Cable TV a must have?

[Proud Texan]

When we built our cottages, we pre-wired RG6 cable to a box in the room that is presently covered by a blank cover. We have no plans of putting TVs in the rooms, but in case we ever do, the cable is there.
We actually market the fact that we don't have TVs by suggesting that this is a romantic getaway and a place to reconnect etc. etc. Most people get it and we've never had any complaints..

We actually market the fact that we don't have TVs by suggesting that this is a romantic getaway and a place to reconnect etc. etc. Most people get it and we've never had any complaints.

If you market it as a romantic getaway with no distractions such as TV then you should not get complaints. They know what to expect before they arrive!
For those marketing more broadly or that have more diverse guest makeup, having TV's at least in some rooms is needed to grasp the overall need or desires of potential guests. And what's that saying, oh yes "Absence of proof is not proof of absence"

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We actually market the fact that we don't have TVs by suggesting that this is a romantic getaway and a place to reconnect etc. etc. Most people get it and we've never had any complaints.

If you market it as a romantic getaway with no distractions such as TV then you should not get complaints. They know what to expect before they arrive!
For those marketing more broadly or that have more diverse guest makeup, having TV's at least in some rooms is needed to grasp the overall need or desires of potential guests. And what's that saying, oh yes "Absence of proof is not proof of absence"

I'm sure you're right. That's fine with us.

 

[Samster]

I did not even think of phones. I am guessing that we could offer a phone for use if it were needed. Our customers will be 99% with cell phones so that should not be an issue unless they forget their charger etc. We will have very few international customers so we could just offer them Skype for that need..

I wouldn't bother with room phones. I only had a couple of guests that needed a phone & they were International guests who had incoming calls. (Their mobile phones weren't International.) We had portable phones in central locations in each house that they could use to receive calls or other guests could use for outgoing local or U.S. long distance at no charge. Then, there were the folks that used our free WiFi to use Skype.
The vast majority of people have mobile phones now.
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The vast majority of people have mobile phones now.

And they use them to call the innkeeper from their room!
The number of guests who have been at breakfast and had the other half call them from the room on their cellphone boggles the mind. Better they do that than call me and ask me to put so and so on the line!
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I had no problem with them calling me from their room....especially since we had the second house next door. Frankly, I'd rather they call me than come banging on our door and possibly wake other folks up or disturb other guests. All our guests had my cell phone number to call me if they needed anything, anytime. We didn't answer the land line after 9 PM...it was never a good thing.

 

[Samster]

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ...

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ..

A vareity I think is a must. We're family friendly, so we have a selection of "kiddie" movies. It's interesting to me how many adults choose a kiddie movie to watch along side their western/war/action/adventure flick. Reminded me not to make assumptions about what people find entertaining.
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Kiddie movies ......we rarely had kids here but we have a large selection of Disney and animated movies. Some are on my favorite movies list!

 

[Samster]

TV with internal DVD..........Great idea......have one in the kitchen.......15" LCD..........about 8 months ago the DVD player no longer worked......after owning the unit I think almost 2 years to that point.
Bought a $40 player plugged it in and the TV on top.........good to go.
I think the combo TV/DVD is great......as long as you have the hook up capability for when / if the DVD player stops working.
The current year is 2010..........humanity exists on gadgets.......as is humanity becoming more and more wired......or should I say.......wireless.
I would think TV's......DVD players.......cable or satelite......wifi.....phones for local calls are a must have.
True that travelers carry their cell phones.........roaming charges.......personaly I would not want to pay roaming charges just to call and make reservation for dinner cause where I am staying does not have a guest phone.......

Are there still mobile phone plans that charge roaming fees? Seems like they're really marketing the all-inclusive plans including data now. I think I only know one person that even has a flip-phone & she is 85 years old! lol! These phones keep changing daily.......

 

[Morticia]

TV with internal DVD..........Great idea......have one in the kitchen.......15" LCD..........about 8 months ago the DVD player no longer worked......after owning the unit I think almost 2 years to that point.
Bought a $40 player plugged it in and the TV on top.........good to go.
I think the combo TV/DVD is great......as long as you have the hook up capability for when / if the DVD player stops working.
The current year is 2010..........humanity exists on gadgets.......as is humanity becoming more and more wired......or should I say.......wireless.
I would think TV's......DVD players.......cable or satelite......wifi.....phones for local calls are a must have.
True that travelers carry their cell phones.........roaming charges.......personaly I would not want to pay roaming charges just to call and make reservation for dinner cause where I am staying does not have a guest phone.......

Are there still mobile phone plans that charge roaming fees? Seems like they're really marketing the all-inclusive plans including data now. I think I only know one person that even has a flip-phone & she is 85 years old! lol! These phones keep changing daily.......
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Our phone charges roaming. But we went to a prepaid calling card because we rarely use the phone. In a year's time we still haven't used $100 in minutes. But we're weird like that.
I did use the phone today to call Gomez to tell him the Salvation Army has his exact 80's sofa in the window for sale. All brown, pink & blue fuzzy loveliness!

 

[Samster]

TV with internal DVD..........Great idea......have one in the kitchen.......15" LCD..........about 8 months ago the DVD player no longer worked......after owning the unit I think almost 2 years to that point.
Bought a $40 player plugged it in and the TV on top.........good to go.
I think the combo TV/DVD is great......as long as you have the hook up capability for when / if the DVD player stops working.
The current year is 2010..........humanity exists on gadgets.......as is humanity becoming more and more wired......or should I say.......wireless.
I would think TV's......DVD players.......cable or satelite......wifi.....phones for local calls are a must have.
True that travelers carry their cell phones.........roaming charges.......personaly I would not want to pay roaming charges just to call and make reservation for dinner cause where I am staying does not have a guest phone.......

Are there still mobile phone plans that charge roaming fees? Seems like they're really marketing the all-inclusive plans including data now. I think I only know one person that even has a flip-phone & she is 85 years old! lol! These phones keep changing daily.......
.

Our phone charges roaming. But we went to a prepaid calling card because we rarely use the phone. In a year's time we still haven't used $100 in minutes. But we're weird like that.
I did use the phone today to call Gomez to tell him the Salvation Army has his exact 80's sofa in the window for sale. All brown, pink & blue fuzzy loveliness!
.

See, and we are getting rid of our land line because we use the mobile phones all the time, including to text which my dh prefers when he's at work and needs to ask me something.

 

[IronGate]

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ...

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ..

A vareity I think is a must. We're family friendly, so we have a selection of "kiddie" movies. It's interesting to me how many adults choose a kiddie movie to watch along side their western/war/action/adventure flick. Reminded me not to make assumptions about what people find entertaining.
.

Kiddie movies ......we rarely had kids here but we have a large selection of Disney and animated movies. Some are on my favorite movies list!
.

Kiddie movies ......we rarely had kids here but we have a large selection of Disney and animated movies. Some are on my favorite movies list!

I married the first woman I found who had Jungle Book in her collection.
Just saying.

 

[Samster]

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ...

i stayed in a place that had tv's with vcrs or dvd players and a selection of all kinds of movies to watch. that was nice. the tv's got i think one local channel so you could check the weather ..

A vareity I think is a must. We're family friendly, so we have a selection of "kiddie" movies. It's interesting to me how many adults choose a kiddie movie to watch along side their western/war/action/adventure flick. Reminded me not to make assumptions about what people find entertaining.
.

Kiddie movies ......we rarely had kids here but we have a large selection of Disney and animated movies. Some are on my favorite movies list!
.

Kiddie movies ......we rarely had kids here but we have a large selection of Disney and animated movies. Some are on my favorite movies list!

I married the first woman I found who had Jungle Book in her collection.
Just saying.
.

 

[Highlands John]

Beware...you need a licence before you can lend DVDs to guests.
It's "policed" in the UK by Film Bank, we had one for a year but for the number of people who wanted to watch a DVD it just wasn't worth the cost.
We have terrestrial digital TV in a all rooms and then people complain that there are not foreign language channels. We can't get them because we have no cable in the area and because of our position on a hillside be can't get a satellite signal..

Beware...you need a licence before you can lend DVDs to guests.
It's "policed" in the UK by Film Bank, we had one for a year but for the number of people who wanted to watch a DVD it just wasn't worth the cost.
We have terrestrial digital TV in a all rooms and then people complain that there are not foreign language channels. We can't get them because we have no cable in the area and because of our position on a hillside be can't get a satellite signal.

I do not believe this is the case in the US unless you are profiting from their use. B&B's are not renting the DVDs only allowing those to view it privately in their own rooms, not in a group setting which is also a disclaimer in use.
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It's interesting that you should say that because there is a great deal of controversy around this in the UK, as well as do you need a music license for playing the radio in public areas such as the breakfast room.
The publishing companies have been perusing (very aggressively in some cases) B&Bs.

 

[Arks]

Beware...you need a licence before you can lend DVDs to guests.
It's "policed" in the UK by Film Bank, we had one for a year but for the number of people who wanted to watch a DVD it just wasn't worth the cost.
We have terrestrial digital TV in a all rooms and then people complain that there are not foreign language channels. We can't get them because we have no cable in the area and because of our position on a hillside be can't get a satellite signal..

Beware...you need a licence before you can lend DVDs to guests.
It's "policed" in the UK by Film Bank, we had one for a year but for the number of people who wanted to watch a DVD it just wasn't worth the cost.
We have terrestrial digital TV in a all rooms and then people complain that there are not foreign language channels. We can't get them because we have no cable in the area and because of our position on a hillside be can't get a satellite signal.

I do not believe this is the case in the US unless you are profiting from their use. B&B's are not renting the DVDs only allowing those to view it privately in their own rooms, not in a group setting which is also a disclaimer in use.
.

It's interesting that you should say that because there is a great deal of controversy around this in the UK, as well as do you need a music license for playing the radio in public areas such as the breakfast room.
The publishing companies have been perusing (very aggressively in some cases) B&Bs.
.

The musicians and music publishers are losing most of their income to Internet downloads and people sharing music and videos via e-mail. So they're trying to close every possible leak, which means they end up going after the few people who legitimately purchased their products!
I've seen news articles here in the USA for years that publishers are requiring payment from doctors who play music in their reception room, and similar situations. Most people don't even know about this, and those who do ignore it. It's definitely not a high priority with law enforcement unless someone complains, and that almost never happens.
So I'd say technically there's a problem with showing a DVD movie outside the privacy of your own living room, but I've never known anybody to get into trouble over it.

 

[JBloggs]

You mean you already have cable? That is half the battle right there.

 

[JBloggs]

as a guest...I would rather have NO tv than a communal tv.
I don't want to watch what someone else is watching or listen to it, then that common room becomes solely theirs.
Example: What is some numbskull guest loves jerry springer? I mean, think about it? Is this what you want ruining your ambiance?

 

[Samster]

as a guest...I would rather have NO tv than a communal tv.
I don't want to watch what someone else is watching or listen to it, then that common room becomes solely theirs.
Example: What is some numbskull guest loves jerry springer? I mean, think about it? Is this what you want ruining your ambiance?.

I agree with you 100%. We've experienced this at a place that we always stayed where our son went to school. We loved the place but couldn't enjoy their cozier den for this reason when someone (including the innkeepers) had something on the TV. At least they had a more formal parlor that we could enjoy if we didn't want to stay in our room.