Living Social Lodging Deals

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Samster

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2008
Messages
6,478
Reaction score
16
Location
South Carolina
Has anyone used Living Social deals to promote their slow season? Just curious as I've just used it for a great hotel getaway at a luxury hotel (which was not cheap) and today I bought a deal for two nights at a B&B in a very popular tourist city in my State that I've yet to visit. I've set up alerts for places that I frequently visit or want to visit. Some of the deals are great packages but not cheap discounts or anything. I think you can really structure them to suit you best. I'm seeing them as ways to explore areas that I have not visited also. Something to look at and consider to entice travelers like me who don't mind spending some money but are looking for something interesting...
 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
I'm thinking anyone who got a room here for $75 in March would not come back in August and pay $150. I'm also pretty sure that we could not operate at $37.50/night for a room. I don't think the demand is there for a place with no pool in the dead of winter. And I've heard about the trials and tribulations of 'packages' when the small property, without a restaurant or other on site 'add on' amenity, has to foot the bill for the add ons.
I guess I could say my romance pkg now costs $90 when I do the calculation for the deal so that I actually get what it costs me to add on the flowers, chocolates and cider.
 
Living Social and Groupon have bankrupted many a businesses. We have many discussions on here about this. You might as well work for free. The hope is to have return guests, or extended stays, but that doesn't seem to be in the stats. They (LS and G) boast all the attention you will get and people will notice your B&B name and it will bring you truckloads of full fare guests, again, that doesnt seem to be in the stats either.
 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
They are not allowed to sell at highest rate. I will let someone who has done this at their inn speak to this, as I did look into it two winters ago. They want to cheapest deals possible so people will buy them. The lowest room rate, so for a b&B if the rooms are $110-189 they want the deal to be on the $110, so half that, and then halve it again for what the inn gets. So the deal is $55, then the inn gets $27.50 for that room. That doesn't cover the housekeeping and breakfast costs.
So to make it a better deal you have to provide addson or a package, whcih is the same, not full rate, so say you add flowers - $30. G or LS takes their cut to make them 50% off, so it is $15 you get in the end.
So total $42 for this room, one night, flip. IF THAT.
LS and Groupon are sucker deals. I hope innkeepers steer clear of them.
 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
I'm thinking anyone who got a room here for $75 in March would not come back in August and pay $150. I'm also pretty sure that we could not operate at $37.50/night for a room. I don't think the demand is there for a place with no pool in the dead of winter. And I've heard about the trials and tribulations of 'packages' when the small property, without a restaurant or other on site 'add on' amenity, has to foot the bill for the add ons.
I guess I could say my romance pkg now costs $90 when I do the calculation for the deal so that I actually get what it costs me to add on the flowers, chocolates and cider.
.
I have not had any deals for B&Bs hit my inbox that are anywhere near that cheap per room night!! (Even taking out any of the other parts of the package that the inn provides.) Several of the deals have discount admissions to area attractions or recreation, not "freebies" in the package.
Many of the deals have a short time span, limited rooms, only good during the week, etc. I have no idea what the cut is to LS at this time.
I was just throwing this out to the forum members as a possible marketing tool. I peruse all the escapes that come to my inbox. Here's another reason to consider - we already have our vacations planned for this year but a deal showed up that we could use for our son's birthday weekend in a city near where they will be visiting for a getaway. We are now planning to meet up with them for a tour where we will be. This was a total impulse buy. We have been meaning to visit this city and if I like this B&B, I would probably return there again because I'm sure that we won't get to see everything that we want to in this short trip.
I never got anything from doing the "hot deals" on the directory site. But this has a much broader reach. Just something to think about if you need to try to put heads in beds....
 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
They are not allowed to sell at highest rate. I will let someone who has done this at their inn speak to this, as I did look into it two winters ago. They want to cheapest deals possible so people will buy them. The lowest room rate, so for a b&B if the rooms are $110-189 they want the deal to be on the $110, so half that, and then halve it again for what the inn gets. So the deal is $55, then the inn gets $27.50 for that room. That doesn't cover the housekeeping and breakfast costs.
So to make it a better deal you have to provide addson or a package, whcih is the same, not full rate, so say you add flowers - $30. G or LS takes their cut to make them 50% off, so it is $15 you get in the end.
So total $42 for this room, one night, flip. IF THAT.
LS and Groupon are sucker deals. I hope innkeepers steer clear of them.
.
The deal I just bought was their most expensive room and the "value" on the package for the room alone (when I separated out the other parts of the deal) was indeed the highest current rack rate that I saw on the hotel booking site. Perhaps their rate is higher at another time of year. I don't know if this is a change from when you looked at doing it, but I do know what I paid.
regular_smile.gif

 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
I'm thinking anyone who got a room here for $75 in March would not come back in August and pay $150. I'm also pretty sure that we could not operate at $37.50/night for a room. I don't think the demand is there for a place with no pool in the dead of winter. And I've heard about the trials and tribulations of 'packages' when the small property, without a restaurant or other on site 'add on' amenity, has to foot the bill for the add ons.
I guess I could say my romance pkg now costs $90 when I do the calculation for the deal so that I actually get what it costs me to add on the flowers, chocolates and cider.
.
I have not had any deals for B&Bs hit my inbox that are anywhere near that cheap per room night!! (Even taking out any of the other parts of the package that the inn provides.) Several of the deals have discount admissions to area attractions or recreation, not "freebies" in the package.
Many of the deals have a short time span, limited rooms, only good during the week, etc. I have no idea what the cut is to LS at this time.
I was just throwing this out to the forum members as a possible marketing tool. I peruse all the escapes that come to my inbox. Here's another reason to consider - we already have our vacations planned for this year but a deal showed up that we could use for our son's birthday weekend in a city near where they will be visiting for a getaway. We are now planning to meet up with them for a tour where we will be. This was a total impulse buy. We have been meaning to visit this city and if I like this B&B, I would probably return there again because I'm sure that we won't get to see everything that we want to in this short trip.
I never got anything from doing the "hot deals" on the directory site. But this has a much broader reach. Just something to think about if you need to try to put heads in beds....
.
Last I heard LS was a better deal than G but it was 60/40 - still not enough to be worth heating the house for. These really work better for the larger inns from what I hear. You have to have enough rooms to accommodate and I hear they want you to offer no less than 50 of the deal.
 
Would you go back to any of those places at full price?.
Yes, absolutely! Because as I said, many of the Living Social Escapes are packages. For the hotels, remember that luxury hotels rarely sell their rooms for the highest "rack rate" which is the what they're going to tell you is the regular price. Also, I would definitely book the hotel that we visited again but I might not book the super expensive suite that we were in with this package. It was a brand that I've never stayed in (and we've hit most of them), so the deal exposed me to that too.
For a B&B that has a true slow season, I think marketing an escape package through LS would really reach a lot more people and could fill your rooms. You set the parameters of the deal, too. I think that the LS opportunities seem to be a better fit for the B&B niche.
I just noticed that one of inn mates here on the forum has a deal on LS...I hope that they chime in on this.
regular_smile.gif

.
I'm thinking anyone who got a room here for $75 in March would not come back in August and pay $150. I'm also pretty sure that we could not operate at $37.50/night for a room. I don't think the demand is there for a place with no pool in the dead of winter. And I've heard about the trials and tribulations of 'packages' when the small property, without a restaurant or other on site 'add on' amenity, has to foot the bill for the add ons.
I guess I could say my romance pkg now costs $90 when I do the calculation for the deal so that I actually get what it costs me to add on the flowers, chocolates and cider.
.
I have not had any deals for B&Bs hit my inbox that are anywhere near that cheap per room night!! (Even taking out any of the other parts of the package that the inn provides.) Several of the deals have discount admissions to area attractions or recreation, not "freebies" in the package.
Many of the deals have a short time span, limited rooms, only good during the week, etc. I have no idea what the cut is to LS at this time.
I was just throwing this out to the forum members as a possible marketing tool. I peruse all the escapes that come to my inbox. Here's another reason to consider - we already have our vacations planned for this year but a deal showed up that we could use for our son's birthday weekend in a city near where they will be visiting for a getaway. We are now planning to meet up with them for a tour where we will be. This was a total impulse buy. We have been meaning to visit this city and if I like this B&B, I would probably return there again because I'm sure that we won't get to see everything that we want to in this short trip.
I never got anything from doing the "hot deals" on the directory site. But this has a much broader reach. Just something to think about if you need to try to put heads in beds....
.
Last I heard LS was a better deal than G but it was 60/40 - still not enough to be worth heating the house for. These really work better for the larger inns from what I hear. You have to have enough rooms to accommodate and I hear they want you to offer no less than 50 of the deal.
.
PAII members are 65/35, if I remember correctly. Still, if the room rate is $100 a night, the 50% off makes it $50 and 65% of that is just $32.50. Makes it hard to pay the bills, never mind breakfast with that.
 
I never got around to doing it last year but might this year. I told them I need $100 in my pocket per night for it to even work for me. They said I need to get the added values in such as a free desert or beverage at a restaurant, discount on local massages etc. I just read on the other forum that Jay Karen talked to Living Social and so they upped the payment rate to 70/30.
 
Back
Top