We're small and outside a larger city in the mountains. I set the B&B up as a romantic getaway for couples who wanted to get out of town for a weekend, since we don't get many business travelers.
What surprised me was that we got so many girlfriend getaway calls and then they got mad because we didn't have 2 beds to a room. I think it is because we offer spa packages. However, the beds wouldn't have fit anyway. I didn't change my marketing at all..
We have a big girlfriend getaway clientele. The spa package would be great! I could work with a spa in town, but I wonder would they want to go 'out' for the spa stuff or is that something they would prefer to do 'in house'? I had a masseuse who used to come here but the last time didn't work out so we haven't done that in awhile.
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The guests would definitely prefer to have it in house; while the spa I'm sure would prefer to have them go there. What burns me up is that we spent the money to put a spa in house back in 2000 and were the first to do so in our area.
Now every B&B in town tries to advertise themselves as having spa packages when they send guests down the street to the local massage parlor or day spa. Believe me, it is not the same experience at all.
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There's your hook to get them in...'The first B&B in (your town) to have an onsite spa, and still the best!' Then you go on to tell them how relaxing it is to not have to get completely dressed and go out into the cold (or the heat).
Do you do a spa lunch, too? That fits in well with wanting to do the teas and having the capability of doing so. I went for a 'spa day' with my daughter the day before she got married. We did the whole thing, including lunch in our robes. It was a lot of fun!
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I do give a history which includes it and I also use the word "original". I'm thinking of putting a paragraph entitled "All Spa Packages are Not Created Equal" explaining the differences more.
Yes, that was the original reason I started serving tea because some were here 4 hours without food. It is still the best tea application in my opinion.
The spa group seems to be a younger population. The group who just wants to come to tea seems to be an older demographic, or they want to bring an older family member. I don't allow kids, which is another market, but they were just too destructive.
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