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McQuade72

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Jun 17, 2018
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Closing in 20 day's and getting the monies from future reservations. The challenge is they ran it loose so book keeping is poor. I'm going thru online reservations and manually adding from closing date on for the one lump sum at closing. Anyone else ever had to do this? Seems like all the work is on me but its the busy season so I wanted to close fast to get the monies.
 
Sounds like you have it covered, when we started there were no advance reservations or money, first few weeks were so dead I wondered what I had done, but somehow we survived.
Don't know what you mean exactly by running it loose, now I can tell you in detail where my money comes and goes, but then I admit I don't stress over if we made that last dollar as it takes the fun away.
Welcome and may you have many happy and successful years in the business.
 
We took over running our place after the last guests of the season had checked out, and before the business would be open to taking reservations for the next season. In our case, there was no change in ownership, just a change in management. But the bookkeeping was kind of a mess and took a lot of time to straighten out. (The previous managers were just not consistent -- from month-to-month or even day-to-day -- in their approach to keeping the books...)
 
If they do gift certificates make sure you get that money, too.
You have access to the reservation system before closing?
 
Morticia said:
If they do gift certificates make sure you get that money, too.
You have access to the reservation system before closing?.
Click to expand...
If they do weddings, make sure you get the money for wedding deposits as well.
 
Morticia said:
If they do gift certificates make sure you get that money, too.
You have access to the reservation system before closing?.
Click to expand...
I don't have access to their system but I'm tallying the total based of online rooms available or not thru the rest of the year minus 17% for OTA's and Think Reservation.
 
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
 
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress.
Click to expand...
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
That sounds like a mad house flipping everything in one day, is the Inn fully booked and if not wouldn't it be beneficial to you to take up residence in a guest room at the Inn for a short period perhaps making it easier on both yourselves and the couple presently running the Inn.
Guess I'm thinking that if you have a good relationship with the folks departing that actually run the Inn that there may be tips and secrets shared that could be useful to you in the future and were it me, I'd probably want a bit of time clean and organize my living area to make it easier long term. Good or bad we arrived during a slow season and living a bit in an unused guest room gave me time freshen our living area before moving in officially, made it better long term.
 
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress.
Click to expand...
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
Have you arranged training with the owners?
They need to work with you to let the innkeepers go. Don't walk into that situation where they don't know anything.
Are there housekeepers? What's your plan for day one? It needs to be more than 'survive'! ;-)
 
Morticia said:
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress.
Click to expand...
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
Have you arranged training with the owners?
They need to work with you to let the innkeepers go. Don't walk into that situation where they don't know anything.
Are there housekeepers? What's your plan for day one? It needs to be more than 'survive'! ;-)
.
Click to expand...
Morticia said:
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
Have you arranged training with the owners?
They need to work with you to let the innkeepers go. Don't walk into that situation where they don't know anything.
Are there housekeepers? What's your plan for day one? It needs to be more than 'survive'! ;-)
Click to expand...
I hope the staff knows about this! I worked at a place where half the staff didn't know. They walked into work one day and there was some complete strangers introducing themselves as the new owners. Of course we knew that it was for sale but its been for sale for years. Everyone was shocked, angry, and felt let down, etc. Not the feelings you want to start out with.
I would suggest you have the innkeepers stay a while to train you in. Innkeeping is so much more than making food and greeting guests! Do you know where the electric breakers are? The main water breaker switch off? Do you know where and when the festivals in town are? What time the mail is delivered? Do you know that go ogle maps salesperson always call between 10am and 10:15am, so don't dropped everything and run for the phone? And that the pool's water caps for winter closing are in that old dresser that's falling apart in the basement? I would highly recommend that you have a box labeled, "things I might need some day" and toss anything that you find that might be something in there. It saved us lots of time, money, worry, hunting around, etc. over the years!
 
Lee2014 said:
Morticia said:
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress.
Click to expand...
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
Have you arranged training with the owners?
They need to work with you to let the innkeepers go. Don't walk into that situation where they don't know anything.
Are there housekeepers? What's your plan for day one? It needs to be more than 'survive'! ;-)
.
Click to expand...
Morticia said:
McQuade72 said:
The new challenge is as we are taking over at closing, that they have a couple running the Inn. We will need to run the Inn for us to make money. So the couple will need to be gone at closing and we need to turn key it that same day..... Stress
Click to expand...
Have you arranged training with the owners?
They need to work with you to let the innkeepers go. Don't walk into that situation where they don't know anything.
Are there housekeepers? What's your plan for day one? It needs to be more than 'survive'! ;-)
Click to expand...
I hope the staff knows about this! I worked at a place where half the staff didn't know. They walked into work one day and there was some complete strangers introducing themselves as the new owners. Of course we knew that it was for sale but its been for sale for years. Everyone was shocked, angry, and felt let down, etc. Not the feelings you want to start out with.
I would suggest you have the innkeepers stay a while to train you in. Innkeeping is so much more than making food and greeting guests! Do you know where the electric breakers are? The main water breaker switch off? Do you know where and when the festivals in town are? What time the mail is delivered? Do you know that go ogle maps salesperson always call between 10am and 10:15am, so don't dropped everything and run for the phone? And that the pool's water caps for winter closing are in that old dresser that's falling apart in the basement? I would highly recommend that you have a box labeled, "things I might need some day" and toss anything that you find that might be something in there. It saved us lots of time, money, worry, hunting around, etc. over the years!
.
Click to expand...
Lee2014 offers valuable thoughts. I didn't add to my comments that we failed in that area. First saw our place in September, wife and I looked at it in October and proceeded from there towards a closing in mid-December, returning expecting reservations and a closing the following morning.
We arrived with our vehicles and belongings after dark on a cold wet December night to find no one home, office unlocked, a flickering light was enough to show everything had been dirty for a time, thought maybe I'd stepped into the Bates Motel, made a call to the realtor who said make ourselves at home and he would see us in the morning, tired from a long drive we made ourselves at home in the one guest room that maybe had clean linen, but never figured out how to get heat or hot water, pretty miserable beginning that first night.
Hope you have a better beginning.
 

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