Are B&B people less price sensitive?

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toddburme

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My partner's opinion which is more informed then mine so I tend to listen. But this seems like an odd thing. "B&B people less price sensitive"
Would you agree with that? I think lots of people shop on price.
 
It's hard to make that a flat out true/false. If a guest tends to reserve at B&B's rather than hotels, that doesn't mean they'll pay top dollar for their stay without thinking about it.
What I would say is true is that hotel people will pay TWICE the price to stay at a hotel rather than book a B&B that's half the price. (I say that as the hotels here are full for certain summer weekends and last time I checked the rates were over $300/night.)
When we go to visit my daughter we have the option of 3 really nice B&B's and a ton of hotels from 'motel' to high end. The B&B's all charge in the $250 range. We stay at the 'motel' for $65. (That may just mean I'm not B&B people!)
 
A B&B for most of our customers is a destination thing. They are going to the B&B and town to experience that rather then visit. I wish we got local traffic but so far... So i would think if they are comparing our place to some of the other ones close by in other towns. Price would matter. But higher price might actually be better as people would think we offer more or are better etc.
 
A B&B for most of our customers is a destination thing. They are going to the B&B and town to experience that rather then visit. I wish we got local traffic but so far... So i would think if they are comparing our place to some of the other ones close by in other towns. Price would matter. But higher price might actually be better as people would think we offer more or are better etc..
I'll go along with not wanting to be the lowest price around as that does not always have good connotations. You can push the high end prices if there is someone else to compare with. If not, you need to dazzle them on your website and on the phone as to why they should pay high(er) prices.
 
Which we are not doing. Not much dazzling going on. ;).
Like we've mentioned quite a bit here...if you have 'location' you could have a 6 yo design your website and you'd still be full all the time. We stayed at a place that was exactly where we wanted to be that had a website with dancing mermaids on it. The whole thing was pink and turquoise and hideous. But they had the location. The dancing mermaids are gone but the room pix are still atrocious. Judging by their avail calendar they are running about 75% occ for the next 2 months.
 
Which we are not doing. Not much dazzling going on. ;).
toddburme said:
Which we are not doing. Not much dazzling going on. ;)
Now there's a word I like! DAZZLING!
I WANT TO SEE SOME DAZZLE - IN FACT SOME RAZZLE DAZZLE!
cheers.gif

 
I don't know about the USA but in a lot of ways the recession has been good for us as B&B's are seen as a cheaper alternative to hotels (has a lady today who always stays at a big hotel but couldn't get in this time say to me she would never go back she would always stay here! score for the better way to stay!) I hope that if we ca get a few more to realise that we are as good if not better as well as better price it will be good for us all. I just hope that programs like 3 in a bed can at least show that the properties are as good if not better! even if the hosts sometimes let us down. Mind you the problem is as my friend Sandra who made the short list said they come and film over three days and you have to go stay at the other 2 places. The company offered her 4 dates for filming and she said sorry im full then can you do any other dates? they nearly swallowed their tounges! but you arn't paid for it so on top of that you loose the revenue you might have made! She wasn't too gutted not to be selected as it was her husband's idea lol
 
Here's my take on it. When we moved to this new location, we set our prices below comparable locations. We needed to fill beds and we didn't have much of a reputation and price filled in for reputation. But as our reputation grew, so did our prices. Slightly above some of our neighbours and slightly below others.
There was another B&B in town that was listed at the top of the lists. So, he set his prices as the highest prices around. It affected his business. He's at the top of the range for his neighbourhood and now that he is no longer at the top of the lists, his prices are out of sync.
Price does certainly make a difference in the guests that I receive. If you are too low you attract the backpackers and the people who travel with everything and the kitchen sink. If you set them too high, they have expectations that you can't meet. You just have to find your happy middle where you find the people you want to book with as few PITAs as possible.
 
Here's my take on it. When we moved to this new location, we set our prices below comparable locations. We needed to fill beds and we didn't have much of a reputation and price filled in for reputation. But as our reputation grew, so did our prices. Slightly above some of our neighbours and slightly below others.
There was another B&B in town that was listed at the top of the lists. So, he set his prices as the highest prices around. It affected his business. He's at the top of the range for his neighbourhood and now that he is no longer at the top of the lists, his prices are out of sync.
Price does certainly make a difference in the guests that I receive. If you are too low you attract the backpackers and the people who travel with everything and the kitchen sink. If you set them too high, they have expectations that you can't meet. You just have to find your happy middle where you find the people you want to book with as few PITAs as possible..
partly as well you have to find your "slot" where you fit in your local lodging economy. for example here we have 15 Large hotels the top slot which is occupied by Rudding park which has won UK hotel of the year two years running carries 4 stars and is working on 5 has a spa and golf course. They set the top bar price wise. Then the other 14 slot in blow that in order of star rating. then there is the 5 star B&B's and guest houses and the serviced appartments and then the rest of us slot in below that depending on offering, size, facilities and proximity to the town center and conference center. (there being approximately 100 B&B's and 100 serviced appartments) You pitch yourself below the next step up and above the next level down.
 
Here's my take on it. When we moved to this new location, we set our prices below comparable locations. We needed to fill beds and we didn't have much of a reputation and price filled in for reputation. But as our reputation grew, so did our prices. Slightly above some of our neighbours and slightly below others.
There was another B&B in town that was listed at the top of the lists. So, he set his prices as the highest prices around. It affected his business. He's at the top of the range for his neighbourhood and now that he is no longer at the top of the lists, his prices are out of sync.
Price does certainly make a difference in the guests that I receive. If you are too low you attract the backpackers and the people who travel with everything and the kitchen sink. If you set them too high, they have expectations that you can't meet. You just have to find your happy middle where you find the people you want to book with as few PITAs as possible..
partly as well you have to find your "slot" where you fit in your local lodging economy. for example here we have 15 Large hotels the top slot which is occupied by Rudding park which has won UK hotel of the year two years running carries 4 stars and is working on 5 has a spa and golf course. They set the top bar price wise. Then the other 14 slot in blow that in order of star rating. then there is the 5 star B&B's and guest houses and the serviced appartments and then the rest of us slot in below that depending on offering, size, facilities and proximity to the town center and conference center. (there being approximately 100 B&B's and 100 serviced appartments) You pitch yourself below the next step up and above the next level down.
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That is part of it. Some people would rather be 25% full and make $200 a night instead of 33% full and make $150.
 
Here's my take on it. When we moved to this new location, we set our prices below comparable locations. We needed to fill beds and we didn't have much of a reputation and price filled in for reputation. But as our reputation grew, so did our prices. Slightly above some of our neighbours and slightly below others.
There was another B&B in town that was listed at the top of the lists. So, he set his prices as the highest prices around. It affected his business. He's at the top of the range for his neighbourhood and now that he is no longer at the top of the lists, his prices are out of sync.
Price does certainly make a difference in the guests that I receive. If you are too low you attract the backpackers and the people who travel with everything and the kitchen sink. If you set them too high, they have expectations that you can't meet. You just have to find your happy middle where you find the people you want to book with as few PITAs as possible..
partly as well you have to find your "slot" where you fit in your local lodging economy. for example here we have 15 Large hotels the top slot which is occupied by Rudding park which has won UK hotel of the year two years running carries 4 stars and is working on 5 has a spa and golf course. They set the top bar price wise. Then the other 14 slot in blow that in order of star rating. then there is the 5 star B&B's and guest houses and the serviced appartments and then the rest of us slot in below that depending on offering, size, facilities and proximity to the town center and conference center. (there being approximately 100 B&B's and 100 serviced appartments) You pitch yourself below the next step up and above the next level down.
.
That is part of it. Some people would rather be 25% full and make $200 a night instead of 33% full and make $150.
.
Trouble is round here the competition is fierce (mind there is a lot of demand to) but it ebbs and flows ie when demand is high its mad and when its low we all scrabble for business. However as one of my customers said about why they hadn't booked at the B&B they normally stayed at (a very nice full refurb place) because they were charging more than a 4 star hotel and $80 more than us who are technnically in the same price bracket. Thats what my other neighbour is struggling with now she has 5 rooms and has had a full refurb but showers only and people paying top dollar expect jacoozie baths. She also has only one parking space. and is trying to charge 4 star hotel prices and funnily enough she is not doing well. (also no online booking of any kind!) and has faked a trip adviser review already. How can you tell someone they are over pricing themselves? especially if they need the money?
 
Here's my take on it. When we moved to this new location, we set our prices below comparable locations. We needed to fill beds and we didn't have much of a reputation and price filled in for reputation. But as our reputation grew, so did our prices. Slightly above some of our neighbours and slightly below others.
There was another B&B in town that was listed at the top of the lists. So, he set his prices as the highest prices around. It affected his business. He's at the top of the range for his neighbourhood and now that he is no longer at the top of the lists, his prices are out of sync.
Price does certainly make a difference in the guests that I receive. If you are too low you attract the backpackers and the people who travel with everything and the kitchen sink. If you set them too high, they have expectations that you can't meet. You just have to find your happy middle where you find the people you want to book with as few PITAs as possible..
partly as well you have to find your "slot" where you fit in your local lodging economy. for example here we have 15 Large hotels the top slot which is occupied by Rudding park which has won UK hotel of the year two years running carries 4 stars and is working on 5 has a spa and golf course. They set the top bar price wise. Then the other 14 slot in blow that in order of star rating. then there is the 5 star B&B's and guest houses and the serviced appartments and then the rest of us slot in below that depending on offering, size, facilities and proximity to the town center and conference center. (there being approximately 100 B&B's and 100 serviced appartments) You pitch yourself below the next step up and above the next level down.
.
That is part of it. Some people would rather be 25% full and make $200 a night instead of 33% full and make $150.
.
Trouble is round here the competition is fierce (mind there is a lot of demand to) but it ebbs and flows ie when demand is high its mad and when its low we all scrabble for business. However as one of my customers said about why they hadn't booked at the B&B they normally stayed at (a very nice full refurb place) because they were charging more than a 4 star hotel and $80 more than us who are technnically in the same price bracket. Thats what my other neighbour is struggling with now she has 5 rooms and has had a full refurb but showers only and people paying top dollar expect jacoozie baths. She also has only one parking space. and is trying to charge 4 star hotel prices and funnily enough she is not doing well. (also no online booking of any kind!) and has faked a trip adviser review already. How can you tell someone they are over pricing themselves? especially if they need the money?
.
Sometimes, you have to. There are four B&Bs just on our street. You just have to find something that you do that others don't. So that they want to come stay with you instead of others. For us, it's the house and the breakfast. Century and a Quarter Victorians don't abound around here and certainly not with their original crown mouldings. And you have to stay here 15 days before breakfast might repeat. She's just got to find her price and the thing that will bring people back.
I don't like fake reviews. Fake reviews are the reason that I won't join the local association... we caught the president faking reviews.
 
We are getting great reviews and people like us so I am not worried about that part. This is our first summer of being open and it is slower then we would like so then i start thinking price point.
 
We are getting great reviews and people like us so I am not worried about that part. This is our first summer of being open and it is slower then we would like so then i start thinking price point..
Just be careful with your price. Look at the clientele that you are getting. When/if that changes, then you know what you need to do.
 
Just making a point about price being in the eye of the beholder just had a review that sad we were expensive! this is hilarious as I know for a fact a neighbouring place was doing the same room virtually for about $80 more and less breakfast! i don't give a monkeys about the review as they are obviously idiots as said there was no where to hang clothes! (except the large double wardrobe!) but if they hadn't got a last minute deal it would have been a lot more just shows people have no idea. But its the big hotels that have trained them to think they can get something for nothing and now we all have to suffer when this isn't the case.
 
I don't think that B&B people are less price sensitive. I know that I generally prefer B&Bs, but I won't pay a huge price difference for a B&B room which appears to not offer much more than a nice hotel in the area.
In many areas, there's a lot of competition on price point & I think that B&B owners have to be aware of that. We have that here in our city with the recent addition of several brand new very nice suite-type hotels. It's difficult to command a rack rate of $200+ even if you have great amenities and are a better way to stay when there are $89 large, new rooms with comparable amenities plus in room kitchenettes, and hotel exercise rooms, pools, and the like in the hotels. The last remaining B&B here has had to slash rates through the 3rd party booking systems & things like Groupon after sitting with empty rooms for months because the owners kept their rates up too high thinking that a historical setting and being the only B&B now would get them the biz. They really didn't stay current with the market.
You're smart to do your homework and really look at why folks are choosing to stay with you!
 
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