What a difference font makes!

[gillumhouse]

Remember the PAII article about wooing the business traveler? They printed my response after I was asked to pare it down to about 75 words. Next to it is a response from someone from InnFocusMeetings.com - in italics and a different font. I have not counted the words, but it does take up more space than my comment was alloted.
It ends with "If you have to worry about early to bed and late to rise or a sandwich left in the room with a beverage, it is definitely not for your inn."
I thought we were talking generalities here. To see that, after how many guests I have waited up until midnight to 3am for and then served breakfast at 6am? My letter was in regard to advertising to the "business guest" that they could walk all over us and we would be grateful for their business. I was insulted by that response because it intimated that only innkeepers who go for business travelers are knocking their socks off for guests. I wonder if Rosie Ray has ever been an innkeeper or is just a user of innkeepers. No innkeeper worth her/his salt is doing anything other than trying to do their best for EVERY guest. What is failed to be recognized IMNVHO is that innkeepers are people too. Yes, the business guest is not for every inn - some of us are in areas that business people do not frequent - but even those that are, are giving the same level of service to ALL their guests even as they provide extras such as copiers/fax etc. I have provided a soup and rolls supper to late arriving guests - at no charge by the way and I already have fruit and snacks in each guestroom - but I will be darned if I am going to feel I HAVE to do that. What I had to take out of my letter due to shortage of words allowed - was has no one ever heard of restaurants or fast food places enroute? Why should the innkeeper be expected to provide for free what no hotel in the country is going to provide - unless it is room sevice at an inflated price?
Sorry, I got wound up! Grrrr!!!!

 

[muirford]

Can you provide a link to the article/webpage you are talking about? I would like to understand the context of the comment...

 

[gillumhouse]

Can you provide a link to the article/webpage you are talking about? I would like to understand the context of the comment....

It is Feedback on page 4. I found my send in - I was able to pare it down to 123 words. Mine (I do not know what happened to the font in the middle of my copy from my e-mail. It is all the same size) This is not taking my spacing - trying again
:
Dear Editor,
In many states ONLY breakfast may be served and in some even that must be only pre-packaged items. Most innkeepers do have snacks available. Guests cooking? Have you heard INSURANCE?



Late arrivals? Early breakfasts? When is the innkeeper to sleep? Early check-in? Late check-out? Just when is the room to be cleaned? Ask permission for whole house rental? It is MY business! A hotel may cater to a company, but not to the “business” person.




B & B offers home atmosphere, personal attention when wanted, less slamming/banging doors and noise than hotel corridors, and a safety factor. A B & B breakfast is served on real dishes, not fix your own.




Woo the business guest? Yes! Be a doormat for their business? NO!




Response:



Finding Corporate clients in your area and building relationships through service and hospitality that exceed the local hotels requires excellent marketing and sales skills and a knack for going beyond what is needed.
Building a business upon business travelers demands a great location, proximity of hotels and global businesses, and flexibility and a willingness to go beyond the obvious. Hosting business travelers is not for every inn. Those inns that do it well are rewarded with repeat guest-friends who put their heads in your beds when they get there, use your meeting space because they like your home, and give you steady revenue that you can forecast and measure.



It is not recession proof, but pretty close to money in the bank every month - and it is all your work that brings them in! If you have to worry about early to bed and late to rise or a sandwich left in the room with a beverage, it is definitely not for your inn.




This is the entire FEEDBACK column.

 

[muirford]

Can you provide a link to the article/webpage you are talking about? I would like to understand the context of the comment....

It is Feedback on page 4. I found my send in - I was able to pare it down to 123 words. Mine (I do not know what happened to the font in the middle of my copy from my e-mail. It is all the same size) This is not taking my spacing - trying again
:
Dear Editor,
In many states ONLY breakfast may be served and in some even that must be only pre-packaged items. Most innkeepers do have snacks available. Guests cooking? Have you heard INSURANCE?



Late arrivals? Early breakfasts? When is the innkeeper to sleep? Early check-in? Late check-out? Just when is the room to be cleaned? Ask permission for whole house rental? It is MY business! A hotel may cater to a company, but not to the “business” person.




B & B offers home atmosphere, personal attention when wanted, less slamming/banging doors and noise than hotel corridors, and a safety factor. A B & B breakfast is served on real dishes, not fix your own.




Woo the business guest? Yes! Be a doormat for their business? NO!




Response:



Finding Corporate clients in your area and building relationships through service and hospitality that exceed the local hotels requires excellent marketing and sales skills and a knack for going beyond what is needed.
Building a business upon business travelers demands a great location, proximity of hotels and global businesses, and flexibility and a willingness to go beyond the obvious. Hosting business travelers is not for every inn. Those inns that do it well are rewarded with repeat guest-friends who put their heads in your beds when they get there, use your meeting space because they like your home, and give you steady revenue that you can forecast and measure.



It is not recession proof, but pretty close to money in the bank every month - and it is all your work that brings them in! If you have to worry about early to bed and late to rise or a sandwich left in the room with a beverage, it is definitely not for your inn.




This is the entire FEEDBACK column.
.

I was looking for a web link to the original article, which is here.

 

[gillumhouse]

Can you provide a link to the article/webpage you are talking about? I would like to understand the context of the comment....

It is Feedback on page 4. I found my send in - I was able to pare it down to 123 words. Mine (I do not know what happened to the font in the middle of my copy from my e-mail. It is all the same size) This is not taking my spacing - trying again
:
Dear Editor,
In many states ONLY breakfast may be served and in some even that must be only pre-packaged items. Most innkeepers do have snacks available. Guests cooking? Have you heard INSURANCE?



Late arrivals? Early breakfasts? When is the innkeeper to sleep? Early check-in? Late check-out? Just when is the room to be cleaned? Ask permission for whole house rental? It is MY business! A hotel may cater to a company, but not to the “business” person.




B & B offers home atmosphere, personal attention when wanted, less slamming/banging doors and noise than hotel corridors, and a safety factor. A B & B breakfast is served on real dishes, not fix your own.




Woo the business guest? Yes! Be a doormat for their business? NO!




Response:



Finding Corporate clients in your area and building relationships through service and hospitality that exceed the local hotels requires excellent marketing and sales skills and a knack for going beyond what is needed.
Building a business upon business travelers demands a great location, proximity of hotels and global businesses, and flexibility and a willingness to go beyond the obvious. Hosting business travelers is not for every inn. Those inns that do it well are rewarded with repeat guest-friends who put their heads in your beds when they get there, use your meeting space because they like your home, and give you steady revenue that you can forecast and measure.



It is not recession proof, but pretty close to money in the bank every month - and it is all your work that brings them in! If you have to worry about early to bed and late to rise or a sandwich left in the room with a beverage, it is definitely not for your inn.




This is the entire FEEDBACK column.
.

I was looking for a web link to the original article, which is here.
.

Oh, I did not have it. Thanks.

 

[Morticia]

Can you provide a link to the article/webpage you are talking about? I would like to understand the context of the comment....

It is Feedback on page 4. I found my send in - I was able to pare it down to 123 words. Mine (I do not know what happened to the font in the middle of my copy from my e-mail. It is all the same size) This is not taking my spacing - trying again
:
Dear Editor,
In many states ONLY breakfast may be served and in some even that must be only pre-packaged items. Most innkeepers do have snacks available. Guests cooking? Have you heard INSURANCE?



Late arrivals? Early breakfasts? When is the innkeeper to sleep? Early check-in? Late check-out? Just when is the room to be cleaned? Ask permission for whole house rental? It is MY business! A hotel may cater to a company, but not to the “business” person.




B & B offers home atmosphere, personal attention when wanted, less slamming/banging doors and noise than hotel corridors, and a safety factor. A B & B breakfast is served on real dishes, not fix your own.




Woo the business guest? Yes! Be a doormat for their business? NO!




Response:



Finding Corporate clients in your area and building relationships through service and hospitality that exceed the local hotels requires excellent marketing and sales skills and a knack for going beyond what is needed.
Building a business upon business travelers demands a great location, proximity of hotels and global businesses, and flexibility and a willingness to go beyond the obvious. Hosting business travelers is not for every inn. Those inns that do it well are rewarded with repeat guest-friends who put their heads in your beds when they get there, use your meeting space because they like your home, and give you steady revenue that you can forecast and measure.



It is not recession proof, but pretty close to money in the bank every month - and it is all your work that brings them in! If you have to worry about early to bed and late to rise or a sandwich left in the room with a beverage, it is definitely not for your inn.




This is the entire FEEDBACK column.
.

I was looking for a web link to the original article, which is here.
.

There is also a link in this thread...https://www.innspiring.com/node/2053

 

[Morticia]

OK, I read this in the PAII mag today. I see the problem...you didn't have enough space to put in what you CAN do for the business traveler so it sounded like you couldn't do ANYTHING, which is what the response is about. Better you should have had more space for your comments...

 

[gillumhouse]

OK, I read this in the PAII mag today. I see the problem...you didn't have enough space to put in what you CAN do for the business traveler so it sounded like you couldn't do ANYTHING, which is what the response is about. Better you should have had more space for your comments....

Actually my response was a compilation of all our comments regarding the original article. I did not expect a rebuttal to my comment - and I did not expect to be the ONLY comment to the article. Remember how it told us we should fix a supper for the late arriving business guest? How we should give the business guest a late check-out - and have an early check-in for the next business guest? And how before we took a whole-house reservation we should check with our business guest if it would be OK? I can see that if you had a standing contract with a company that they pay for the room empty or occupied but......
That article was intimating that business guests was the way to go for the bottom line. From what I have been seeing (and hearing) online conference, e-mail, webinar, online ordering - have all taken the place of the business traveler/salesman. Not completely of course, but it has cut down on a lot of the travel as well as company budgets cutting travel.
When we went to the men's store in Iowa to get a dress shirt for DH as father-of -the-bride, we chatted with the owner. He said that ordering used to be a wonderful all-day visit from the salesman. They would chat, look at samples, have dinner, place the order but today it is mostly done online. And he sounded whistful about how it used to be done. He missed that interaction about trends, latest in fashion, etc.

 

[Morticia]

OK, I read this in the PAII mag today. I see the problem...you didn't have enough space to put in what you CAN do for the business traveler so it sounded like you couldn't do ANYTHING, which is what the response is about. Better you should have had more space for your comments....

Actually my response was a compilation of all our comments regarding the original article. I did not expect a rebuttal to my comment - and I did not expect to be the ONLY comment to the article. Remember how it told us we should fix a supper for the late arriving business guest? How we should give the business guest a late check-out - and have an early check-in for the next business guest? And how before we took a whole-house reservation we should check with our business guest if it would be OK? I can see that if you had a standing contract with a company that they pay for the room empty or occupied but......
That article was intimating that business guests was the way to go for the bottom line. From what I have been seeing (and hearing) online conference, e-mail, webinar, online ordering - have all taken the place of the business traveler/salesman. Not completely of course, but it has cut down on a lot of the travel as well as company budgets cutting travel.
When we went to the men's store in Iowa to get a dress shirt for DH as father-of -the-bride, we chatted with the owner. He said that ordering used to be a wonderful all-day visit from the salesman. They would chat, look at samples, have dinner, place the order but today it is mostly done online. And he sounded whistful about how it used to be done. He missed that interaction about trends, latest in fashion, etc.
.

And because you had to truncate for space limits, that's not at all what your opinion sounds like! Obviously, all of us here know the lengths you go to for guests, but NONE of that came across in the letter you had to abbreviate. If I didn't know you, which the article writer obviously doesn't, I would think you were naysaying the whole idea of biz guests because they are too much effort. And that's how she took it. And how she responded.
I'm sorry, but most of the articles I read this month in the PAII mag (very nice, BTW) are written with BIG inns in mind. Talking about leaving trays and carts in hallways, sending 6 of your staff out for face to face meetings with all the businesses in the area, etc. We all have to take those articles with a grain of salt and with a look at what pieces we can glean from them.
IF this particular article is accepted, I am quoted in an upcoming article in the mag. And it's, believe me, something any little B&B can do!
I know Jay wants to be the industry's leader in innkeeping info, but it does have to sometimes be about the little guy.

 

[gillumhouse]

OK, I read this in the PAII mag today. I see the problem...you didn't have enough space to put in what you CAN do for the business traveler so it sounded like you couldn't do ANYTHING, which is what the response is about. Better you should have had more space for your comments....

Actually my response was a compilation of all our comments regarding the original article. I did not expect a rebuttal to my comment - and I did not expect to be the ONLY comment to the article. Remember how it told us we should fix a supper for the late arriving business guest? How we should give the business guest a late check-out - and have an early check-in for the next business guest? And how before we took a whole-house reservation we should check with our business guest if it would be OK? I can see that if you had a standing contract with a company that they pay for the room empty or occupied but......
That article was intimating that business guests was the way to go for the bottom line. From what I have been seeing (and hearing) online conference, e-mail, webinar, online ordering - have all taken the place of the business traveler/salesman. Not completely of course, but it has cut down on a lot of the travel as well as company budgets cutting travel.
When we went to the men's store in Iowa to get a dress shirt for DH as father-of -the-bride, we chatted with the owner. He said that ordering used to be a wonderful all-day visit from the salesman. They would chat, look at samples, have dinner, place the order but today it is mostly done online. And he sounded whistful about how it used to be done. He missed that interaction about trends, latest in fashion, etc.
.

And because you had to truncate for space limits, that's not at all what your opinion sounds like! Obviously, all of us here know the lengths you go to for guests, but NONE of that came across in the letter you had to abbreviate. If I didn't know you, which the article writer obviously doesn't, I would think you were naysaying the whole idea of biz guests because they are too much effort. And that's how she took it. And how she responded.
I'm sorry, but most of the articles I read this month in the PAII mag (very nice, BTW) are written with BIG inns in mind. Talking about leaving trays and carts in hallways, sending 6 of your staff out for face to face meetings with all the businesses in the area, etc. We all have to take those articles with a grain of salt and with a look at what pieces we can glean from them.
IF this particular article is accepted, I am quoted in an upcoming article in the mag. And it's, believe me, something any little B&B can do!
I know Jay wants to be the industry's leader in innkeeping info, but it does have to sometimes be about the little guy.
.

That is the problem I have with the articles written in magazines about bed & breakfasts. They almost ALWAYS feature big, luxury, expensive or totally antique/antimacassar/over-done cluttered inns. They rarely focus on a nice comfortable place in nowhereville that is a great place for regular people to go visit because - it is comfortable, the food is great, the innkeepers cater to their guests with things to do/places to go etc. AND it is actually affordable for the average Joe to take his lady there for a get-away. We ALL are not $400 per night plus tax lap of luxury. What would it hurt for Woman's Day or Ladies Home Journal or one of those magazines to do an article about regular small B & B in different areas of the country. It would, if they really want to boost the B & B industry in the minds of people, let people know that ANYONE can have a B & B experience and they do not have to break the bank to do it.