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Arks

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I hate last minute bookings.I won't even take same-day bookings. I need time to get ready!
So I'm distressed by this e-mail I just got from Booking dot com that includes this quote...
50% of our mobile reservations are made within two days of a customer's stay, and 15% of those bookings are made nearby the property.
 
We do not take same-day bookings either but then we don't use a reservation service which would make a difference to me, I'm sure. I have my day already planned, just as the same-day wanna-be guest should! That's why we don't have a sign on the property announcing we are a b&b. We have a sign for the fence by the road but only hang it for booked parties, as we'll do for weddings someday (first one is booked in August).
Another reason we don't display our sign is that I don't want looky-loos wanting a tour of the house. Plus I have had people who aren't guests just walk into my home without knocking. And they have to go through gates to do that. Our guest suites have private outside entries so they aren't looking for their friends. I guess they think of us as a business not a residence plus business. Surprise is on them since I have three dogs who don't leave my side. Door closes pretty fast.
 
We do take walk ins and same days but we are a different type of place. It's a tourist destination and we often get day trippers who decide they might want to stay another day.
If we don't want walk ins for any reason (planned day, as a great example), we put out the no vacancy sign and lock the door.
 
In my location, last minute, as in 7 pm walk ins, are not unusual. We always prep for more rooms than we have booked when Gomez does his daily shopping.
If we don't want anyone that day we take the rooms offline and hang out the no vacancy sign.
I don't want last minute online bookings, tho, so I have booking set to not take those. We've only had one mobile online reservation that we didn't see until the person was at the door.
That's awkward.
But, l'm in a tourist destination so things are different here than elsewhere.
 
We get last minute booking on the phone or walk ins. We are in a tourist town. We have a baby monitor in the front hall so we can hear what happens out there at all times. One time a frequent guest called to book late and we were full so they booked somewhere else but called last minute to see if we had a cancelation. We were worried about them staying somewhere else lest they liked it better. No problem. He was here the next morning at 7am ready to book a room in two weeks.
 
Last minute doesn't work here, because the B&B is up there!
wink_smile.gif
 
We're in a tourist town and we do get walk-ins, but much fewer than you think. My new reservation system has the ability to bump my rates for same-day bookings, and I'm thinking about setting it to add $20-$30 a night. That way if I'm inconvenienced slightly, at least I'm making a few more bucks out of it.
 
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