Webervations sold

[happyjacks]

This looks like something I would like to create and use for a particular instance. Looked at it, but not sure I can get it set up. Might have to ask you a question later. Thanks for sharing..

I found this place and have seen a number of VA inns using this one. Looks just like webervations!!! Hmmmmm
[URL="http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html"]http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html[/URL]
.

Thanks for noticing us!
It is actually the other way around, Webervations started 2 years after us, as a copycat to our system and approach.
(Disclaimer- I am founder and owner of AvailabilityOnline.com)
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).

Bruno, you may want to look at Availability.ca. They're based in Vancouver. As far as I know, they don't have a multilingual program, but you could name some of the fields in english/francais.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Thank you for sharing that John.

 

[jniles]

This looks like something I would like to create and use for a particular instance. Looked at it, but not sure I can get it set up. Might have to ask you a question later. Thanks for sharing..

I found this place and have seen a number of VA inns using this one. Looks just like webervations!!! Hmmmmm
[URL="http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html"]http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html[/URL]
.

Thanks for noticing us!
It is actually the other way around, Webervations started 2 years after us, as a copycat to our system and approach.
(Disclaimer- I am founder and owner of AvailabilityOnline.com)
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).

Bruno, you may want to look at Availability.ca. They're based in Vancouver. As far as I know, they don't have a multilingual program, but you could name some of the fields in english/francais.
.

AvailabilityOnline does not allow for 100% multilingual displays. However the service does have the ability to include some custom text on the calendar display in any language. (Julie Niles- AvailabilityOnline.com)

 

[hawley]

I am not pleased. Soon it will be a package you MUST use them (BandB.com) for all these things. Webervations kept it simple..

I'm safe for a year as I just paid my bill, but I will change when the price goes up.
Right now I am using a site for my wine tours that is free since I don't ask for credit card info to book them (I make them send a depsit check). I have been using them for 6 years and they are great. You use their site to design your form. The bookings are emailed to you just like Webervations.
They also have samples showing B&B bookings where the cc info is secured. I am not sure, but it looks like it is just under or just over $100 per year.
It is very basic - just the reservation. No bells and whistles that Webervations was starting to get into, but I just want the reservations. My reservation software can do all my reports.
If you want to check it out, the, site that I use free for my tour bookings is http://www.formsite.com/
Again, it's free as I don't take any cc info for the tours. If you want to see what it looks like in action, go to my website and click on "book a wine tour". I'm sure it could look better than mine but at least it was easy enough for me to make it work.
Riki
.

I took a look at your form and this is what I am looking for in several places. So went and created a form. Took me a bit to figure out emailing it, but think I have most of it down now. Have tested it a few times and it comes in the email.
A different form can be created to use in different instances so it tells you where it comes from. For now, I am just going to start using 1.
Thanks again.
Bye the way, I was working on learning php to program forms but this is alot easier and works for what I need.

 

[egoodell]

I am not pleased. Soon it will be a package you MUST use them (BandB.com) for all these things. Webervations kept it simple..

I'm safe for a year as I just paid my bill, but I will change when the price goes up.
Right now I am using a site for my wine tours that is free since I don't ask for credit card info to book them (I make them send a depsit check). I have been using them for 6 years and they are great. You use their site to design your form. The bookings are emailed to you just like Webervations.
They also have samples showing B&B bookings where the cc info is secured. I am not sure, but it looks like it is just under or just over $100 per year.
It is very basic - just the reservation. No bells and whistles that Webervations was starting to get into, but I just want the reservations. My reservation software can do all my reports.
If you want to check it out, the, site that I use free for my tour bookings is http://www.formsite.com/
Again, it's free as I don't take any cc info for the tours. If you want to see what it looks like in action, go to my website and click on "book a wine tour". I'm sure it could look better than mine but at least it was easy enough for me to make it work.
Riki
.

I took a look at your form and this is what I am looking for in several places. So went and created a form. Took me a bit to figure out emailing it, but think I have most of it down now. Have tested it a few times and it comes in the email.
A different form can be created to use in different instances so it tells you where it comes from. For now, I am just going to start using 1.
Thanks again.
Bye the way, I was working on learning php to program forms but this is alot easier and works for what I need.
.

Yes, I found this 6 years ago when I was setting up my wine tour business. It works flawlessly after you figure out how to set it up. I'm very happy with it, considering it's free!
Riki

 

[hawley]

I am not pleased. Soon it will be a package you MUST use them (BandB.com) for all these things. Webervations kept it simple..

I'm safe for a year as I just paid my bill, but I will change when the price goes up.
Right now I am using a site for my wine tours that is free since I don't ask for credit card info to book them (I make them send a depsit check). I have been using them for 6 years and they are great. You use their site to design your form. The bookings are emailed to you just like Webervations.
They also have samples showing B&B bookings where the cc info is secured. I am not sure, but it looks like it is just under or just over $100 per year.
It is very basic - just the reservation. No bells and whistles that Webervations was starting to get into, but I just want the reservations. My reservation software can do all my reports.
If you want to check it out, the, site that I use free for my tour bookings is http://www.formsite.com/
Again, it's free as I don't take any cc info for the tours. If you want to see what it looks like in action, go to my website and click on "book a wine tour". I'm sure it could look better than mine but at least it was easy enough for me to make it work.
Riki
.

I took a look at your form and this is what I am looking for in several places. So went and created a form. Took me a bit to figure out emailing it, but think I have most of it down now. Have tested it a few times and it comes in the email.
A different form can be created to use in different instances so it tells you where it comes from. For now, I am just going to start using 1.
Thanks again.
Bye the way, I was working on learning php to program forms but this is alot easier and works for what I need.
.

Yes, I found this 6 years ago when I was setting up my wine tour business. It works flawlessly after you figure out how to set it up. I'm very happy with it, considering it's free!
Riki
.

This is a really good thing. Since you have used it for so long, you should put it in the resource section so others can find out about it. Thanks again.

 

[Bonne Adresse]

This looks like something I would like to create and use for a particular instance. Looked at it, but not sure I can get it set up. Might have to ask you a question later. Thanks for sharing..

I found this place and have seen a number of VA inns using this one. Looks just like webervations!!! Hmmmmm
[URL="http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html"]http://www.availabilityonline.com/pages/rates.html[/URL]
.

Thanks for noticing us!
It is actually the other way around, Webervations started 2 years after us, as a copycat to our system and approach.
(Disclaimer- I am founder and owner of AvailabilityOnline.com)
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).
.

A question regarding availabilityOnline.com. Is your tool able for multilingual displays ? (From what I've seen from your demo, it is not the case but prefer to confirm !). Our specific location adresses either french or english people. If not, could be a good idea to think of it to reach new markets (Canada / France).

Bruno, you may want to look at Availability.ca. They're based in Vancouver. As far as I know, they don't have a multilingual program, but you could name some of the fields in english/francais.
.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate. It is affordable solution. Seems not to have interface with tool as Imagic hotel reservation.
I was wondering if it is convenient to rely only on a web based system to manage reservation. Any opinion ?

 

[Proud Texan]

I think I just hit the jackpot! Had a visitor this weekend who loved the place and also caught the biggest fish he's ever landed. Turns out he's a programmer who specializes in online enterprise solutions. He agreed to help me set up my own online reservations system in barter! Yay!

We were very disappointed in Webervations and had already decided to quite using them before their announcement.

 

[Bonne Adresse]

I think I just hit the jackpot! Had a visitor this weekend who loved the place and also caught the biggest fish he's ever landed. Turns out he's a programmer who specializes in online enterprise solutions. He agreed to help me set up my own online reservations system in barter! Yay!

We were very disappointed in Webervations and had already decided to quite using them before their announcement..

HI Texan,
I'm looking for a online reservation system (preferly canadian solution) and I'm interested in knowing more about your disappointment regarding webervations What are the aspects you don't like or are not implemented ? I will appreciate your feedback

 

[Proud Texan]

I think I just hit the jackpot! Had a visitor this weekend who loved the place and also caught the biggest fish he's ever landed. Turns out he's a programmer who specializes in online enterprise solutions. He agreed to help me set up my own online reservations system in barter! Yay!

We were very disappointed in Webervations and had already decided to quite using them before their announcement..

HI Texan,
I'm looking for a online reservation system (preferly canadian solution) and I'm interested in knowing more about your disappointment regarding webervations What are the aspects you don't like or are not implemented ? I will appreciate your feedback
.

There was no easy way to set up the reservation system to accomodate discounts. I disliked the limited customization of pages. It just seemed to me somewhat 2nd rate and not very professional.
I wanted to sell gift certificates and the only options it would allow were from a pull down menu. The menu only gave dollar amounts and none of them coinsided with my rate structure. I also needed to be able to add extra services and discounts to the gift certificats and there was no way to do it.

 

[egoodell]

I think I just hit the jackpot! Had a visitor this weekend who loved the place and also caught the biggest fish he's ever landed. Turns out he's a programmer who specializes in online enterprise solutions. He agreed to help me set up my own online reservations system in barter! Yay!

We were very disappointed in Webervations and had already decided to quite using them before their announcement..

The problem is that Webervations connects the bookings for our Associations on their websites as well as others. And they bring us lots of business.
There is someone who is considering working on an alternative. I told him about our forum. Hopefully he will come on in. I think Swirt will understand his idea far better than I could explain it. I told him this forum was open.
Riki

 

[swirt]

I think I just hit the jackpot! Had a visitor this weekend who loved the place and also caught the biggest fish he's ever landed. Turns out he's a programmer who specializes in online enterprise solutions. He agreed to help me set up my own online reservations system in barter! Yay!

We were very disappointed in Webervations and had already decided to quite using them before their announcement..

The problem is that Webervations connects the bookings for our Associations on their websites as well as others. And they bring us lots of business.
There is someone who is considering working on an alternative. I told him about our forum. Hopefully he will come on in. I think Swirt will understand his idea far better than I could explain it. I told him this forum was open.
Riki
.

Webervations ability to aggregate availability with other members of a defined group is a powerful feature. They were definitely ahead of the game on that.

 

[JBanczak]

The aggregate availability product is one of the reasons Webervations is so appealing. Not only does it aggregate the rates and availability for so many properties, but it is one of the few that pulls from a wide range of PMS's. This gives properties an unprecendented number of options.
It is also one of the products we will look to improve as soon as possible, primarily the look and feel. Currently consumers leave the aggregate display (i.e. the association website) and wind up on a site that looks neither like the association or the property. Our goal is to provide much more customization so the associations can present a very clean experience to users that mimics their website. Not sure how difficult this will be until we start digging into it, but it is one of the first things on the radar.

 

[swirt]

The aggregate availability product is one of the reasons Webervations is so appealing. Not only does it aggregate the rates and availability for so many properties, but it is one of the few that pulls from a wide range of PMS's. This gives properties an unprecendented number of options.
It is also one of the products we will look to improve as soon as possible, primarily the look and feel. Currently consumers leave the aggregate display (i.e. the association website) and wind up on a site that looks neither like the association or the property. Our goal is to provide much more customization so the associations can present a very clean experience to users that mimics their website. Not sure how difficult this will be until we start digging into it, but it is one of the first things on the radar..

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[user 26]

i said it before and i will say it again, i LOVED webervations.

it gave me what i needed. basic? maybe. i am not a geek or a techie ... it gave the b&b what it needed with minimal fuss on my part. most important to me ... it gave guests the ability to hold a room, gave me their cc info, automatically emailed them back, emailed me that someone wanted to book, let ME choose the options, the background, the linking here and there, it looked clean and professional and hardly ever had 'issues' with site being down. and, when it was needed, a person called me to help if i had a question about it. whoever i spoke to was always polite, always easy to talk to. i have some other programs i run and, unless i want to pay a monthly support fee, if i call them i get charged by the hour to talk with them. with webervations it was included.
if someone else can do better, great! if someone else has ideas in the works, great! bring them on. but i haven't seen something comparable yet, especially not for the price it was. i am recommending the owner (and whoever takes over here) keep it. i'm watching to see what happens and the pricing.
still a fan.

 

[Bonne Adresse]

The aggregate availability product is one of the reasons Webervations is so appealing. Not only does it aggregate the rates and availability for so many properties, but it is one of the few that pulls from a wide range of PMS's. This gives properties an unprecendented number of options.
It is also one of the products we will look to improve as soon as possible, primarily the look and feel. Currently consumers leave the aggregate display (i.e. the association website) and wind up on a site that looks neither like the association or the property. Our goal is to provide much more customization so the associations can present a very clean experience to users that mimics their website. Not sure how difficult this will be until we start digging into it, but it is one of the first things on the radar..

Hi John, I just noticed that Proud Texan was complaining on some lack of flexibility. If a user even think about implementing his own system, he will probably not be the only one ! I think a survey on this forum about webervation advantage/drawbacks and list of request features can bring you some useful inputs (perhaps more urgent than aggregation features) to stick your product to your clients satisfaction.As usual, it's just a suggestion

 

[JBanczak]

The aggregate availability product is one of the reasons Webervations is so appealing. Not only does it aggregate the rates and availability for so many properties, but it is one of the few that pulls from a wide range of PMS's. This gives properties an unprecendented number of options.
It is also one of the products we will look to improve as soon as possible, primarily the look and feel. Currently consumers leave the aggregate display (i.e. the association website) and wind up on a site that looks neither like the association or the property. Our goal is to provide much more customization so the associations can present a very clean experience to users that mimics their website. Not sure how difficult this will be until we start digging into it, but it is one of the first things on the radar..

Hi John, I just noticed that Proud Texan was complaining on some lack of flexibility. If a user even think about implementing his own system, he will probably not be the only one ! I think a survey on this forum about webervation advantage/drawbacks and list of request features can bring you some useful inputs (perhaps more urgent than aggregation features) to stick your product to your clients satisfaction.As usual, it's just a suggestion
.

I completely agree. We did the same thing with RezO GT - 350 innkeepers filled out our very lengthy survey back in 2005 on likes/dislikes of the original Munsenware Guest Tracker - that and our panel of 30 regular innkeepers was the guiding light on product development. This is in the works and as soon as I get it ready I'll get it out to everyone.
In the meantime - fire away. I'd also encourage you to take a very detailed look at other solutions as they have their plusses and minuses. We've evaluated pretty much everyone so we have a decent idea, but I'd rather not post those thoughts.

 

[YellowSocks]

The aggregate availability product is one of the reasons Webervations is so appealing. Not only does it aggregate the rates and availability for so many properties, but it is one of the few that pulls from a wide range of PMS's. This gives properties an unprecendented number of options.
It is also one of the products we will look to improve as soon as possible, primarily the look and feel. Currently consumers leave the aggregate display (i.e. the association website) and wind up on a site that looks neither like the association or the property. Our goal is to provide much more customization so the associations can present a very clean experience to users that mimics their website. Not sure how difficult this will be until we start digging into it, but it is one of the first things on the radar..

Hi John, I just noticed that Proud Texan was complaining on some lack of flexibility. If a user even think about implementing his own system, he will probably not be the only one ! I think a survey on this forum about webervation advantage/drawbacks and list of request features can bring you some useful inputs (perhaps more urgent than aggregation features) to stick your product to your clients satisfaction.As usual, it's just a suggestion
.

I completely agree. We did the same thing with RezO GT - 350 innkeepers filled out our very lengthy survey back in 2005 on likes/dislikes of the original Munsenware Guest Tracker - that and our panel of 30 regular innkeepers was the guiding light on product development. This is in the works and as soon as I get it ready I'll get it out to everyone.
In the meantime - fire away. I'd also encourage you to take a very detailed look at other solutions as they have their plusses and minuses. We've evaluated pretty much everyone so we have a decent idea, but I'd rather not post those thoughts.
.

In the meantime - fire away.

I like Webervations because it works, and it's cheap.
=)
Kk.

 

[MichaelMcC]

Webervations for now remains the service of choice. But because of the buyout the other online reservation providers are revamping their product. Within 2 months Availability Online will not only offer everything that Webervations offers, they have a few things Webervations V1 does not. I am not familiar with V2 so I have no way to compare it.
There is no reason for anyone to switch for now. But I have a feeling within a few months and for sure within the next year everyone will have to decide which direction to head. Nobody spends that much money just to keep their current customers happy. Unless your the US government.
Personally I have a problem giving a single vender so much control over an industry. With control comes corruption and the need for more and more control.
Why do we allow this to happen to ourselves? It happens slowly over time! How does someone begin to control a group? Pit them against each other, Make them think they all have to join in or be left behind. I go onto the google site and see ads on the right where Innkeepers are competing against each other for position, one decides to pay a little more per click, then the next, and the next till each click is costing $2. To Google it's a marketing game, pit the advertisers against each other. If the Innkeepers all got together and said lets all pay the same, say, 50 cents per click, we would all get 4 times as many clickthroughs for our dollar! I guess what I am saying is "take back the control". We are the ones with the product, not the vendors! Without us, they have no reason to exist! And when I see Bed and Breakfast directories pitting Innkeeper against Innkeeper for more and more advertising dollars I just shake my head.
I propose we think about cooperating with each other and take back control of our product. Let the vendors know who really controls the draw strings in the business. With the economy as it is things will only get worse, vendors need more money the same as we do, but if they trick us into thinking without them we can not survive, then we will not and they'll be the last ones getting a check, not us.
Anybody want to join in and create a National Innkeepers Cooperative?
Does anybody want to take back control?
I say unite fellow Innkeepers, work with the other Innkeepers in your area. Start more joint marketing ventures together, share the expense and benefit.
Sorry to go off, but between myself being in both IT, hosting and computer programming for so many years, and my wife being in marketing for 16 years we know when we're being taken for a ride.
Michael

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Welcome to the forum Michael. Changes happen and we will roll with the punches and do whatever we need to do. Thanks for your feedback, I think we all value how others are finding these changes.