New reservation system

[JBloggs]

No matter where I look at reserving there is a date you enter to see what is available. Click this link and this link you will see the same.
It is a standard across the board booking layout.
Not sure why we would want to go against the standard way of doing it, it will only confuse the populous.

 

[Morticia]

No matter where I look at reserving there is a date you enter to see what is available. Click this link and this link you will see the same.
It is a standard across the board booking layout.
Not sure why we would want to go against the standard way of doing it, it will only confuse the populous..

Looks like the difference is that the B&B style reservation pages show a list of rooms FIRST and then make the guest search for a place to enter a date.
Showing a place to enter a date first, like the hotels do, and then a list of rooms available would be more the standard.
After the guest enters a date, showing them a list of rooms that all say 'Not available' is annoying, too. Then giving the option to see a calendar would be helpful.
Like Harbor, our guests are somewhat flexible on dates, unless it's an event, so I vote for showing both. With a place to enter a date first rather than showing a list of rooms and having to search for the field to enter the date. Then an obvious link to a calendar.
We have the availability calendar for individual rooms on the room pages. Guests tell me all the time they don't know if the room is available on the date they want. So no system works for every guest.
Giving multiple options for different ways of thinking is the best bet.

 

[Arks]

As a guest - I am traveling on these dates. Period. I am not flexible with dates because this is when I will be traveling for whatever reason. I am not a la-di-da traveler. There is a reason I am going at this particular time. Even in the old days when we vacationed this was so. We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room..

We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room.

Am now picturing Kathleen wiggling.
I'll bet she enjoyed dancing The Twist back in the 50's.
.

Once bulk gets put in motion, it is hard to stop.
PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.
.

PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.

But..but..but...Wikipedia is never wrong! I'm sure of that! I thought it was 60's too, but Wiki says different.
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the late 1950s...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_%28dance%29

 

[happykeeper]

I've found a way in ResKey that may be the best for me without bothering John. I now have it set to first collect their desired date, then show the rooms available for that date. But if there is NO availability for their date(s) it shows the availability calendar beneath a contact box (the contact box lets them send a waiting list request for the desired date).
So if their desired date is full, they see the calendar so they can find a date that is not full, and they also get the option to send a waiting list request.
Here's the setting I'm currently using:

• Click Website tab
• Click Reservation Pages
• Then click on the reservation page to open
• Under Reservation Modes set it to Show availability calendar: Only when no rooms available

.

We have set the same except- we have it set to Only when no rooms available OR within a cut off period.

 

[happykeeper]

As a guest - I am traveling on these dates. Period. I am not flexible with dates because this is when I will be traveling for whatever reason. I am not a la-di-da traveler. There is a reason I am going at this particular time. Even in the old days when we vacationed this was so. We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room..

We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room.

Am now picturing Kathleen wiggling.
I'll bet she enjoyed dancing The Twist back in the 50's.
.

Once bulk gets put in motion, it is hard to stop.
PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.
.

PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.

But..but..but...Wikipedia is never wrong! I'm sure of that! I thought it was 60's too, but Wiki says different.
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the late 1950s...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_%28dance%29
.

If my very spotty memory serves me, The Twist was released on several occasions and included Twist Again and other iterations, which may have had a carry over effect into the 60's, until you know who showed up.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Even airb and b gives a calendar with the available dates. When I'm planning a trip and not just a short getaway, I plan our stops/route not only by the attractions, but by the lodging I want and dates available. If you are located along a tourist route, give them a calendar! If your rooms are unique with significant differences, give them a calendar. We have 1 room that is by far the most popular and will plan their stay around it's availability. It would be too frustrating for them to keep putting in every day of the week/month.

 

[Morticia]

Even airb and b gives a calendar with the available dates. When I'm planning a trip and not just a short getaway, I plan our stops/route not only by the attractions, but by the lodging I want and dates available. If you are located along a tourist route, give them a calendar! If your rooms are unique with significant differences, give them a calendar. We have 1 room that is by far the most popular and will plan their stay around it's availability. It would be too frustrating for them to keep putting in every day of the week/month..

It does seem like it's a difference in the type of guest. We have guests who call for 'their' room and will switch weekends to get that room.
Or guests who have 2 weeks to travel will start here if we have rooms open or will finish here and start somewhere else. But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.
I'm very visual. The calendar, like any chart, helps me immensely. It's quick. No rooms. Move on. Especially if the guest needs more than one room. They can quickly see how many rooms are open and which ones.
Last week I tried to make a rez for an event taking place at a resort. Plugged in the date. Full. Plugged in the day before. Full. Finally found the calendar option and discovered the rooms are only open on weekends. The event space is open all the time. Why not make it easy on me? I've tried to book this place mid week in January and couldn't figure out why they were always full until I found the calendar.

 

[gillumhouse]

As a guest - I am traveling on these dates. Period. I am not flexible with dates because this is when I will be traveling for whatever reason. I am not a la-di-da traveler. There is a reason I am going at this particular time. Even in the old days when we vacationed this was so. We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room..

We scheduled a time period around school, kids activities and schedules, and work. Not wiggle room.

Am now picturing Kathleen wiggling.
I'll bet she enjoyed dancing The Twist back in the 50's.
.

Once bulk gets put in motion, it is hard to stop.
PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.
.

PS: Twist was in the 60s - we were still innocents in the 50s.

But..but..but...Wikipedia is never wrong! I'm sure of that! I thought it was 60's too, but Wiki says different.
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the late 1950s...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_%28dance%29
.

I checked before I posted becuz was not sure if it was 59 or 60. The Goo search said 1960. I remembered it from high school, not grade school (my grade school was 1-8 until my class graduated in May of 59).

 

[Arks]

Even airb and b gives a calendar with the available dates. When I'm planning a trip and not just a short getaway, I plan our stops/route not only by the attractions, but by the lodging I want and dates available. If you are located along a tourist route, give them a calendar! If your rooms are unique with significant differences, give them a calendar. We have 1 room that is by far the most popular and will plan their stay around it's availability. It would be too frustrating for them to keep putting in every day of the week/month..

It does seem like it's a difference in the type of guest. We have guests who call for 'their' room and will switch weekends to get that room.
Or guests who have 2 weeks to travel will start here if we have rooms open or will finish here and start somewhere else. But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.
I'm very visual. The calendar, like any chart, helps me immensely. It's quick. No rooms. Move on. Especially if the guest needs more than one room. They can quickly see how many rooms are open and which ones.
Last week I tried to make a rez for an event taking place at a resort. Plugged in the date. Full. Plugged in the day before. Full. Finally found the calendar option and discovered the rooms are only open on weekends. The event space is open all the time. Why not make it easy on me? I've tried to book this place mid week in January and couldn't figure out why they were always full until I found the calendar.
.

But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.

I agree. If you did have it start with the desired date (a reasonable place to start) it should immediately show the calendar view if the desired date is totally booked already.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Even airb and b gives a calendar with the available dates. When I'm planning a trip and not just a short getaway, I plan our stops/route not only by the attractions, but by the lodging I want and dates available. If you are located along a tourist route, give them a calendar! If your rooms are unique with significant differences, give them a calendar. We have 1 room that is by far the most popular and will plan their stay around it's availability. It would be too frustrating for them to keep putting in every day of the week/month..

It does seem like it's a difference in the type of guest. We have guests who call for 'their' room and will switch weekends to get that room.
Or guests who have 2 weeks to travel will start here if we have rooms open or will finish here and start somewhere else. But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.
I'm very visual. The calendar, like any chart, helps me immensely. It's quick. No rooms. Move on. Especially if the guest needs more than one room. They can quickly see how many rooms are open and which ones.
Last week I tried to make a rez for an event taking place at a resort. Plugged in the date. Full. Plugged in the day before. Full. Finally found the calendar option and discovered the rooms are only open on weekends. The event space is open all the time. Why not make it easy on me? I've tried to book this place mid week in January and couldn't figure out why they were always full until I found the calendar.
.

But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.

I agree. If you did have it start with the desired date (a reasonable place to start) it should immediately show the calendar view if the desired date is totally booked already.
.

But I'm not sure how many times they would keep plugging in dates before getting frustrated.

I agree. If you did have it start with the desired date (a reasonable place to start) it should immediately show the calendar view if the desired date is totally booked already.

And ResKey now does that

 

[Madeleine]

This is what I'm getting:
Date option first.
Then list of rooms open on that date.
Then calendar option so guests with flexible dates can find rooms open without having to fill in date form again.
I don't really care if every competitor in town looks at my availability quickly and easily, I do the same. Also don't care if guests do that. There is generally enough business to go around. Why waste the guest's time making things difficult just to make it harder on the neighbors?
But, what I don't know is if I even have the option to do this multiple ways. I'm still in the setup stage.
Id like to add the single date field on every page like BD has on her site.