Score: Hotels 96% to B&Bs 4% occupancy

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I agree to a certain extent, and I got tons of first-time B&Bers too. I've found that gearing my SEO to the attractions and activities in my area has helped tremendously. While some people see the website and like it, book, and THEN figure out what there is to do, by far the larger number know pretty much where they're going to go and what they're going to do, just not where they're going to stay.
Ours is a younger and highly active crowd so I promoe our proximity to the neighboring ski resort and the surrounding XX ski and snowshoe trails in the winter and the hiking trails, lakes and such during the warm season.
My opentracker shows me just how the use of area-related keywords that change with the season's activities have helped us. We get alot more traffic from that than from searches like "mycity bed and breakfast".
Just my two cents worth.
.

I'm not going to quote any of your post because our experience, approach and tracking mirrors it very closely.
We are pushing both our proximity to some of the most popular attractions in our area, but also our marketing language and hopefully tone is geared to be purposely disarming and unintimidating for even a person with no experience staying at a B&B before.
This ain't some uptight grannie's spare bedroom in the attic. Or posh, exclusive and pretentious spot for those needing more ego stroking than their daily lives already provides.
Not that there is anything wrong with the old school way and I have enormous respect for any very small, niche oriented B&B regardless of approach that has found its comfort zone and its all working for them and their guests.
We're roughly 20-25 minutes outside of Santa Fe but if one looks at just for instance, the forums on TA or any guide for Santa Fe's "things to see and do" in our area, much of it is actually closer to us than downtown.
Despite that, our occupancy and that of our other outlying area colleagues always suffers from what we call "Plazaitis"
I'm not down on downtown in the slightest, this is one of the nicest smaller sized towns I've ever been in in many ways. Just making a point.
For a good number of visitors to our area, they just refuse to even consider staying anywhere that isn't within blocks of the historic Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. They'll spend much of their days practically driving right past us on their way to Taos, Bandelier National Monument, Chimayo, etc.
The Santuario de Chimayo is an old historic church out in our immediate area that on Easter weekend over 25,000 people make a walking pilgramage to from as far away as Albuquerque which is 90 miles from the church. Bandelier which is filled with ancient ruins, cliff dwellings, etc. gets about 700,000 visitors a year.
For many of our guests who frequently visit the area, they "get it" about much of this and they certainly spend time in town, but most will shrug their shoulders and lament that after a few hours of it, what else is there but more noise, congestion, higher room rates, a 5% higher lodging tax, etc.
Most express how grateful and SURPRISED they are to be able to spend most of their down time where one hears more birds than cars, see more stars than streetlights, and in a place that affords them such easy access to the things "they knew they wanted to explore before even booking the trip" while not missing out on the main attraction which is this vibrant little arts, dining, culture and history mecca.

 

[wendydk]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I think it's great that you have found your niche. What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels. What used to be our corner of the market, the 'walkability' of our location was severely undercut when the town allowed a huge chain hotel to build right in the center of downtown, where they had been 'forbidden' for years.
THAT'S where our cut of the pie went. Because we don't have a pool and a lounge and a restaurant guests will now stay where they get all of that and the ease of walking to everything. Trying to recoup that has been uphill all the way.
.

The way I see it, if there are 7 chain hotels in your town, there must be something that is attracting people. What do you feel is the big draw in your area? What are most of your guests there to do? Who do you specifically market to now?

 

[Morticia]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I think it's great that you have found your niche. What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels. What used to be our corner of the market, the 'walkability' of our location was severely undercut when the town allowed a huge chain hotel to build right in the center of downtown, where they had been 'forbidden' for years.
THAT'S where our cut of the pie went. Because we don't have a pool and a lounge and a restaurant guests will now stay where they get all of that and the ease of walking to everything. Trying to recoup that has been uphill all the way.
.

What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels.

What I am trying to say is that it is an industry thing - big reasons consumers don't think about B&B's are because they are under the impression that they are difficult to book, that they have such varied services levels and they don't find many consumer reviews on them, that credit card security is missing, etc. etc. Of course there are others like price, chain affinity, etc.
There are so many we can easily correct that at a minimum we can get rid of the advantage that large chains used to have on things like booking engines, distribution, consumer reviews, etc.
.

The whole cc security thing is a joke. My cc number has been stolen at least 4 times in 4 years. Where from? A small mom & pop shop? Nope. From TJMaxx companies & from a major grocery store chain. My SSN was stolen from a state I don't even live in. Hubs's SSN was on a laptop stolen in DC along with millions of other veterans' info. There were a couple of other breaches in there, too. It's gotten to the point now that I have free credit reporting for life because my data has been stolen so many times. NEVER, tho, has my data been compromised from a small business.
Along with the security issues, how about the privacy issues? I stayed at a Hilton hotel last year. A few weeks later I got a letter in the mail asking me to take a survey on how my stay went. WHAT?! What business do they have sending me mail asking me to rate my stay? What if I had not wanted my entire family to know where I was? And guests think they're not going to have privacy at a B&B!
My parents travel a lot. My mother keeps a notebook of every hotel they stay at and every restaurant they've eaten in. They will drive right by a hotel that she has marked as 'unacceptable' for whatever reason...service, cleanliness, noise, etc. You're not getting the same level of service, the same amenities, the same anything just because there's a corporate logo over the door and I do NOT get why travelers don't understand that. For all of the rants about service, cleanliness, etc that hotel reviews show every day of the week, why the heck travlelers insist on staying there is beyond me.
Why someone would pay the same price to stay at the Motel 6 as they would pay here and then go onto TA and rant about how dirty it was and how all they had was a stale donut for breakfast is, again, beyond me. The assumption is that they will have a corporate office to fall back on if they don't like their stay. That's a reactive way of looking at a vacation. How about actually trying to enjoy the vacation!

 

[Morticia]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I agree to a certain extent, and I got tons of first-time B&Bers too. I've found that gearing my SEO to the attractions and activities in my area has helped tremendously. While some people see the website and like it, book, and THEN figure out what there is to do, by far the larger number know pretty much where they're going to go and what they're going to do, just not where they're going to stay.
Ours is a younger and highly active crowd so I promoe our proximity to the neighboring ski resort and the surrounding XX ski and snowshoe trails in the winter and the hiking trails, lakes and such during the warm season.
My opentracker shows me just how the use of area-related keywords that change with the season's activities have helped us. We get alot more traffic from that than from searches like "mycity bed and breakfast".
Just my two cents worth.
.

I'm not going to quote any of your post because our experience, approach and tracking mirrors it very closely.
We are pushing both our proximity to some of the most popular attractions in our area, but also our marketing language and hopefully tone is geared to be purposely disarming and unintimidating for even a person with no experience staying at a B&B before.
This ain't some uptight grannie's spare bedroom in the attic. Or posh, exclusive and pretentious spot for those needing more ego stroking than their daily lives already provides.
Not that there is anything wrong with the old school way and I have enormous respect for any very small, niche oriented B&B regardless of approach that has found its comfort zone and its all working for them and their guests.
We're roughly 20-25 minutes outside of Santa Fe but if one looks at just for instance, the forums on TA or any guide for Santa Fe's "things to see and do" in our area, much of it is actually closer to us than downtown.
Despite that, our occupancy and that of our other outlying area colleagues always suffers from what we call "Plazaitis"
I'm not down on downtown in the slightest, this is one of the nicest smaller sized towns I've ever been in in many ways. Just making a point.
For a good number of visitors to our area, they just refuse to even consider staying anywhere that isn't within blocks of the historic Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. They'll spend much of their days practically driving right past us on their way to Taos, Bandelier National Monument, Chimayo, etc.
The Santuario de Chimayo is an old historic church out in our immediate area that on Easter weekend over 25,000 people make a walking pilgramage to from as far away as Albuquerque which is 90 miles from the church. Bandelier which is filled with ancient ruins, cliff dwellings, etc. gets about 700,000 visitors a year.
For many of our guests who frequently visit the area, they "get it" about much of this and they certainly spend time in town, but most will shrug their shoulders and lament that after a few hours of it, what else is there but more noise, congestion, higher room rates, a 5% higher lodging tax, etc.
Most express how grateful and SURPRISED they are to be able to spend most of their down time where one hears more birds than cars, see more stars than streetlights, and in a place that affords them such easy access to the things "they knew they wanted to explore before even booking the trip" while not missing out on the main attraction which is this vibrant little arts, dining, culture and history mecca.
.

I was there for Easter and saw the pilgrims. I loved Bandelier Park (both of them). But, I too, wanted to be in walking distance to all the other stuff. Not, of course, realizing that 'all of the other stuff' was mostly closed for Easter starting on Good Friday and going right thru Monday. Luckily, the parks were open! And we got into the museums before they closed. My whole reason for going to Santa Fe was to go to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum (in which I was very disappointed) but the state capitol art collection was terrific.

 

[Morticia]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I think it's great that you have found your niche. What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels. What used to be our corner of the market, the 'walkability' of our location was severely undercut when the town allowed a huge chain hotel to build right in the center of downtown, where they had been 'forbidden' for years.
THAT'S where our cut of the pie went. Because we don't have a pool and a lounge and a restaurant guests will now stay where they get all of that and the ease of walking to everything. Trying to recoup that has been uphill all the way.
.

I think it's great that you have found your niche. What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels. What used to be our corner of the market, the 'walkability' of our location was severely undercut when the town allowed a huge chain hotel to build right in the center of downtown, where they had been 'forbidden' for years.
THAT'S where our cut of the pie went. Because we don't have a pool and a lounge and a restaurant guests will now stay where they get all of that and the ease of walking to everything. Trying to recoup that has been uphill all the way.

That is a struggle. There is a town south of me about 1/2 hour that is wall to wall cheap hotels, motel & vacation rentals. There are 5 or 6 B&Bs there and most do pretty well but it does put a different dynamic on the situation. In your town is there a Y or some other public club/spa/gym that you can partner with so your guests can use their facilities?
I would probably try to promote the B&B as a place to stay where they are not a nameless, faceless person, but will receive better than hotel amenities and where they will feel special and pampered.
When you do a Google search for your area (not B&B), does your website appear at all? If not, I would work on that and really try to work the seo for keywords for your area.
.

I've had a lot of trouble with Google and my website. So, no, I don't show up until page 7, long after the guests have found all the hotels and all the other B&B's. If the guest is looking for a B&B, then yes, I'm right on page one, but not if they are just looking at the area in general. Luckily, I am listed on all the directory-type sites that show up before my own website does.
I'm not sure how to handle the issues with Google (the map pin moving, not updating when I've made changes, not listing my website URL correctly, a whole slew of ongoing issues). Latest one is that Google is now listing another completely different biz with my website link on the Local Map feature.
I've been working on SEO but until Google revisits my website it's not picking up any of the changes I've made in the last month. Even tho the cached page says it's from June 15, I made changes long before that that haven't been picked up.
.

It may be time for a professional to try to straighten things out. I know it costs $, but worth it in the long run.
.

It may be time for a professional to try to straighten things out. I know it costs $, but worth it in the long run.

It's more like $$$! Yes, I agree, I am ready to let someone else give it a try.

 

[JBloggs]

This is all good food for thought. I have only read a few responses and each one has very useful view and information. We are tourism operators, this is what I am always trying to get across to those outside our realm. Hotels are just planted there and people call, book online or drive in and stay the night (or few if they are in a location like Orlando, or Vegas, NYC etc). The hotels do not market their areas - they just move in an take bookings. (Other than advertising, I mean they do googleads and all of that) BnB's have to work much harder.
Did we start out as great promoters of all there is to do and see in our areas? No. We started out as a lodging establishment and through the evolution of the internet have put another hat on our heads. This is actually something I enjoy.
I like finding cool stuff to promote, I like specials and add ons, I like all of this! This is part of the BnB business imo. I like talking breakfast photos on websites. None of it wearies me, it makes me more ambitious to introduce new people to the BnB experience!
A average hotel has what 100 rooms, we are not hotels, motels, we are unique - every last one of us! We don't want "hotel people" here, we want people who want to stay at BnB's!
I was given a hug and a thank you card this morning as guests departed. What Hotel gets a hug? Well i you have seen the Hotels.com ads of late - the maid or bell boy gets a hug for providing real fur bath robes. Whatever...they are always trying to get OUR guests if anything!

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

BREAK FREE OF THE CHAIN GANG and STAY AT A B&B

 

[EmptyNest]

It could be that guests are having a hard time booking B&Bs because they are using Trip Advisor, where you can never find them.
Or they are using Expedia and all the other big booking sites that list us with a "reserve" button, and when you hit the reserve button they take you only to a list of hotels.
If they are looking for wine tours and B&Bs here they can find us just fine so long as they google the town and none of those big boys.
Riki.

Egodell,
When you Google for wine tours (not B&B), does your website come up? If not, this is an area that good marketing & seo will make a big difference.
.

YEs, it does

 

[gillumhouse]

This is all good food for thought. I have only read a few responses and each one has very useful view and information. We are tourism operators, this is what I am always trying to get across to those outside our realm. Hotels are just planted there and people call, book online or drive in and stay the night (or few if they are in a location like Orlando, or Vegas, NYC etc). The hotels do not market their areas - they just move in an take bookings. (Other than advertising, I mean they do googleads and all of that) BnB's have to work much harder.
Did we start out as great promoters of all there is to do and see in our areas? No. We started out as a lodging establishment and through the evolution of the internet have put another hat on our heads. This is actually something I enjoy.
I like finding cool stuff to promote, I like specials and add ons, I like all of this! This is part of the BnB business imo. I like talking breakfast photos on websites. None of it wearies me, it makes me more ambitious to introduce new people to the BnB experience!
A average hotel has what 100 rooms, we are not hotels, motels, we are unique - every last one of us! We don't want "hotel people" here, we want people who want to stay at BnB's!
I was given a hug and a thank you card this morning as guests departed. What Hotel gets a hug? Well i you have seen the Hotels.com ads of late - the maid or bell boy gets a hug for providing real fur bath robes. Whatever...they are always trying to get OUR guests if anything!.

I spent much of this morning making copies of pages of my Gazetteer to tape together and mark a routing for a bicycle group from Indiana and sent it. I gave him the number of the motel on the south end of my City - I am booked and did not have enough rooms for them. I also sent a brochure about the rail-trails to a man in PA this morning and a map with 3 motorcycle tour routings to a lady in MD. The lady is coming over Labor Day and is trying to get her motorcycle club to come also (she is a repeat). The other 2 are thru my Rail-Trail hat.
I promote my State (if people spend money anywhere in the State it generates tax money that helps me), then I promote my Region (again, spend it in my Region it helps me even more and I have a chance to possibly get them), then I promote my City because if they are coming to my City I have a VERY good chance to get them to stay here and that plus the ancillary of it helps the economy of my City. I think I get a lot of the guests I get because I offer routings to see the Region and things in the Region. It is fun to give them a great weekend.
I have always gotten first-timers and I delight in hearing them say - I only want a B & B from now on.

 

[wendydk]

I saw a hotels.com commercial this week where the claymation couple were talking about staying at a B&B. I thought that was a good way to plant the seeds, and that maybe it would make people consider a B&B even if they didn't book it on hotels.com. Like "Oh, yeah, a bed and breakfast...I've never been to one, have you? We should try one".
Frankly, just about any mention of bed and breakfast on TV perks my ears up....well except for that awful show where Tori Spelling tried it....what a freaking disaster those two were.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Of course my favorite King of Queens Inn-Escapable episode 1 on you tube - it is just awful but still funny! Part 2. If you watch this make sure you see the ending! The best part.

 

[SweetiePie]

BREAK FREE OF THE CHAIN GANG and STAY AT A B&B.

Sounds like a good bumper sticker.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I agree to a certain extent, and I got tons of first-time B&Bers too. I've found that gearing my SEO to the attractions and activities in my area has helped tremendously. While some people see the website and like it, book, and THEN figure out what there is to do, by far the larger number know pretty much where they're going to go and what they're going to do, just not where they're going to stay.
Ours is a younger and highly active crowd so I promoe our proximity to the neighboring ski resort and the surrounding XX ski and snowshoe trails in the winter and the hiking trails, lakes and such during the warm season.
My opentracker shows me just how the use of area-related keywords that change with the season's activities have helped us. We get alot more traffic from that than from searches like "mycity bed and breakfast".
Just my two cents worth.
.

I'm not going to quote any of your post because our experience, approach and tracking mirrors it very closely.
We are pushing both our proximity to some of the most popular attractions in our area, but also our marketing language and hopefully tone is geared to be purposely disarming and unintimidating for even a person with no experience staying at a B&B before.
This ain't some uptight grannie's spare bedroom in the attic. Or posh, exclusive and pretentious spot for those needing more ego stroking than their daily lives already provides.
Not that there is anything wrong with the old school way and I have enormous respect for any very small, niche oriented B&B regardless of approach that has found its comfort zone and its all working for them and their guests.
We're roughly 20-25 minutes outside of Santa Fe but if one looks at just for instance, the forums on TA or any guide for Santa Fe's "things to see and do" in our area, much of it is actually closer to us than downtown.
Despite that, our occupancy and that of our other outlying area colleagues always suffers from what we call "Plazaitis"
I'm not down on downtown in the slightest, this is one of the nicest smaller sized towns I've ever been in in many ways. Just making a point.
For a good number of visitors to our area, they just refuse to even consider staying anywhere that isn't within blocks of the historic Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. They'll spend much of their days practically driving right past us on their way to Taos, Bandelier National Monument, Chimayo, etc.
The Santuario de Chimayo is an old historic church out in our immediate area that on Easter weekend over 25,000 people make a walking pilgramage to from as far away as Albuquerque which is 90 miles from the church. Bandelier which is filled with ancient ruins, cliff dwellings, etc. gets about 700,000 visitors a year.
For many of our guests who frequently visit the area, they "get it" about much of this and they certainly spend time in town, but most will shrug their shoulders and lament that after a few hours of it, what else is there but more noise, congestion, higher room rates, a 5% higher lodging tax, etc.
Most express how grateful and SURPRISED they are to be able to spend most of their down time where one hears more birds than cars, see more stars than streetlights, and in a place that affords them such easy access to the things "they knew they wanted to explore before even booking the trip" while not missing out on the main attraction which is this vibrant little arts, dining, culture and history mecca.
.

I was there for Easter and saw the pilgrims. I loved Bandelier Park (both of them). But, I too, wanted to be in walking distance to all the other stuff. Not, of course, realizing that 'all of the other stuff' was mostly closed for Easter starting on Good Friday and going right thru Monday. Luckily, the parks were open! And we got into the museums before they closed. My whole reason for going to Santa Fe was to go to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum (in which I was very disappointed) but the state capitol art collection was terrific.
.

"I loved Bandelier Park (both of them)."
Tsankawi is essentially our backyard.
If you liked that, then if you ever return you'll have to check out the recently reopened Puye' Cliff Dwellings. Its like Bandelier times five.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

Of course my favorite King of Queens Inn-Escapable episode 1 on you tube - it is just awful but still funny! Part 2. If you watch this make sure you see the ending! The best part..

Or maybe there are millions more people out there who like me love the Ben Stiller film "Flirting with Disaster" and perceive all B&Bs to be like some the horrific examples portrayed in that movie?
Or the dreadful series where Tori & Dean play innkeepers was actually watched by more the three dozen people I assumed only watched it.
Talk about giving us all a black eye. Sheesh!

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

I saw a hotels.com commercial this week where the claymation couple were talking about staying at a B&B. I thought that was a good way to plant the seeds, and that maybe it would make people consider a B&B even if they didn't book it on hotels.com. Like "Oh, yeah, a bed and breakfast...I've never been to one, have you? We should try one".
Frankly, just about any mention of bed and breakfast on TV perks my ears up....well except for that awful show where Tori Spelling tried it....what a freaking disaster those two were..

"I saw a hotels.com commercial this week where the claymation couple were talking about staying at a B&B. I thought that was a good way to plant the seeds, and that maybe it would make people consider a B&B even if they didn't book it on hotels.com. Like "Oh, yeah, a bed and breakfast...I've never been to one, have you? We should try one"."
Yup, at least those are a tad less potentially troublesome for us all than the previous campaign which basically utilized guest blackmails for better service or a bad review was coming.
"well except for that awful show where Tori Spelling tried it....what a freaking disaster those two were."
OMG, too freaky, I just mentioned that one and never read this post beforehand.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

"When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys."
At the very least its helped blur the lines between different forms of lodging.
"It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry."
No argument from me. It just feels like a very conflicted period in our industry and I can't help but feel that some of that identity confusion and blurring reaches down to the average consumer. And as individual and unique as we all are, countering that blurring as a united front is incredibly difficult.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

96% to 4% of the traveling public. This number is skewed because there are FAR less B&Bs than hotel/motels. A better number would be to compare occupancy rates..

I introduced the topic to allow for all variables, ideas, solutions, explanations, etc. to freely flow and hopefully for the benefit of spurring new ideas for our fellow contributors from the B&B directory sites.
Thanks for starting things off with a good idea.
A couple very obvious ones for me come from a response I gave to JBanczak in another thread.
"Only 4% of consumers stay at B&B's. Why?"
"Because the small, modern, professionally run B&B is a relative newcomer to the lodging world as compared to the corporately owned and heavily marketed world of hotels and motels.
The sheer independence of and small size of B&Bs puts them at an extraordinary exposure and organizing disadvantage compared to the mega chains, multi-national hosptaility corporations, hotel associations, giant hospitality focused advertising firms, etc."
I'll try and dig up some revenue numbers for even just the top ten hotel corporations and their marketing budgets just to illustrate why the average consumer demographics skew the way they do.
My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.
.

My bigger point in all of this is that it isn't necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend, its a classic david vs. goliath dynamic in my opinion. And one that has been in place in every economic sector since capitalism was created.

First, let me say that I have very strong and mixed opinions about how bandb.com and other directories have brought our industry more to the forefront of the consumer. They have tried and been relatively successful in helping to bring B&Bs in to the mainstream. but at what price? A lot of us have spent major money adding the luxuries to our properties to create high end rooms, private baths, etc so we can compete with hotels. When I started my career as an innkeeper nearly 9 years ago there was not this pressure to have "hot deals", specials, commissions, and bargains. Too often those who want us to be in the mainstream encourage us to cheapen our rooms, play in the same ball park (expedia, hotels.com, etc) as the big boys. It's my opinion, and I know that some will disagree, that it has actually hurt us as an industry.
It was we innkeepers who transitioned the norm of a B&B from "granny's house" to what it is today, a high quality lodging choice. As you said, In most cases its not necessarily deficiencies or glaring lack of consistency or quality on our parts that created the trend.
So, the question is how do we inform the traveling public that we are here and we are a good fit for those who have never stayed at a B&B before?
The past few years I have been very successful in crossing over from the B&B crowd to the "mainstream". I get a huge percentage of guests who have never been to a B&B before and have chosen to stay with us because we offer the privacy they need along with the extra little details that can't be found in a hotel. I market to highlight the privacy. My B&B is not the "typical" B&B since we deliver breakfast to their room and we have created a different "feel" of a traditional B&B. This is what works for us and we have a much higher occupancy rate than the other B&Bs in our region.
I'm not looking down on or thinking negatively of any of you who are more traditional. This is what works for us....we seem to give the traveling public what they want....we have the numbers to prove it. We are all different.
Here's my suggestion; look at all the lodging establishments around where you live. Who is the busiest? Hotel? Motel? B&B? Camping? See if you can make adjustments to your place and/or change a few of your steadfast views of what a "B&B should be" and I think you'll take a bigger chunk out of the 96% of the hotel crowd.
At a conference I went to once, there was a speaker who said that you needed to look at the traveling public as if it were a pie. So, the wedge of pie for B&Bs is 4%. There are only two ways to increase the size of that wedge...either you have to get a bigger pie (not likely) or make your wedge bigger within that pie. For me, I choose to make my wedge bigger and that means grabbing those hotel people (NOT motel people), but to do that you have to offer them what they want.
Needless to say, that the only real way you can bring in more guests is to spend money on marketing. Spend wisely and it will pay off.
.

I think it's great that you have found your niche. What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels. What used to be our corner of the market, the 'walkability' of our location was severely undercut when the town allowed a huge chain hotel to build right in the center of downtown, where they had been 'forbidden' for years.
THAT'S where our cut of the pie went. Because we don't have a pool and a lounge and a restaurant guests will now stay where they get all of that and the ease of walking to everything. Trying to recoup that has been uphill all the way.
.

What's hard for me to understand (in my town) is how to get the guest to even think about a B&B when there are 7 chain hotels.

What I am trying to say is that it is an industry thing - big reasons consumers don't think about B&B's are because they are under the impression that they are difficult to book, that they have such varied services levels and they don't find many consumer reviews on them, that credit card security is missing, etc. etc. Of course there are others like price, chain affinity, etc.
There are so many we can easily correct that at a minimum we can get rid of the advantage that large chains used to have on things like booking engines, distribution, consumer reviews, etc.
.

The whole cc security thing is a joke. My cc number has been stolen at least 4 times in 4 years. Where from? A small mom & pop shop? Nope. From TJMaxx companies & from a major grocery store chain. My SSN was stolen from a state I don't even live in. Hubs's SSN was on a laptop stolen in DC along with millions of other veterans' info. There were a couple of other breaches in there, too. It's gotten to the point now that I have free credit reporting for life because my data has been stolen so many times. NEVER, tho, has my data been compromised from a small business.
Along with the security issues, how about the privacy issues? I stayed at a Hilton hotel last year. A few weeks later I got a letter in the mail asking me to take a survey on how my stay went. WHAT?! What business do they have sending me mail asking me to rate my stay? What if I had not wanted my entire family to know where I was? And guests think they're not going to have privacy at a B&B!
My parents travel a lot. My mother keeps a notebook of every hotel they stay at and every restaurant they've eaten in. They will drive right by a hotel that she has marked as 'unacceptable' for whatever reason...service, cleanliness, noise, etc. You're not getting the same level of service, the same amenities, the same anything just because there's a corporate logo over the door and I do NOT get why travelers don't understand that. For all of the rants about service, cleanliness, etc that hotel reviews show every day of the week, why the heck travlelers insist on staying there is beyond me.
Why someone would pay the same price to stay at the Motel 6 as they would pay here and then go onto TA and rant about how dirty it was and how all they had was a stale donut for breakfast is, again, beyond me. The assumption is that they will have a corporate office to fall back on if they don't like their stay. That's a reactive way of looking at a vacation. How about actually trying to enjoy the vacation!
.

"The whole cc security thing is a joke."
Especially since anyone who processes CCs is now subject to the new PCI-DSS standards for security.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

I quoted that statistic to guests this morning who said they really don't like hotels anymore. They were surprised the number was so low but offered no reasons why they thought it was or how we could get more people to pick B&B's.
An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category. If the complaint is that it's too hard to find a B&B or look at all the websites or try to book one, then having a system that allows guests to sort by whatever they want (state, town, large, small) would allow those who chose to jump on that bandwagon a bigger piece of the pie. But it might also pull more guests toward a B&B.
However, that's only part of it. Because guests have to be looking for B&B's to start with. Which is where PAII's national campaign may come in.
In spite of the number of people who say they won't stay at a B&B because they don't know what they're going to get, how many really, really bad reviews are out there for hotels with a corporate logo over the door. FAR, far more than for B&B's. The guest may THINK they know what's in store because there's a logo, but all that gets them is cold comfort once they arrive and it's a dump..

"An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category."
I'm pretty sure Expedia seperates them.
Ummm... wouldn't you say that was what was offered by B&B.com for several years before they partnered with Expedia on the online reservation system?
We even had the choice of doing either, both or nothing.

 

[Morticia]

I quoted that statistic to guests this morning who said they really don't like hotels anymore. They were surprised the number was so low but offered no reasons why they thought it was or how we could get more people to pick B&B's.
An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category. If the complaint is that it's too hard to find a B&B or look at all the websites or try to book one, then having a system that allows guests to sort by whatever they want (state, town, large, small) would allow those who chose to jump on that bandwagon a bigger piece of the pie. But it might also pull more guests toward a B&B.
However, that's only part of it. Because guests have to be looking for B&B's to start with. Which is where PAII's national campaign may come in.
In spite of the number of people who say they won't stay at a B&B because they don't know what they're going to get, how many really, really bad reviews are out there for hotels with a corporate logo over the door. FAR, far more than for B&B's. The guest may THINK they know what's in store because there's a logo, but all that gets them is cold comfort once they arrive and it's a dump..

"An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category."
I'm pretty sure Expedia seperates them.
Ummm... wouldn't you say that was what was offered by B&B.com for several years before they partnered with Expedia on the online reservation system?
We even had the choice of doing either, both or nothing.
.

"An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category."
I'm pretty sure Expedia seperates them.
Ummm... wouldn't you say that was what was offered by B&B.com for several years before they partnered with Expedia on the online reservation system?
We even had the choice of doing either, both or nothing.

I just checked because I wasn't sure...Expedia lumps the B&B's in with the hotels. What I was thinking was a system strictly allowing B&B's, no hotels, no campgrounds, no rental units. Did B&B.com do something like that? But it was just for their own members, right? This would be a system any B&B could sign up for without belonging to any other directory.
I didn't realize B&B.com had anything prior to the Expedia thing unless it was just a matter of hitting the 'book it' link. It just wasn't a big enough system that way. You had to find B&B.com to use it. This would be another 800 lb gorilla like Expedia is. Just for B&B's. With ads on TV, the whole 9 yds.

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

I quoted that statistic to guests this morning who said they really don't like hotels anymore. They were surprised the number was so low but offered no reasons why they thought it was or how we could get more people to pick B&B's.
An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category. If the complaint is that it's too hard to find a B&B or look at all the websites or try to book one, then having a system that allows guests to sort by whatever they want (state, town, large, small) would allow those who chose to jump on that bandwagon a bigger piece of the pie. But it might also pull more guests toward a B&B.
However, that's only part of it. Because guests have to be looking for B&B's to start with. Which is where PAII's national campaign may come in.
In spite of the number of people who say they won't stay at a B&B because they don't know what they're going to get, how many really, really bad reviews are out there for hotels with a corporate logo over the door. FAR, far more than for B&B's. The guest may THINK they know what's in store because there's a logo, but all that gets them is cold comfort once they arrive and it's a dump..

"An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category."
I'm pretty sure Expedia seperates them.
Ummm... wouldn't you say that was what was offered by B&B.com for several years before they partnered with Expedia on the online reservation system?
We even had the choice of doing either, both or nothing.
.

"An all B&B/inn reservation system would help. An 'Expedia for B&B's' so we can get out of the hotel category."
I'm pretty sure Expedia seperates them.
Ummm... wouldn't you say that was what was offered by B&B.com for several years before they partnered with Expedia on the online reservation system?
We even had the choice of doing either, both or nothing.

I just checked because I wasn't sure...Expedia lumps the B&B's in with the hotels. What I was thinking was a system strictly allowing B&B's, no hotels, no campgrounds, no rental units. Did B&B.com do something like that? But it was just for their own members, right? This would be a system any B&B could sign up for without belonging to any other directory.
I didn't realize B&B.com had anything prior to the Expedia thing unless it was just a matter of hitting the 'book it' link. It just wasn't a big enough system that way. You had to find B&B.com to use it. This would be another 800 lb gorilla like Expedia is. Just for B&B's. With ads on TV, the whole 9 yds.
.

"I just checked because I wasn't sure...Expedia lumps the B&B's in with the hotels."
Oh, maybe I was thinking about the "check rates" feature on TA which is next to one's listing if you participate and checks both Expedia and hotels.com
"What I was thinking was a system strictly allowing B&B's, no hotels, no campgrounds, no rental units."
Sounds like a good idea but the biggest B&B directory online with over 7,000 B&Bs under its belt already does that. Anyone considering starting something like it would have to weigh the investment involved in playing catchup to B&B.com
The branding alone would be tough. Its pretty hard to beat a name like Bed&Breakfast.com, kind of says it all. Its probably why when I look at our web tracking every day, there is no single referrer with more entrees. Every day, of every week, of every month, of every year since we launched.
"Did B&B.com do something like that?"
Yup.
"But it was just for their own members, right?"
Yup. An added bonus of having a listing on the number one rated B&B directory. And unless you get a booking you don't pay a cent for the extra exposure. We undoubtedly get plenty of bookings who went through the process to a point and then for whatever reason called us directly anyway to book.
"This would be a system any B&B could sign up for without belonging to any other directory."
Its an interesting idea.
"I didn't realize B&B.com had anything prior to the Expedia thing unless it was just a matter of hitting the 'book it' link."
Yup, we liked it but didn't see our bookings through the system they offered go up much until they expanded and partnered with Expedia. Its easy to use, integrate into our calendar and as the #1 B&B directory, it'b be hard for some newcomer to do much better or even compete with them.
"It just wasn't a big enough system that way. You had to find B&B.com to use it."
I've never found them very hard to find thanks to their size, very clear name and highly effective branding campaign.
"This would be another 800 lb gorilla like Expedia is. Just for B&B's. With ads on TV, the whole 9 yds."
I personally wouldn't want to drop my lisitng or participation with them while waiting for some new startup to achieve the same level of name recognition or exposure. Nobody else could do it any cheaper with all those initial costs and massive ad campaigns.
I thought B&B.com has run some TV ads in the past?
Maybe John can answer that one.