KatesCottage161

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2013
Messages
57
Reaction score
0
I am building my website and my reservation service wants me to think up some add-ons to offer to boost my room rates. The only ones I've come up with so far is the standard Romantic Weekend Package with the usual roses, champagne, strawberries, etc.(yawn) and a stocked wine picnic backpack for hikers and bicyclists. Would anyone care to toss some fresh ideas my way? I can't think of anything more I can offer besides my whole house and breakfast! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Kate
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.)
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
 
Hi Kate!
This is a difficult question, as we don't know who you are and what your place is about.
What are you near to offer a package? Ex: are you near hiking and outdoor recreation stuff?
 
I have done turn-by-turn routings to things in my area (I drew a 60 mile circle) which I put into the computer to print as needed. The routing and a packed lunch made a package. I used to include a dinner before my knees told me I was an idiot. The routing is worth something as part of the package - yes, they could do it with a map but you have saved them the trouble.
I started in 1996 as 3 with shared. Trust me on this, if you can figure out ANY way to do another bathroom it will pay for itself in bookings. In 2006 I added another bathroom and that room is the most book (who would have thought?) and I raised the prices of all the rooms. Then when I figured out how to put a queen bed in one of the 2 rooms that still share, the prices went up again. It is not often I get a quible about the prices.
 
We have offered:
ski packages (both downhill and cross-country)
Live theatre packages with or without a gift certificate for dinner
Botanical garden tickets
Brew tour passes
Winery passes
A picnic in a backpack complete with wine/cheese/sandwiches, etc.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Basically, to heck with 'the guy'. Unless he knows your area he knows diddly about what sells. It's not what he thinks, it's what you want to DO.
Get a package with the shops (GC or whatever) add in a lunch. Tack on a % for yourself. You can do a Babymoon. It's essentially whatever you want to put in it. (I used to offer a year long subscription to a parenting magazine, plus a GC for dinner and another one for shopping and a toy for the baby. Put them together as they were booked.)
You can add cheese trays.
'Upselling the inn' is anything you want it to be. The add ons, whether the guest even books them or not, are searchable terms you can use for SEO.
Make the add ons whatever you have the time to do.
I just got an email from a place I stayed with a 'breakfast gift'. Essentially it was a lb of their coffee and a lb of their granola in a cute tote bag. $30. It cost them probably $15.
Everything I listed is something I offer for a fee. You just never know what someone might like!
Come up with a list of things to do in your area and then get together with the owners and make a pkg out of what they offer. Always add on a % for yourself.
If there is nothing to do in your area, why would anyone come there? What do you have 'for sale' there? If guests are only coming to stay with you and do nothing else then you need to know WHO is coming. Age group, type of guest (old, young, money, no money, outdoorsy, indoorsy, etc)
You need to know who is coming to put pkgs together. Altho, as I said, someone may never book the pkg but might just book the room if they found thru pkg thru SEO on your website.
Didn't mean to pick on 'the guy' but unless he has ideas he's willing to share with you then you do whatever you want!
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
 
Thank you everybody! Most appreciated. There are a variety of things to do here even though we are not a big city. I will start contacting the local businesses to see what they are willing to offer. I think I can create some exciting packages from the tips you have provided. Thanks again.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I haven't opened yet. Projected opening date is in April. I wish I could have private baths, but I cannot rebuild this house! There just isn't any place to add another bath. There is a local massage therapist only a block away. I'll check into that. Good idea. Thanks.
 
There was guy a few blocks east of me years ago who was to be a B&B but never opened or went underground ? Anyway I saw his rooms and they were smaller than mine but he took the closets & put a small shower + toilet there w/ the sink in the room. All 4 upstair bedrooms were the same. I guess anything is doable .
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I haven't opened yet. Projected opening date is in April. I wish I could have private baths, but I cannot rebuild this house! There just isn't any place to add another bath. There is a local massage therapist only a block away. I'll check into that. Good idea. Thanks.
.
Take a good hard look around...there usually is a way to cram a small bath somewhere. You will be the last place to book with shared bathrooms. I have to tell you. If I were looking in your town and saw shared...I don't care what you had to entice me...you would not get my business. And lots of people feel the same way. Sorry to be a downer, but that is the way it is today.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I haven't opened yet. Projected opening date is in April. I wish I could have private baths, but I cannot rebuild this house! There just isn't any place to add another bath. There is a local massage therapist only a block away. I'll check into that. Good idea. Thanks.
.
KatesCottage161 said:
I haven't opened yet. Projected opening date is in April. I wish I could have private baths, but I cannot rebuild this house! There just isn't any place to add another bath. There is a local massage therapist only a block away. I'll check into that. Good idea. Thanks.
Are you in the USA?
People won't go for shared baths unless it is a hostel. Regardless of what anyone has told you, trust us. Even a PRIVATE HALL BATH is difficult to rent. Guests want the bathroom IN their room. You will have to charge low rates to have anyone take a shared bath.
Unless you are in an area that is overflowing with business/tourism then you will have a huge problem on your hands.
BTW this is what we say, and WE ALL REBUILD the houses. That is part of innkeeping, you won't find any home B&B ready. You have to spend money to make money, as the saying goes.
In other news, being part of the bigger picture, we are trying to get away from the stigma that we are "just renting out a spare bedroom" as a bed and breakfast in the USA is a professional business. Whereas in other countries a shared bath may be common, and it may indeed be Susie's bedroom you are renting out now that she is away to college, or whatever.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I have shared bath and do well with them. It's all in the pricing and marketing.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I have shared bath and do well with them. It's all in the pricing and marketing.
.
Sugar Bear said:
I have shared bath and do well with them. It's all in the pricing and marketing.
You are not in the U.S. You are in a metro area. You are in a wonderful fun metro area. You do not apply.
I knew you would say that Sugar B. Now the waters will be muddied.
If this new B&B is in a major city like Vancouver or Montreal or Paris or Rome, etc then that changes everything.
 
Since you have a shared bath, one of your packages could be the option to be the only room. Charge more, they get their private bath and everybody's happy.
 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I haven't opened yet. Projected opening date is in April. I wish I could have private baths, but I cannot rebuild this house! There just isn't any place to add another bath. There is a local massage therapist only a block away. I'll check into that. Good idea. Thanks.
.
Take a good hard look around...there usually is a way to cram a small bath somewhere. You will be the last place to book with shared bathrooms. I have to tell you. If I were looking in your town and saw shared...I don't care what you had to entice me...you would not get my business. And lots of people feel the same way. Sorry to be a downer, but that is the way it is today.
.
EmptyNest said:
...there usually is a way to cram a small bath somewhere.
I stayed at an award-winning B&B in a circa 1820 house in England and below is how they added a bathroom into my room. They took just 3.3 feet from one end of a room that was 15 feet wide. It wasn't nearly as cramped as it looks in the scale drawing below. It was quite functional with toilet, small lavatory, and shower, and MUCH preferred over having to get dressed and go down the hall to a bathroom, and much much preferred to sharing with strangers. They also managed to get plenty of shelves and storage in there. It CAN be done!
england_bath.jpg

 
Since you have a shared bath, one of your packages could be the option to be the only room. Charge more, they get their private bath and everybody's happy..
Cute! I had considered that if I only have one room rented, then they have a private bath.
regular_smile.gif

I do have a jacuzzi spa in the back yard, off the deck, which I was hoping would kind of compensate for the lack of a second bath. I didn't realize that private baths were that important to travelers. Shared baths have never presented much of a problem to me when traveling. I am examining my space to see if I could fit another bath upstairs. Don't know what the cost would be and I may try working with just the one bath for a while and see how that does.
 
There was guy a few blocks east of me years ago who was to be a B&B but never opened or went underground ? Anyway I saw his rooms and they were smaller than mine but he took the closets & put a small shower + toilet there w/ the sink in the room. All 4 upstair bedrooms were the same. I guess anything is doable ..
My house is 180 years old. The closets are only one foot deep. Don't think that will do as a bathroom.
regular_smile.gif

 
Who is your target market?
Extras to offer:
  • Tickets to museums (no worries about them being 'sold out')
  • Boat excursions
  • Babymoon
  • Shopping with dinner and a movie
  • Tea for Two
  • Welcome basket of local products
  • Skiing
  • Massage
  • Wine & cheese tray
I don't like doing the romance pkgs with flowers, etc as I end up spending the whole amount of the pkg on the damn flowers and the rest of it is basically on us. Flowers are prohibitively expensive here. (Unless I drive 40 miles to Whole Foods.).
Thanks, Madeline. I was actually looking for suggestions of things I can offer for a fee in addition to the room rate. I have only two guest rooms with a shared bath. There is only so much I can offer. We are a small village full of antique and boutique shops with some things to do within driving distance from here, but I think the res fellow was thinking more along the lines of package deals to upsell the inn, and add on things like chocolate covered strawberries for a price, etc. I'm coming up blank.
.
Oh..shared baths...didn't anyone tell you....no one wants shared bathrooms these days. Are you getting any guests? I recommend any way you can do private baths....DO THEM!
Do you have a local massage therapist who will come out to do massages or offer couples massages at their location.???
.
I have shared bath and do well with them. It's all in the pricing and marketing.
.
Sugar Bear said:
I have shared bath and do well with them. It's all in the pricing and marketing.
You are not in the U.S. You are in a metro area. You are in a wonderful fun metro area. You do not apply.
I knew you would say that Sugar B. Now the waters will be muddied.
If this new B&B is in a major city like Vancouver or Montreal or Paris or Rome, etc then that changes everything.
.
Also, sometimes people are forgiving when it may be their only chance to ever visit a special property, century old homes, etc. :)
 
Back
Top