Land line phones in the rooms?

I was reading reviews of the inns in my town and saw a very bad review for a respected inn. Some of the issues were - couldn't check in early, housekeeper they found at 12 noon didn't greet them and simply told them check in was at 3, doors were creaky, TV didn't have closed captioning and they charged extra for the couple's child (even though the room had two queen beds!)
I'm laughing because we could be described that way! (Except I would hope our housekeeper would at least say hello and offer coffee while telling guests that we aren't home and check in starts at 3.) Old houses can be creaky, I have never checked whether our TVs have closed captioning and we do charge for more than 2 people in a room.
But the best one was, "there was no land line phone in the room!"
We do that too. No phones. In my experience, people bring their own.

I hate to break it to those people that no one does - costs a fortune to maintain the system and no one uses it - pulled ours out 10 years ago

Hotels still have them, but you mostly use them to call room service and your friend's room in the same hotel.
I reread the 'complaints' and he is mostly saying, "We stayed in a B&B and we probably should have stayed in a big hotel."

I still have them because by law cellular service in Vermont is required to suck.

No land lines in the rooms here. But (back when I had the inn and had a land line...) I had cordless phones available in central locations in both houses. Since I used my mobile all the time (and had a second phone line for faxing and credit cards ...pre Square, etc.), it wasn't a problem. Was a good compromise solution for the very, very few without mobile phones.

We still have a land line in each room but it is seldom used except when calling room to room or us calling a room. 90% use their cell phone, but at times hear they have bad service. - close to city yet country cell service!

We have had a few joke about them 'what's this?" But it sure saves my legs from all those stairs!

I had ab extension upstairs when my aunt was here (pre-B& B) and left it there for a while (with ringer OFF), but took it out a LONG time ago when everyone,even me, had a cell phone.

Had them at the beginning, but everyone has sort of device now days. Took them out a few years back. Occasionally an off season business traveler might request one. Usually to have two conversations, or to listen to something while using the cell.

I have two land line phones in full view on the first floor. Our cellular service is spotty at best for Come From Away's. They use the phone to make reservations, check to see if something's open, etc. I have Yak long distance and it's literally pennies for a call so I happily let people use them. No one has abused it yet and one grandfather was extremely grateful for the opportunity to call his grandson to tell him about the whale he saw at breakfast!

We have very minimal cell service here and only 1 provider at that. We have phones in the rooms, but did away with the phone company. Each phone is on a magic jack. We had our internet guy use the existing phone lines so it looks like an old fashioned corded phone, but it's really VOIP. No charges for phone calls and we pay just $39 per year for each magic jack. It soothes those guests who panic because they arrive and don't have cell phone coverage.
I just bought a new cell phone which has wi-fi calling. It's great. I really think that in the future all the cell phones will have that capability. Until then, I'm sticking with a phone for the guest's use.

That review sounds like someone just being mean. Last hotel I stayed in (a big chain) only had access to front desk or a connection to room service (5 nearby restaurants) I think landlines are going away in many areas. creaky doors? housekeepers being housekeepers? I would say most of my housekeepers weren't so great in the hospitality department ... but they cleaned very well. I watched one of those hotel rescue shows and the host watched as someone from staff rushed up some steps without speaking to guests going down the steps. He was very critical of that.

So from what I understand, most Inns don't use the landline phones in each room but mainly because everyone uses cell phones. And if you do have them its because you have poor cell reception where your Inn is located?
How do the guests call the front desk if they need something? Or is that something that is more "hotel"ish?
If you do have them, what brand do you use? I realize its mainly an intercom system for between rooms and to the front desk and room service, we're thinking of just using one landline for them all.

riverbelle said:

So from what I understand, most Inns don't use the landline phones in each room but mainly because everyone uses cell phones. And if you do have them its because you have poor cell reception where your Inn is located?
How do the guests call the front desk if they need something? Or is that something that is more "hotel"ish?
If you do have them, what brand do you use? I realize its mainly an intercom system for between rooms and to the front desk and room service, we're thinking of just using one landline for them all..

Click to expand...

this is an old thread from last june - all the B&B's in my town pulled out their phone systems about 10 years ago guests wouldn't use them for fear of high charges and now everyone has a moble and we live in a biggish town with excellent reception so its not an issue.

riverbelle said:

So from what I understand, most Inns don't use the landline phones in each room but mainly because everyone uses cell phones. And if you do have them its because you have poor cell reception where your Inn is located?
How do the guests call the front desk if they need something? Or is that something that is more "hotel"ish?
If you do have them, what brand do you use? I realize its mainly an intercom system for between rooms and to the front desk and room service, we're thinking of just using one landline for them all..

Click to expand...

We don't have a 'front desk.' But we do supply our cell # in the welcome book, so if someone needed to call us, they could.

This was a funny review. We get people exactly like this sometimes. Usually they come in from one of the OTA's, thinking they booked a hotel and not paying attention. Could have been they were just upset they could not check in early and decided to pick at things.
I've been traveling in B&B's for 25 years and I can't remember even a single time that there were phones in the rooms and honestly I would never expect one. We have always maintained some phones in our hallways in case a guest locks themselves out of their room and leaves their cell phone in the room, or if someone has an emergency and their phone does not work.
I have been using an IP PBX from a company called Intuitive Technology for maybe 8 years now. Its a very cost effective solution if you need several extensions. All you need is a very small piece of hardware, a good internet connection and VOIP phones. The extensions can be pretty much anywhere with an internet connection and in our case we buy a IP trunk from a phone company for $100/ month which gives us unlimited simultaneous calls. I have yet to spend more than $100/month (the minimum charge).