"It's too hard to book at a B&B" (A PAII research project?)

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What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
"Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait."
Wait for what? We check our emails during waking hours more than once an hour, right before bed, right after waking and send an email confirmation within hours of receiving it even when we're on vacation. We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
.
Tim_Toad_HLB said:
...We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
Like I said, most innkeepers on this forum are ahead of the pack, but in your own words you take up to 24hrs - there is the problem. And one lazy innkeeper in ten who doesn't respond makes the entire industry look bad. All it takes as a consumer is to wait 24hrs once at a small property, and they won't wait again. What do they do in that time period? Send 10 more emails? Book another property? It is frustrating.
Case in point - I went to Carmel for a wedding last fall. I booked online at one of our B&B's. It was my 3rd choice due to location. Requested rez from the other two. One didn't responde, the other didn't have the room I needed to handle my kids. It was a hassle compared to booking the Hilton up the street (which I didn't do).
In any case, we did a survey last summer that 4,000 consumers took - I'm quoting those results. We also have the luxury of owning both a request based system, and a fully confirmed system, and we've had innkeepers tell us their reservations doubled the day they switched from Webervations to RezOvation...
But getting back to my main point - this is what innkeepers themselves told us in Napa - and that is the irony of it all... that they didn't have the time to wait to see if their requests came back.
Utlimately, there is no doubt that booking a B&B overall (as an industry) is harder than booking hotels or motels - period. This is easy to change - so I for one want to change it.
There are a lot of good companies out there doing it as well. Whether it is Rezo, Weber, Resnexus, Superinn - these are companies all providing a great product and service at a great price, with people dedicated to this industry.
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn.
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
JBanczak said:
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
I absolutely 100% agree with those comments. As mentioned I looked at booking a getaway two times in the past month or so and both times ended up pulling my hair out. I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT WANT TO REQUEST first cvhoice second choice, I want to book the friggin' room I see is available and get my flights set and all the rest. THIS IS COSTLY FOR ME to sort out, I must have it done WHILE I am looking at it, not wait for an email or call back. I will not wait, I will not call, I want online reservations and a confirmation #. Why are you on the internet? For the pretty pictures? Will speaking to me weed out the good or bad guests? Will you say "Oh now that I have spoken to you, I have decided we do not have availability?" No.
Sorry, soapbox got out of hand there... This is what this thread is about, making it easy for guests to book. We have to think of our guests! This is all about them, not us. If I have to squint to see your photos and I have 20/20 vision, or have to click through pages of policies and useless information I will not book there. Me and so many others.
 
First of all, I don't share the opinion or idea that B&B owners didn't or don't choose to stay at B&Bs for negative reasons at all.
Is this topic also including ease of B&B booking in general or just for innkeepers going to big B&B conferences?
Big conferences for any industry group are held in the easiest big cities to get to, serviced by big airports, and are generally held in a big hotel that offers attendees a discount ot stay there.
Many typical and prime "convention and conference" cities may not have a vibrant B&B sector or even an attractive "old town" area where most of the B&Bs would be located. Or that area may have been miles and miles from the conference location. Or possibly the package deal offered at the participating hotel and the scheduling of the workshops, lectures just precluded many folks from staying offsite.
I've seen enough B&B websites both locally and in other locations to say with 100% confidence that onerous or highly restrictive and punitive cancellation policies do not appear to be a very widely used practice. Seems like a convenient out for some who responded to John's poll.
We all have to ask ourselves, do we find our cancellation policies extreme?
I sure as hell don't here. Ours is as guest friendly and fair as any I've seen.
I've looked at hundreds of others and frankly don't see it.
Maybe if all a traveler only stays in hotels with the standard 24 hour and least restrictive cancellation policy, anything more than that would be viewed as too tough..
I am with you Tim. I think our cancellation policies are just fine. I don't want the guest that is looking for an out at the last minute, and the alarm goes up for me as soon as they ask..."how close to my stay can I cancel without getting charged?"
.
I used to look at that as a red flag. But now I look at the 'cancellation question' as the guest wanting to be sure they understand the policies. I think some folks have been burned and they're just being proactive. I'm going to have to start making notes to see if there is a bigger proportion of them cancelling than any other guest.
We had 79 cancellations last year (some of them for wedding parties and other groups who cancelled multiple rooms at once) but I don't have any notes on whether they asked in advance about the policies.
.
You're right, but what I look for is how they ask the question. There is a difference. Now you have me wondering how many cancellations I had last year. I'm gonna look that up.
.
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
.
Bree said:
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
It's not up to us to psychoanalys our guests and decide if they REALLY want to book here or not, take the booking, don't take the booking. We are not their travel agents. Let them cancel, charge them if they violate the terms of their agreement.
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
"Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait."
Wait for what? We check our emails during waking hours more than once an hour, right before bed, right after waking and send an email confirmation within hours of receiving it even when we're on vacation. We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
.
Tim_Toad_HLB said:
...We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
Like I said, most innkeepers on this forum are ahead of the pack, but in your own words you take up to 24hrs - there is the problem. And one lazy innkeeper in ten who doesn't respond makes the entire industry look bad. All it takes as a consumer is to wait 24hrs once at a small property, and they won't wait again. What do they do in that time period? Send 10 more emails? Book another property? It is frustrating.
Case in point - I went to Carmel for a wedding last fall. I booked online at one of our B&B's. It was my 3rd choice due to location. Requested rez from the other two. One didn't responde, the other didn't have the room I needed to handle my kids. It was a hassle compared to booking the Hilton up the street (which I didn't do).
In any case, we did a survey last summer that 4,000 consumers took - I'm quoting those results. We also have the luxury of owning both a request based system, and a fully confirmed system, and we've had innkeepers tell us their reservations doubled the day they switched from Webervations to RezOvation...
But getting back to my main point - this is what innkeepers themselves told us in Napa - and that is the irony of it all... that they didn't have the time to wait to see if their requests came back.
Utlimately, there is no doubt that booking a B&B overall (as an industry) is harder than booking hotels or motels - period. This is easy to change - so I for one want to change it.
There are a lot of good companies out there doing it as well. Whether it is Rezo, Weber, Resnexus, Superinn - these are companies all providing a great product and service at a great price, with people dedicated to this industry.
.
John, I believe you bring up some really good points.
Just finding a B&B that meets your needs is more difficult than opening up the Hilton site and finding one that is convenient to where you want to be.
No matter how you search for the B&B, usually you will make several searches (even if you are the only one around, they don't know that!) just to get your best 3.
Then it is deciding which one is the right fix for you with each website so different, checking amenities etc. can be a chore..especially if there is more than one person making the decision.
Then the reservation - no matter what your preference in making it - calling, email or online booking.
IT IS a more time consuming, thought provoking process to book a B&B - well worth it in my opinion but now we can better understand what makes our guests special and why they deserve to be treated that way. Just think how much more difficult it was for every aspect of this industry before the internet.
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
"Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait."
Wait for what? We check our emails during waking hours more than once an hour, right before bed, right after waking and send an email confirmation within hours of receiving it even when we're on vacation. We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
.
Tim_Toad_HLB said:
...We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
Like I said, most innkeepers on this forum are ahead of the pack, but in your own words you take up to 24hrs - there is the problem. And one lazy innkeeper in ten who doesn't respond makes the entire industry look bad. All it takes as a consumer is to wait 24hrs once at a small property, and they won't wait again. What do they do in that time period? Send 10 more emails? Book another property? It is frustrating.
Case in point - I went to Carmel for a wedding last fall. I booked online at one of our B&B's. It was my 3rd choice due to location. Requested rez from the other two. One didn't responde, the other didn't have the room I needed to handle my kids. It was a hassle compared to booking the Hilton up the street (which I didn't do).
In any case, we did a survey last summer that 4,000 consumers took - I'm quoting those results. We also have the luxury of owning both a request based system, and a fully confirmed system, and we've had innkeepers tell us their reservations doubled the day they switched from Webervations to RezOvation...
But getting back to my main point - this is what innkeepers themselves told us in Napa - and that is the irony of it all... that they didn't have the time to wait to see if their requests came back.
Utlimately, there is no doubt that booking a B&B overall (as an industry) is harder than booking hotels or motels - period. This is easy to change - so I for one want to change it.
There are a lot of good companies out there doing it as well. Whether it is Rezo, Weber, Resnexus, Superinn - these are companies all providing a great product and service at a great price, with people dedicated to this industry.
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Right after I typed the "lazy innkeeper" reference, I thought to myself that this aspect of things in our industry could be attributed to your surveys findings. But as I do in many things about life, I still find a contradiction in the "better tehcnology and more bells and whistles will cure everything" I feel is being promoted.
Thanks for confirming my hunch and adding background to the survey you mentioned.
It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that many of the same B&Bs not buying into trying to mimic coprorate hotel operations do so because they are perfectly happy to run their places the way they do and not out of resistance to technology or maximizing bookings. Even with the evolution of our industry, of that large number of old-school B&Bs being frowned upon, many could be part-timers, hobbyists not in need of maximizing income to survive and maybe even some folks who like things just the way they've done them forever. No crime in that I hope.
We have very well respected collegues who don't have any technological tools in place, would be considered very old school by most, but by all measures are very successful, actually turn away guests regularly and seem to be very contented doing things the way they've chosen to do them.
I think B&B size, style and owner commitment level dictates much of how far people take their approach to trying to compete against hotels even in the abstract, and many of us choose not to and carve out a comfortable niche that feels right an serves us and our guest's needs. There's no crime in that I hope.
You will get no argument from me as to your dedication to improving the availability, exposure level and professionalism of our industry.
We have been loyal partners since we opened our doors. We subscribe to as high of listing as we can afford, offer rooms via the system, offer hot deals almost every week, try to sell gift cards, we accept gift certificates, keep our lisitng up to date, alert you all to any incorrect information being published by Expedia/Hotels.com on our listing, etc.
 
First of all, I don't share the opinion or idea that B&B owners didn't or don't choose to stay at B&Bs for negative reasons at all.
Is this topic also including ease of B&B booking in general or just for innkeepers going to big B&B conferences?
Big conferences for any industry group are held in the easiest big cities to get to, serviced by big airports, and are generally held in a big hotel that offers attendees a discount ot stay there.
Many typical and prime "convention and conference" cities may not have a vibrant B&B sector or even an attractive "old town" area where most of the B&Bs would be located. Or that area may have been miles and miles from the conference location. Or possibly the package deal offered at the participating hotel and the scheduling of the workshops, lectures just precluded many folks from staying offsite.
I've seen enough B&B websites both locally and in other locations to say with 100% confidence that onerous or highly restrictive and punitive cancellation policies do not appear to be a very widely used practice. Seems like a convenient out for some who responded to John's poll.
We all have to ask ourselves, do we find our cancellation policies extreme?
I sure as hell don't here. Ours is as guest friendly and fair as any I've seen.
I've looked at hundreds of others and frankly don't see it.
Maybe if all a traveler only stays in hotels with the standard 24 hour and least restrictive cancellation policy, anything more than that would be viewed as too tough..
I am with you Tim. I think our cancellation policies are just fine. I don't want the guest that is looking for an out at the last minute, and the alarm goes up for me as soon as they ask..."how close to my stay can I cancel without getting charged?"
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I used to look at that as a red flag. But now I look at the 'cancellation question' as the guest wanting to be sure they understand the policies. I think some folks have been burned and they're just being proactive. I'm going to have to start making notes to see if there is a bigger proportion of them cancelling than any other guest.
We had 79 cancellations last year (some of them for wedding parties and other groups who cancelled multiple rooms at once) but I don't have any notes on whether they asked in advance about the policies.
.
You're right, but what I look for is how they ask the question. There is a difference. Now you have me wondering how many cancellations I had last year. I'm gonna look that up.
.
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
.
Bree said:
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
It's not up to us to psychoanalys our guests and decide if they REALLY want to book here or not, take the booking, don't take the booking. We are not their travel agents. Let them cancel, charge them if they violate the terms of their agreement.
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Most of them, if they have asked what the cancellation is (and are planning to 'shop around') cancel in plenty of time so they are not charged but not necessarily in time for me to rebook that room. Like the folks who held the rooms for 11 months and then cancelled on day 8 before arrival. Yeah, no charge to them but I'm stuck now with open rooms. Whereas they may have been booked at that point by guests who have now gone onto other places.
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn..
Would my list on the directions page help? The one that tells how far we are from...
I should probably also have a state map.
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn..
Would my list on the directions page help? The one that tells how far we are from...
I should probably also have a state map.
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Bree said:
Would my list on the directions page help? The one that tells how far we are from...
I should probably also have a state map.
YES! A state map. I love your close up map and your "how far this is" below that.
 
First of all, I don't share the opinion or idea that B&B owners didn't or don't choose to stay at B&Bs for negative reasons at all.
Is this topic also including ease of B&B booking in general or just for innkeepers going to big B&B conferences?
Big conferences for any industry group are held in the easiest big cities to get to, serviced by big airports, and are generally held in a big hotel that offers attendees a discount ot stay there.
Many typical and prime "convention and conference" cities may not have a vibrant B&B sector or even an attractive "old town" area where most of the B&Bs would be located. Or that area may have been miles and miles from the conference location. Or possibly the package deal offered at the participating hotel and the scheduling of the workshops, lectures just precluded many folks from staying offsite.
I've seen enough B&B websites both locally and in other locations to say with 100% confidence that onerous or highly restrictive and punitive cancellation policies do not appear to be a very widely used practice. Seems like a convenient out for some who responded to John's poll.
We all have to ask ourselves, do we find our cancellation policies extreme?
I sure as hell don't here. Ours is as guest friendly and fair as any I've seen.
I've looked at hundreds of others and frankly don't see it.
Maybe if all a traveler only stays in hotels with the standard 24 hour and least restrictive cancellation policy, anything more than that would be viewed as too tough..
I am with you Tim. I think our cancellation policies are just fine. I don't want the guest that is looking for an out at the last minute, and the alarm goes up for me as soon as they ask..."how close to my stay can I cancel without getting charged?"
.
I used to look at that as a red flag. But now I look at the 'cancellation question' as the guest wanting to be sure they understand the policies. I think some folks have been burned and they're just being proactive. I'm going to have to start making notes to see if there is a bigger proportion of them cancelling than any other guest.
We had 79 cancellations last year (some of them for wedding parties and other groups who cancelled multiple rooms at once) but I don't have any notes on whether they asked in advance about the policies.
.
You're right, but what I look for is how they ask the question. There is a difference. Now you have me wondering how many cancellations I had last year. I'm gonna look that up.
.
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
.
Bree said:
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
It's not up to us to psychoanalys our guests and decide if they REALLY want to book here or not, take the booking, don't take the booking. We are not their travel agents. Let them cancel, charge them if they violate the terms of their agreement.
.
Most of them, if they have asked what the cancellation is (and are planning to 'shop around') cancel in plenty of time so they are not charged but not necessarily in time for me to rebook that room. Like the folks who held the rooms for 11 months and then cancelled on day 8 before arrival. Yeah, no charge to them but I'm stuck now with open rooms. Whereas they may have been booked at that point by guests who have now gone onto other places.
.
Bree said:
Most of them, if they have asked what the cancellation is (and are planning to 'shop around') cancel in plenty of time so they are not charged but not necessarily in time for me to rebook that room. Like the folks who held the rooms for 11 months and then cancelled on day 8 before arrival. Yeah, no charge to them but I'm stuck now with open rooms. Whereas they may have been booked at that point by guests who have now gone onto other places.
Again, it is their prerogative. It is part of doing business. We can up the cancellation periods then we would send guests running away fast. We have to do what works for us, and unfortunately there are stinky guests all over the place who mess up our system. We put in policies to stop those snafu's but it happens. We all have stories of losing business and tighten our policies up and then we let them loose again when we realize we just can't be that stringent. Or implement a booking fee of $25 like some do here on this forum to stop people from booking five places at once.
This is a great topic, thank you for bringing it up.
There was a guest here last week who was ill and mentioned to me like it was all my fault that they can't "get out of their reservations" as BnB's are so strict and she will never book a BnB again. Yes, she said that, she was from Texas and her face is etched in my memory bank for a few months at least. So on they went to the next BnB on their confirmed list. Not my fault they booked one night stays at 7 BnB's in a row. STUFF HAPPENS.
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
John, I probably do lose a few bookings because I take a request - BUT I am answering those requests usually withing the hour unless it is in the middle of the night. I do provide what is in inventory with my availability calendar. I want the call more than anything to pin down dietary info. I cannot wait until they arrive to discover they are gluten-free or lactose intolerant or even diabetic. They do not enter it into the form. Even asking I get the guest sitting there saying I cannot have cinnamon when just about everything that morning had cinnamon in it.
I am not doubting your survey or questioning it. However, I really think it is a bit over the top to consider not taking a cc online as being hard to book.
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn..
Point taken. There is a map on my new Directions Page and a list of how far from. I just went in and added we are south of, north of, west of, and east of. I also added directions from West and East (had the directions from the Interstate already. Does that cover it adequately?
 
As for booking a B & B for a Conference, I always try to book a B & B for the Governor's Conference - even if it is a few miles from the Conference. I have been fortunate in that many of my MABB members have extended the courtesy of a freebie, but if there is a B & B within 20 miles I will drive and if the B & B will (if possible) come close to the rate of the Conference hotel, I would rather pay the B & B.
Maybe it is because I am old, but find the entertainments or get-togethers at the end of the day at Conferences are so noisy with loud "music?" that you cannot hold a conversation without shouting directly into each other's ears! I would rather go back to the B & B and relax or have a chat with the innkeeper if the innkeeper feels like chatting. Otherwise I would rather curl up with the book I brought "just in case".
 
First of all, I don't share the opinion or idea that B&B owners didn't or don't choose to stay at B&Bs for negative reasons at all.
Is this topic also including ease of B&B booking in general or just for innkeepers going to big B&B conferences?
Big conferences for any industry group are held in the easiest big cities to get to, serviced by big airports, and are generally held in a big hotel that offers attendees a discount ot stay there.
Many typical and prime "convention and conference" cities may not have a vibrant B&B sector or even an attractive "old town" area where most of the B&Bs would be located. Or that area may have been miles and miles from the conference location. Or possibly the package deal offered at the participating hotel and the scheduling of the workshops, lectures just precluded many folks from staying offsite.
I've seen enough B&B websites both locally and in other locations to say with 100% confidence that onerous or highly restrictive and punitive cancellation policies do not appear to be a very widely used practice. Seems like a convenient out for some who responded to John's poll.
We all have to ask ourselves, do we find our cancellation policies extreme?
I sure as hell don't here. Ours is as guest friendly and fair as any I've seen.
I've looked at hundreds of others and frankly don't see it.
Maybe if all a traveler only stays in hotels with the standard 24 hour and least restrictive cancellation policy, anything more than that would be viewed as too tough..
I am with you Tim. I think our cancellation policies are just fine. I don't want the guest that is looking for an out at the last minute, and the alarm goes up for me as soon as they ask..."how close to my stay can I cancel without getting charged?"
.
I used to look at that as a red flag. But now I look at the 'cancellation question' as the guest wanting to be sure they understand the policies. I think some folks have been burned and they're just being proactive. I'm going to have to start making notes to see if there is a bigger proportion of them cancelling than any other guest.
We had 79 cancellations last year (some of them for wedding parties and other groups who cancelled multiple rooms at once) but I don't have any notes on whether they asked in advance about the policies.
.
You're right, but what I look for is how they ask the question. There is a difference. Now you have me wondering how many cancellations I had last year. I'm gonna look that up.
.
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
.
Bree said:
Yes, there is a difference in how the question is asked. If someone asks and they've already mentioned me being second choice or wanting to be closer to where their event is, then I tell them it's best to book when they're sure they'll be staying here. I bet I lose a few guests that way because they're NEVER going to find rooms closer to where they want to be because they waited too long!
It's not up to us to psychoanalys our guests and decide if they REALLY want to book here or not, take the booking, don't take the booking. We are not their travel agents. Let them cancel, charge them if they violate the terms of their agreement.
.
Most of them, if they have asked what the cancellation is (and are planning to 'shop around') cancel in plenty of time so they are not charged but not necessarily in time for me to rebook that room. Like the folks who held the rooms for 11 months and then cancelled on day 8 before arrival. Yeah, no charge to them but I'm stuck now with open rooms. Whereas they may have been booked at that point by guests who have now gone onto other places.
.
Bree said:
Most of them, if they have asked what the cancellation is (and are planning to 'shop around') cancel in plenty of time so they are not charged but not necessarily in time for me to rebook that room. Like the folks who held the rooms for 11 months and then cancelled on day 8 before arrival. Yeah, no charge to them but I'm stuck now with open rooms. Whereas they may have been booked at that point by guests who have now gone onto other places.
Again, it is their prerogative. It is part of doing business. We can up the cancellation periods then we would send guests running away fast. We have to do what works for us, and unfortunately there are stinky guests all over the place who mess up our system. We put in policies to stop those snafu's but it happens. We all have stories of losing business and tighten our policies up and then we let them loose again when we realize we just can't be that stringent. Or implement a booking fee of $25 like some do here on this forum to stop people from booking five places at once.
This is a great topic, thank you for bringing it up.
There was a guest here last week who was ill and mentioned to me like it was all my fault that they can't "get out of their reservations" as BnB's are so strict and she will never book a BnB again. Yes, she said that, she was from Texas and her face is etched in my memory bank for a few months at least. So on they went to the next BnB on their confirmed list. Not my fault they booked one night stays at 7 BnB's in a row. STUFF HAPPENS.
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Hotels don't let you walk away, either.
 
  1. Lack of the basic info needed to make a decision - type of bed, what kind of bathroom, rates, etc.
  2. Lack of online availability/ booking
  3. No proximity to major attractions, event venue, why I am visiting the area
  4. Crappy website, no photos, poor photos, outdated
These are my top obstacles to booking a particular B&B...in no particular order.
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn..
We have an old map still up there on out site that shows where we are in relationship to the interstates, (our state only has two and they are very close to us).
http://www.adobenido.com/map_directions.html
But more recently I added this map and our guests LOVE it. It was reletively easy to build and add to our site. Guests can interact with it and some have even asked us to put certain things they find on the map. I am struggling with what to call the link, so it will be more used by site visitors:
http://www.adobenido.com/points.html
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
I am one of those people. I refuse to do a reservation request. My personal experience with reservation requests is that it a) takes the innkeeper awhile to respond to the request (so I don't know if my room is confirmed or if I need to keep looking) and b) doesn't guarantee me the room that I want because a lot of times the requests are designed so that the innkeeper can shuffle their rooms around. I want to pick my room! lol!
 
How do they know how far? A MAP. Pet peeve of mine, I click onto websites from forum members and for the life of me not only not know what state they are in, but what country! They list highway numbers which means nothing to someone out of the area. Give us a BROAD overview and then hone in locally, we can make our plans this way! It is to your benefit as we see where you are and can plan our trip around YOUR inn..
Uh-oh...I guess I need to check my directions page and map! lol!
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
.
"Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait."
Wait for what? We check our emails during waking hours more than once an hour, right before bed, right after waking and send an email confirmation within hours of receiving it even when we're on vacation. We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
.
Tim_Toad_HLB said:
...We've never had a confirmation take more than 24 hours to go out, ever. We carry our cordless phone with us every waking moment we're on property and check phone messages regularly if not on property for even more than an hour.
I'm sure most innkeepers carry cellphones, PDAs, laptops, etc. wherever they go and are not out of communication capability for more than a few hours at a time, ever. The bigger ones with staff, probably have trained them to answer the phone or check emails if the owner is out running errands also. So where is this lack of communication ability occurring?
Lazy innkeepers who don't respond quickly to inquiries? If thats the case, they don't deserve the bookings and will quickly find themselves run over by their more dedicated, efficient and professional competition.
"Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it."
Well, of course you'd respond like that. You are in the business of selling a reservation system to innkeepers.
I don't mind that, but unless you are prepared to share the actual data from all these "surveys" your company does, I'll reserve the right to not fully trust it given the potential conflict of interest in using such data to make a point.
We've never had one guest express discomfort with a "request" sytem over anything including old-fashioned phone calls, emails, etc.
"That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product."
Excuse my high school math education and bluntness, but "MOST" means more than 50% to me and in your first sentence you stated only 50% of B&Bs still don't offer online reservations. Can you provide some sourcing for making that claim?
I hate to hold you to a higher degree of scrutiny than anyone else here, but you have a vested financial interest in providing certain kinds of information to innkeepers here and it seems fair to do so on my part.
Espcecially if I'm considering purchasing more of your company's products than I already subscribe to.
Like I said, most innkeepers on this forum are ahead of the pack, but in your own words you take up to 24hrs - there is the problem. And one lazy innkeeper in ten who doesn't respond makes the entire industry look bad. All it takes as a consumer is to wait 24hrs once at a small property, and they won't wait again. What do they do in that time period? Send 10 more emails? Book another property? It is frustrating.
Case in point - I went to Carmel for a wedding last fall. I booked online at one of our B&B's. It was my 3rd choice due to location. Requested rez from the other two. One didn't responde, the other didn't have the room I needed to handle my kids. It was a hassle compared to booking the Hilton up the street (which I didn't do).
In any case, we did a survey last summer that 4,000 consumers took - I'm quoting those results. We also have the luxury of owning both a request based system, and a fully confirmed system, and we've had innkeepers tell us their reservations doubled the day they switched from Webervations to RezOvation...
But getting back to my main point - this is what innkeepers themselves told us in Napa - and that is the irony of it all... that they didn't have the time to wait to see if their requests came back.
Utlimately, there is no doubt that booking a B&B overall (as an industry) is harder than booking hotels or motels - period. This is easy to change - so I for one want to change it.
There are a lot of good companies out there doing it as well. Whether it is Rezo, Weber, Resnexus, Superinn - these are companies all providing a great product and service at a great price, with people dedicated to this industry.
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Right after I typed the "lazy innkeeper" reference, I thought to myself that this aspect of things in our industry could be attributed to your surveys findings. But as I do in many things about life, I still find a contradiction in the "better tehcnology and more bells and whistles will cure everything" I feel is being promoted.
Thanks for confirming my hunch and adding background to the survey you mentioned.
It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that many of the same B&Bs not buying into trying to mimic coprorate hotel operations do so because they are perfectly happy to run their places the way they do and not out of resistance to technology or maximizing bookings. Even with the evolution of our industry, of that large number of old-school B&Bs being frowned upon, many could be part-timers, hobbyists not in need of maximizing income to survive and maybe even some folks who like things just the way they've done them forever. No crime in that I hope.
We have very well respected collegues who don't have any technological tools in place, would be considered very old school by most, but by all measures are very successful, actually turn away guests regularly and seem to be very contented doing things the way they've chosen to do them.
I think B&B size, style and owner commitment level dictates much of how far people take their approach to trying to compete against hotels even in the abstract, and many of us choose not to and carve out a comfortable niche that feels right an serves us and our guest's needs. There's no crime in that I hope.
You will get no argument from me as to your dedication to improving the availability, exposure level and professionalism of our industry.
We have been loyal partners since we opened our doors. We subscribe to as high of listing as we can afford, offer rooms via the system, offer hot deals almost every week, try to sell gift cards, we accept gift certificates, keep our lisitng up to date, alert you all to any incorrect information being published by Expedia/Hotels.com on our listing, etc.
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Tim_Toad_HLB said:
It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that many of the same B&Bs not buying into trying to mimic coprorate hotel operations do so because they are perfectly happy to run their places the way they do and not out of resistance to technology or maximizing bookings. Even with the evolution of our industry, of that large number of old-school B&Bs being frowned upon, many could be part-timers, hobbyists not in need of maximizing income to survive and maybe even some folks who like things just the way they've done them forever. No crime in that I hope.
That is a very good point to make, and you are absolutely correct. I've met a lot of B&B owners - one just recently at our open house - who have more business then they know what to do with, and they can really do whatever they want. No online reservations, only list on one site, etc.
All of my comments assume that folks want/need more business/revenue, and that as a whole, a goal of our industry is to take the 4% of the traveling public who stays at B&B's up to some higher number. 6% would already be a huge success!
 
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm.
aieechihuahua said:
What will keep me from booking at a B&B is location, (not close enought to what I am going to see), or price - $150 is my max, ususally. I will search high and low all over the internet to find one that fits my needs. I rely heavily on association web sites first, then TA and then b&b directories.
I find it very curious that the B&B owners that were mentioned said that B&Bs were too hard to book, don't you? Maybe too hard to find at the last minute, but hard to book? Hmmm
Yes - hard to book. Half the BB's still don't have online bookings - so you have to call, or email, and wait. Then most only have reservation requests - and we've seen in our surveys that 1/4th of people refuse to do a request, and another 1/4 strongly dislike it. Then there is the issue of a booking engine being really confusing (i won't name competitors), or not having photos next to the descriptions of rooms, or when you get to the credit card pages, having no visible hacker protection or credit card security.
Think if you went to Amazon and you were going to buy an item, and you saw no picture, you couldn't see if it was in stock - you had to email and ask them... In order to request it you had to put your credit card info onto a page with no hacker or credit card seal? And to make matters worse, when you got to the final page, they asked you to hand enter your requested product in again...
That is the experience that most BB's are still giving to guests - there is no wonder why folks are wary of the final product.
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John, I probably do lose a few bookings because I take a request - BUT I am answering those requests usually withing the hour unless it is in the middle of the night. I do provide what is in inventory with my availability calendar. I want the call more than anything to pin down dietary info. I cannot wait until they arrive to discover they are gluten-free or lactose intolerant or even diabetic. They do not enter it into the form. Even asking I get the guest sitting there saying I cannot have cinnamon when just about everything that morning had cinnamon in it.
I am not doubting your survey or questioning it. However, I really think it is a bit over the top to consider not taking a cc online as being hard to book.
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gillumhouse said:
John, I probably do lose a few bookings because I take a request - BUT I am answering those requests usually withing the hour unless it is in the middle of the night. I do provide what is in inventory with my availability calendar. I want the call more than anything to pin down dietary info. I cannot wait until they arrive to discover they are gluten-free or lactose intolerant or even diabetic. They do not enter it into the form. Even asking I get the guest sitting there saying I cannot have cinnamon when just about everything that morning had cinnamon in it.
I am not doubting your survey or questioning it. However, I really think it is a bit over the top to consider not taking a cc online as being hard to book.
That makes sense, and you have clearly thought about what works for you. One reason we liked Webervations is that it clearly works for a lot of innkeepers.
I should clarify though - not taking a credit card is actually just fine. Taking one on a non-secure page/with no visible hacker seal/verisign logo/etc. is where the problem is. People are scared of credit card security, so if we ask for it, we need to make them comfortable it is safe.
 
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