iphones and innkeeping ... is this the wave of the future?

[seashanty]

iPhone InnTouch Free Listings For Members
of i love inns

so now you can have a listing on ipods and iphones
is this the way things are moving?
it strikes me as ironic that a lot of b&b's try to create an old-fashioned kind of environment (well maybe that's not the right word) and the technology to bring those guests there is getting very advanced. not saying it's a bad thing ... or a good thing. i'm just amazed.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

This B&B is not trying to create an old fashioned environment. Technology is what it is, you can't go backwards, people need to get on board or lose bookings. Why not say it is a good thing, it is. We don't have to pay big bucks for printed advertising like we used to, so much of this is FREE!
This is what we shout day in and day out to those who have an "email the inn" to see about availability button on their website, instead of having real time online reservations. "Get with the program people" - or the program will leave you behind, in the dust. I am not in this for the fun. I know, I know, it is just so much fun, but I actually want people to stay here, and any marketing that comes down the pike should be looked into.
MORE business & leisure travelers will find B&Bs
It is offered free to users--a Free Application!
43% of iPhone owners earn in excess of $100,000 and love to travel
An estimated 10 million iPhone owners
iPhone is the hottest selling smart phone (recently surpased the Motorola RAZR)
More Europeans and English-speaking Asians will visit you
PS WAY TO GO iloveinns!!!

 

[Morticia]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!

 

[cmonahan]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

 

[cmonahan]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.
.

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

Haha. The eTrade commercials are pretty funny.
You sure can post on your blog if you want. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.
Chris

 

[seashanty]

exactly.
most of my guests found me online and booked online or called to book but were looking at my website. what they SAID they wanted was to get away from technology overload, back to something more basic, more real, homey if you will ... but since we have no cell service here (no tower) HORRORS! they were coming to me because i offered free wifi.

sometimes they used it, often times tried not to, or one half of the couple would plead with the other to be 'away' ... these were people just constantly in touch with someone, someway ... who said they wanted a break. a break, but on THEIR terms.

 

[Morticia]

exactly.
most of my guests found me online and booked online or called to book but were looking at my website. what they SAID they wanted was to get away from technology overload, back to something more basic, more real, homey if you will ... but since we have no cell service here (no tower) HORRORS! they were coming to me because i offered free wifi.

sometimes they used it, often times tried not to, or one half of the couple would plead with the other to be 'away' ... these were people just constantly in touch with someone, someway ... who said they wanted a break. a break, but on THEIR terms..

exactly.
most of my guests found me online and booked online or called to book but were looking at my website. what they SAID they wanted was to get away from technology overload, back to something more basic, more real, homey if you will ... but since we have no cell service here (no tower) HORRORS! they were coming to me because i offered free wifi.

sometimes they used it, often times tried not to, or one half of the couple would plead with the other to be 'away' ... these were people just constantly in touch with someone, someway ... who said they wanted a break. a break, but on THEIR terms.

I'm better at 'getting away' than I used to be. But we need to have the cell and the laptop to do business. Even if I had an innsitter, I would have to 'check up' on that person. However, to be told we CANNOT use the cell or laptop is different than it not being available because of location. We did get that this year...'Strongly discourage you from using cells and laptops here, you would disturb the other guests.'

 

[Copperhead]

Well, I am one to say that what ever way they find me - let 'em. As as for i love inns...so far so good. Had 2 calls TODAY from the iPhone search! Keep that technology rocking for the B&B's - i love inns!

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.
.

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

Haha. The eTrade commercials are pretty funny.
You sure can post on your blog if you want. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.
Chris
.

Welcome Chris! For a minute I thought you were the eTrade baby.

May I write a short blog article about this new ilovesinns feature? (on my blog) you can email me off the forum if you need to know which one it is, etc.

Haha. The eTrade commercials are pretty funny.
You sure can post on your blog if you want. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.
Chris

For those of us without iphones can you tell us more about what the user will find or see in regard to locating iloveinns B&B's? Is there something we should add (other than making sure our listing on ilovesinns is uptodate) to help them find us?

 

[Samster]

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!.

As long as the 'homey, old fashioned' is just surficial and behind the scenes it's all up to date and then some! Yeah, I have quilts and rockers, but you can surf the web in bed!
We have had a number of guests use GPS maps to find a last minute place to stay. I wouldn't ask to be taken off that!

That is the word SS was probably looking for, homey. Good word. We are homey, but we are mostly up to speed. Have to keep an eye on it to try to keep up to speed, it changes so quickly!
.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself. I am the chief technology officer here at iLoveInns. Thanks for the kind words! This application has been a vision of ours for a while now and it's great to have an initial release out there. We have a large list of items that we will be adding, but I would love to hear some feedback you may have regarding features that you would like to see implemented.
Sincerely,
Chris Monahan
.

Welcome, Chris

I must say that you're awfully young to have such an important job.

This is a great development that y'all have come up with. Kudos! I'm seeing more & more folks with these kind of phones. Actually, it's on my holiday wish list!

 

[EmptyNest]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!

 

[swirt]

Thanks for this Inovation and information Chris. Is "InnTouch" simply a website tuned to iphones or is it an iphone application that someone has to load onto their iphone in order to use?

 

[muirford]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.

 

[EmptyNest]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.
.

How about the new Blackberry???? As if listening to all the rude people talking away isn't enough......now we get to here the "CLICK CLICK's" as they use their keyboard.
So no one is still answering my question..HOW MUCH DOES THIS ALL COST?
We pay $85 a month for our 2 phones and do nothing with them!!! When our contract expires I think I am going to look at thos $10 a month ones from AARP

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.
.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.

I am completely UN-attached at the hip.

I do not forward my biz line to any cell phone, I do not hassle people who call and do not leave a message when I see their # on caller id, I just take bookings online - whether I am home or not, and let the answering machine direct them to the website to book online (if I am unable to grab the phone). Of course it never rings while I am sitting here - only when I got upstairs and get elbow deep in a toilet.
We were North with a friend and wanted to take him to this incredible restaurant. We popped it onto his iphone and found it was closed on Sundays. Done deal, no running around and wasting half the day on it. Just like the GPS we popped in restaurants and it brough up a list near our location as we were driving.
This is a TOOL like any other tool. You can use it or not or like Dh says "Gotta have the right tool for the job!" So this is the right tool for many jobs, and it will only get better. Have you ever attempted to do something with the wrong tool? And made your life miserable. The right tool got it done in a jiffy.
Like guest mgmt software, some choose to use index cards and handwrite out receipts. If this is what they do, then sobeit.
I like to be efficient, so I am always looking for better and better ways to do things. Multi-task and all that.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.
.

How about the new Blackberry???? As if listening to all the rude people talking away isn't enough......now we get to here the "CLICK CLICK's" as they use their keyboard.
So no one is still answering my question..HOW MUCH DOES THIS ALL COST?
We pay $85 a month for our 2 phones and do nothing with them!!! When our contract expires I think I am going to look at thos $10 a month ones from AARP

.

How about the new Blackberry???? As if listening to all the rude people talking away isn't enough......now we get to here the "CLICK CLICK's" as they use their keyboard.
So no one is still answering my question..HOW MUCH DOES THIS ALL COST?
We pay $85 a month for our 2 phones and do nothing with them!!! When our contract expires I think I am going to look at thos $10 a month ones from AARP

I have a tracfone and only pay for minutes when i used them, the phone was free. I think last year it cost me $50 for the year - but I am not a cell phone user, only when I am out of town.

 

[JBanczak]

I had an ATT blackberry up until about a year ago. For 900 minutes, and unlimited email/web surfing it was a whopping $129/month. I switched to tmobile, and the same blackberry (but for tmobile - so i needed to get a new one). 600 minutes, same email/web - $69.99/month and I have not noticed any coverage difference. I don't pay the extra $4 for text since I don't use it.
Cool thing about tmobile at least in Austin, not sure about nationwide - if you are a cellphone customer, you can get their VOIP home phone service for only $10/month with unlimited calling and pretty much every feature (like voice mail, forwarding, 3-way, etc.). $10!!!! We have a pretty decent internet connection, so I tried it and it works really well. Not perfectly, but I was paying almost $50/month with ATT for the same thing. So my total phone bill has gone down $70/month since switching. Not bad.

 

[Samster]

What I want to know is....HOW MUCH DOES ALL OF THIS STUFF COST?
I know the new phones are about $200..but what about the cost of all those minutes to text, gps, web surf, email...etc That can't be cheap ..why do parents pay for their kids to chatand text endlessly...where are priorities these days...and WHY in heavens name have we let ourselves get to glued to these things.
I personally think it is one of the worst things ever to happen to our society!!!! Sorry. Boy have I gotten to be an old fogey
I have one..but only for emergencies and the rare long distance calls I make to my family that is it. I do not want to be in touch 24/7!!!.

There you have it - you are an old fogey!

I still don't text message, but it is great to have a cell phone with web abilities so that I can do emails and reservations away from the inn without having to fire up a laptop and find a free wireless connection. I am just waiting for my contract to run out so I can get an iphone. My Treo is good for email but not nearly as good as the iphone for doing web stuff. I would like to be able to handle Webervations processing from my phone.
.

How about the new Blackberry???? As if listening to all the rude people talking away isn't enough......now we get to here the "CLICK CLICK's" as they use their keyboard.
So no one is still answering my question..HOW MUCH DOES THIS ALL COST?
We pay $85 a month for our 2 phones and do nothing with them!!! When our contract expires I think I am going to look at thos $10 a month ones from AARP

.

I think that they can turn off the "click". But you're right...people need to be reminded of cell phone, Blackberry, etc. etiquette! That is my personal biggest gripe about these devices. As JBJ said, they are great tools to use to make a lot of things easier but....
We have actually had a couple of guests find us via their GPS on their iPhone! That is a super thing to me! And, they were some of our best guests! We don't take walk-ins per se, but these folks called ahead.
You are paying waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much for your mobile phone plan imnsvho! We pay quite a bit less than that for 3 phones with text messaging and plenty of minutes. There's lots of competition out there so maybe y'all can get a cheaper plan and bring that down.
I'm a fan of using these tools to keep in touch but I have some definite rules about cell phone use, for myself. I do forward the biz line to my cell because it doubles as our phone too. I guess I'm used to carrying all these things from corporate jobs, so it doesn't bother me.