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My first look...impression...boring.... But better than the old one I think.
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer.
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer..
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer..
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
.
catlady said:
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Isn't it Hom e aw ay?
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer..
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
.
catlady said:
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Isn't it Hom e aw ay?
.
This is weird. I put in my town zip code and get a "featured inn" 40 miles away!!!! Then they list those in my town. That is NOT right!! Where do I complain? I don't know if it is Home a way or not?
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer..
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
.
catlady said:
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Isn't it Hom e aw ay?
.
You are right h o me aw ay.Inc
 
He still has the stupid ads all over. The guy has no idea as to what is a distraction to his customer..
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
.
catlady said:
It is not individually owned any more...it is owned by a corporation. I can't remember which it is...Just like bb on line is corporate as well. Who remembers which is which?
These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Isn't it Hom e aw ay?
.
This is weird. I put in my town zip code and get a "featured inn" 40 miles away!!!! Then they list those in my town. That is NOT right!! Where do I complain? I don't know if it is Home a way or not?
.
That inn paid the freight - those in your city did not. Positioning.
 
They seem to have taken one suggestion and gotten rid of the gold, silver, bronze designations. I noticed all that happens is my inn doesn't move up the list so the other places must all have higher memberships than I have.
 
I like the look better than the garish bright blue they had before, but the ads -- come on! I really don't want to see an animated gif of squeezing belly fat when I'm looking for a B&B. Just looks cheap and "anything for a buck".
 
CL - you hit the nail on the head when you said: These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Boring! And so white, it hurts my eyes - but that is just cosmetic, here are some real issues to discuss -
  • Rotational listings gone - as brought up by Maddie. They removed the listing catagories (silver, gold etc) So if you want a chance to be seen you better pay up. (no wonder they were pushing the Inn of the Month and Featured Listings)
  • Map Search - less visible on home page. No map and the 'Search by Map' is secondary and not as noticable in the search box. So if you live in Small Town USA you are less likely to be seen in a search, that is unless you pay up by paying for a Secondary listing in neighboring well known City.
  • Expanded Search - they use to have a expand search to 30 miles, 40 miles etc. That is gone, replaced by the google interactive map.
  • Filtered Search of list: Did any notice this? Filter listings by classification- these were listed under a neighboring city: 'Bed and Breakfast', 'Homestay bed and breakfast', 'Private Home bed and breakfast', 'Country Inn', 'Guest cottage', 'Working Ranch', 'Urban Inn'
  • Banner ads on MY listing page - the banner ad was for a HOTEL. (First, I PAID for that page, there should be NO ads on that page. PERIOD! But if they do I should get the click money that comes from any other ad on that page, and they should be filtering out any ads that are competitive to our business.)
So IMMHO these folks (owners) are taking the ease of use away from those that use the site to find lodging in a effort to coax members to upgrade their listings, purchase 2ndary listing and to force more bidding (for more profit) on Inn of the Month or Featured in order to be seen.
In the city near me (5 miles away) there are no B&B's so the Big city B&B's 30 miles away come up before my listing as they pay for platinum. Our listing now is #44 on the list (I pay silver). My city has me, then another section below that says 'Nearby Inns within 30 Miles'.
They have added a map once you get to a city page, that helps you know the distance covered in the listings, but it only becomes interactive when the box (under map) is checked. Then additional B&B's will be added or you can span out or narrow in. Now here is another kicker: If you check the box, it may bring up more listing when doing your search but they are again in the order of the paid membership status not distance from town center.
All this to say that I do not think the average user will spend this much time tweaking this site to get the results they want. For big cities, the B&B's that pay the piper and are lucky enough to get top tier will get results, the ones that don't will not get the results they want.
With the old site I was getting enough business to make the listing worthwhile (not what good marketing #s should be though). I am not so sure it will continue to do so given the search results I am seeing now. I will be watching this very closely.
 
CL - you hit the nail on the head when you said: These folks are out to make money...bottom line.
Boring! And so white, it hurts my eyes - but that is just cosmetic, here are some real issues to discuss -
  • Rotational listings gone - as brought up by Maddie. They removed the listing catagories (silver, gold etc) So if you want a chance to be seen you better pay up. (no wonder they were pushing the Inn of the Month and Featured Listings)
  • Map Search - less visible on home page. No map and the 'Search by Map' is secondary and not as noticable in the search box. So if you live in Small Town USA you are less likely to be seen in a search, that is unless you pay up by paying for a Secondary listing in neighboring well known City.
  • Expanded Search - they use to have a expand search to 30 miles, 40 miles etc. That is gone, replaced by the google interactive map.
  • Filtered Search of list: Did any notice this? Filter listings by classification- these were listed under a neighboring city: 'Bed and Breakfast', 'Homestay bed and breakfast', 'Private Home bed and breakfast', 'Country Inn', 'Guest cottage', 'Working Ranch', 'Urban Inn'
  • Banner ads on MY listing page - the banner ad was for a HOTEL. (First, I PAID for that page, there should be NO ads on that page. PERIOD! But if they do I should get the click money that comes from any other ad on that page, and they should be filtering out any ads that are competitive to our business.)
So IMMHO these folks (owners) are taking the ease of use away from those that use the site to find lodging in a effort to coax members to upgrade their listings, purchase 2ndary listing and to force more bidding (for more profit) on Inn of the Month or Featured in order to be seen.
In the city near me (5 miles away) there are no B&B's so the Big city B&B's 30 miles away come up before my listing as they pay for platinum. Our listing now is #44 on the list (I pay silver). My city has me, then another section below that says 'Nearby Inns within 30 Miles'.
They have added a map once you get to a city page, that helps you know the distance covered in the listings, but it only becomes interactive when the box (under map) is checked. Then additional B&B's will be added or you can span out or narrow in. Now here is another kicker: If you check the box, it may bring up more listing when doing your search but they are again in the order of the paid membership status not distance from town center.
All this to say that I do not think the average user will spend this much time tweaking this site to get the results they want. For big cities, the B&B's that pay the piper and are lucky enough to get top tier will get results, the ones that don't will not get the results they want.
With the old site I was getting enough business to make the listing worthwhile (not what good marketing #s should be though). I am not so sure it will continue to do so given the search results I am seeing now. I will be watching this very closely..
Hey...they have to pay for all that air time on Wheel of Fortune!!!
poke.gif

 
Yep if you put in my town of Charlottesville you don't see a Charlottesville inn until #5. The #1 , #2 iand #3 inns are all 20-30 minute drive away and #4 is even further away
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so.
I went into "inns for sale" and put in virginia to search and get errors. They need to check their work!
RIki
 
I kissed them good bye in July! I think that might have been a wise choice!
 
Yep if you put in my town of Charlottesville you don't see a Charlottesville inn until #5. The #1 , #2 iand #3 inns are all 20-30 minute drive away and #4 is even further away
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so.
I went into "inns for sale" and put in virginia to search and get errors. They need to check their work!
RIki.
egoodell said:
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so
We didn't renew last year in July. They were a big source of traffic to our website but we found that other sources just replaced them, and we had just as many visits to our website. Our revenue was up a bit at the end of the year as well. They sent us a significantly discounted offer for a bronze listing at $99, so we have just renewed, but I don't think I would renew again at the old price. Especially not with the redesign.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
 
Yep if you put in my town of Charlottesville you don't see a Charlottesville inn until #5. The #1 , #2 iand #3 inns are all 20-30 minute drive away and #4 is even further away
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so.
I went into "inns for sale" and put in virginia to search and get errors. They need to check their work!
RIki.
egoodell said:
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so
We didn't renew last year in July. They were a big source of traffic to our website but we found that other sources just replaced them, and we had just as many visits to our website. Our revenue was up a bit at the end of the year as well. They sent us a significantly discounted offer for a bronze listing at $99, so we have just renewed, but I don't think I would renew again at the old price. Especially not with the redesign.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
.
muirford said:
egoodell said:
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so
We didn't renew last year in July. They were a big source of traffic to our website but we found that other sources just replaced them, and we had just as many visits to our website. Our revenue was up a bit at the end of the year as well. They sent us a significantly discounted offer for a bronze listing at $99, so we have just renewed, but I don't think I would renew again at the old price. Especially not with the redesign.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
I switched from Webervations to Availability and am glad I left. I keep hearing about more and more problems. LIke missing cc numbers and they don't care since the card was good - leaving the innkeeper to have to contact the guest!!
I would renew if they offered me $99 but I don't think I would pay their regular rate. We are using all our cash to finish the first half of our new wing to get the first two rooms up and running by Spring. I'm glad to hear you didn't see much change - I'm hoping for the same. They are not so effective to me when the first 6-8 listings only show 2 in Charlottesville.
RIki
 
Yep if you put in my town of Charlottesville you don't see a Charlottesville inn until #5. The #1 , #2 iand #3 inns are all 20-30 minute drive away and #4 is even further away
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so.
I went into "inns for sale" and put in virginia to search and get errors. They need to check their work!
RIki.
egoodell said:
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so
We didn't renew last year in July. They were a big source of traffic to our website but we found that other sources just replaced them, and we had just as many visits to our website. Our revenue was up a bit at the end of the year as well. They sent us a significantly discounted offer for a bronze listing at $99, so we have just renewed, but I don't think I would renew again at the old price. Especially not with the redesign.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
I'm with you on this one, Muirford! And will be watching stats on B&B.com which I am sure will be dropping significantly with this redesign.
 
Yep if you put in my town of Charlottesville you don't see a Charlottesville inn until #5. The #1 , #2 iand #3 inns are all 20-30 minute drive away and #4 is even further away
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so.
I went into "inns for sale" and put in virginia to search and get errors. They need to check their work!
RIki.
egoodell said:
I didn't renew since I didn't have the money at the time so will see if I can do fine wtihout - hope so
We didn't renew last year in July. They were a big source of traffic to our website but we found that other sources just replaced them, and we had just as many visits to our website. Our revenue was up a bit at the end of the year as well. They sent us a significantly discounted offer for a bronze listing at $99, so we have just renewed, but I don't think I would renew again at the old price. Especially not with the redesign.
And don't even talk to me about Webervations. I am bound and determined to switch online booking systems this year.
.
Take a look at Res Key.
 
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