Afternoon refreshments

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening..

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways. First, as adobenido mentioned it is very tightly controlled on the "up and up" but many slip through the cracks on enforcement.
On top of that, some of the folks doing it around here are also the worst TA whores in our market as far as begging, pleading, coaching, reminding, prodding, promulgating and yes, cheating for reviews.
Of course part of the coaching and strategy of these highly scripted, thinly veiled reviews is mention of how great the FREE wine and cheese happy hour was. If you offer something your competition doesn't (or can't out of respect for the law) you make sure, it gets out to the public somehow, someway.
I've called the state liquor control several times just to get the information on the code, but in this state if want anything out of a governmental office you have march in and hopefully catch some sap at his or her desk who is in their first week on the job.
On a tangent only adobenido and I would find relevant. I wonder if all the B&Bs doing this who are also members of her association have the proper licensing, accreditation and insurance to serve alcohol?
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.

 

[egoodell]

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening..

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways. First, as adobenido mentioned it is very tightly controlled on the "up and up" but many slip through the cracks on enforcement.
On top of that, some of the folks doing it around here are also the worst TA whores in our market as far as begging, pleading, coaching, reminding, prodding, promulgating and yes, cheating for reviews.
Of course part of the coaching and strategy of these highly scripted, thinly veiled reviews is mention of how great the FREE wine and cheese happy hour was. If you offer something your competition doesn't (or can't out of respect for the law) you make sure, it gets out to the public somehow, someway.
I've called the state liquor control several times just to get the information on the code, but in this state if want anything out of a governmental office you have march in and hopefully catch some sap at his or her desk who is in their first week on the job.
On a tangent only adobenido and I would find relevant. I wonder if all the B&Bs doing this who are also members of her association have the proper licensing, accreditation and insurance to serve alcohol?
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.
.

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways.
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.

We are in Wine Country of Charlottesville, VA and have our B&B ABC license, and yes, we pay a rider on our insurance for alcohol. Many do in this area. It does not generate andy TA reviews for us. I think we have 11 reviews on TA.
It would be nice if TA would let guests write reviews for our wine tours. They will not. Our guests have to go to Yahoo Travel to do so.
Riki

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening..

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways. First, as adobenido mentioned it is very tightly controlled on the "up and up" but many slip through the cracks on enforcement.
On top of that, some of the folks doing it around here are also the worst TA whores in our market as far as begging, pleading, coaching, reminding, prodding, promulgating and yes, cheating for reviews.
Of course part of the coaching and strategy of these highly scripted, thinly veiled reviews is mention of how great the FREE wine and cheese happy hour was. If you offer something your competition doesn't (or can't out of respect for the law) you make sure, it gets out to the public somehow, someway.
I've called the state liquor control several times just to get the information on the code, but in this state if want anything out of a governmental office you have march in and hopefully catch some sap at his or her desk who is in their first week on the job.
On a tangent only adobenido and I would find relevant. I wonder if all the B&Bs doing this who are also members of her association have the proper licensing, accreditation and insurance to serve alcohol?
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.
.

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways.
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.

We are in Wine Country of Charlottesville, VA and have our B&B ABC license, and yes, we pay a rider on our insurance for alcohol. Many do in this area. It does not generate andy TA reviews for us. I think we have 11 reviews on TA.
It would be nice if TA would let guests write reviews for our wine tours. They will not. Our guests have to go to Yahoo Travel to do so.
Riki
.

"It does not generate andy TA reviews for us. I think we have 11 reviews on TA."
I think you missed my point. In our area and judging from what I read in the support forum sections on TA, review manipulation, owner abuse, posting of reviews by friends, relatives, employees, etc. is a rampant problem all over the world.
This wonderful, free, golden goose of a resource for travelers and owners alike has in many ways been reduced to cynical, highly manipulated marketing scheme for those that want to exploit its lack of review integrity policing capabilities.
It goes way beyond some of us asking an occasional guest who really enjoyed their stay to go write a review for us. Its morphed into a big part of many businesses' marketing plan, with instruction sheets given at check out, reminder emails every week or so after a guest returns home, to the outright cheating by having friends, employees posting glowing reviews.
The ones that bug me the most, are the "rebuttal" type reviews that seem to get posted within 24 hours of a particular place getting a negative review. These rebuttal reviews will be full glowing adjectives and alsways focusing on refuting whatever the less than positive review was about.
Now, some folks say, savvy readers will see right through that stuff. The reality is that most people aren't that savvy and TA's own numbers reflect that the vast majority of its users are new users who may not know all the ins and outs of a giant site like that.
The other dangerous thing in the abuse of sites like TA is that these type sites sheer size weigh very heavily on search engine results, which goes hand and hand with why somebody would want to manipulate the system.
Run a Google search for your own B&B and you'll find that the TA listing for you comes up pretty high on the list, even with just 11 reviews.

 

[JBloggs]

TT_HLB Wrote:
The ones that bug me the most, are the "rebuttal" type reviews that seem to get posted within 24 hours of a particular place getting a negative review. These rebuttal reviews will be full glowing adjectives and alsways focusing on refuting whatever the less than positive review was about.
Now, some folks say, savvy readers will see right through that stuff. The reality is that most people aren't that savvy and TA's own numbers reflect that the vast majority of its users are new users who may not know all the ins and outs of a giant site like that.
If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews. I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review. The timing is what bothers you? Gotta play with a full deck. So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review...but never say never.

 

[egoodell]

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening..

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways. First, as adobenido mentioned it is very tightly controlled on the "up and up" but many slip through the cracks on enforcement.
On top of that, some of the folks doing it around here are also the worst TA whores in our market as far as begging, pleading, coaching, reminding, prodding, promulgating and yes, cheating for reviews.
Of course part of the coaching and strategy of these highly scripted, thinly veiled reviews is mention of how great the FREE wine and cheese happy hour was. If you offer something your competition doesn't (or can't out of respect for the law) you make sure, it gets out to the public somehow, someway.
I've called the state liquor control several times just to get the information on the code, but in this state if want anything out of a governmental office you have march in and hopefully catch some sap at his or her desk who is in their first week on the job.
On a tangent only adobenido and I would find relevant. I wonder if all the B&Bs doing this who are also members of her association have the proper licensing, accreditation and insurance to serve alcohol?
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.
.

The "complimentary" wine and cheese offering at some B&Bs in our area is a huge problem in many ways.
I would think violating such an important state law would be contrary to the ethics and propriety section of any B&B association's bylaws.

We are in Wine Country of Charlottesville, VA and have our B&B ABC license, and yes, we pay a rider on our insurance for alcohol. Many do in this area. It does not generate andy TA reviews for us. I think we have 11 reviews on TA.
It would be nice if TA would let guests write reviews for our wine tours. They will not. Our guests have to go to Yahoo Travel to do so.
Riki
.

"It does not generate andy TA reviews for us. I think we have 11 reviews on TA."
I think you missed my point. In our area and judging from what I read in the support forum sections on TA, review manipulation, owner abuse, posting of reviews by friends, relatives, employees, etc. is a rampant problem all over the world.
This wonderful, free, golden goose of a resource for travelers and owners alike has in many ways been reduced to cynical, highly manipulated marketing scheme for those that want to exploit its lack of review integrity policing capabilities.
It goes way beyond some of us asking an occasional guest who really enjoyed their stay to go write a review for us. Its morphed into a big part of many businesses' marketing plan, with instruction sheets given at check out, reminder emails every week or so after a guest returns home, to the outright cheating by having friends, employees posting glowing reviews.
The ones that bug me the most, are the "rebuttal" type reviews that seem to get posted within 24 hours of a particular place getting a negative review. These rebuttal reviews will be full glowing adjectives and alsways focusing on refuting whatever the less than positive review was about.
Now, some folks say, savvy readers will see right through that stuff. The reality is that most people aren't that savvy and TA's own numbers reflect that the vast majority of its users are new users who may not know all the ins and outs of a giant site like that.
The other dangerous thing in the abuse of sites like TA is that these type sites sheer size weigh very heavily on search engine results, which goes hand and hand with why somebody would want to manipulate the system.
Run a Google search for your own B&B and you'll find that the TA listing for you comes up pretty high on the list, even with just 11 reviews.
.

Run a Google search for your own B&B and you'll find that the TA listing for you comes up pretty high on the list, even with just 11 reviews.

I have run myself on Google. The reason I'm so high is that there is nobody else with any reviews that run wine tours, there is no other B&B in Charlottesville that has a vineyard, and none that offer a tour and stay like we do. That's why I made sure to co link both my business websites together. The wine tour site is arcadyvineayrd.com and the B&B site is innarcadyvineyard.com.
The Google standing for me has nothing to do with TA I believe. I think it's being the only game for wine tours. The other wine tours is run by someone on the side and another couple of big companies out of Northern Virginia. Or the limos which are not tour guides
Riki

 

[NW BB]

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening..

Speaking of afternoon refreshments, we don't go there. We will occasionally share an afternoon snack with a guest or two, and will even sit down with some for a glass of wine in the evening, but we can't initiate that or offer wine. In NM it is illegal to even open a bottle of anything with alcohol in it for a guest. We can give them an opener, but we can't open it. And this brings me to another situation that really burns me up.
In order to serve wine or beer at a b&b here in NM, you must have a beer and wine license, (not to mention upping your liability insurance), even if you are not selling it. Then you must take a servers class and have everyone at your establishment take the class in case they ever serve. This is state law. The part that ticks me off is that I loose business to a local inn who does advertise they have afternoon wine and cheese, serves wine, and has no license to do it. Grrrrrr. I am not the type to ever report a thing like this on a sister inn, so I am blowing off steam about it here. Thanks for listening.

Serving alcohol anywhere is a licensed matter, just because some inns do it does not make it legal like you have seen. It is the same all over - there are places who serve it without a license. But they are the ones breaking the law. There is a reason it is highly regulated, a reason you must show ID to buy it. The liability s/b higher imo. You are not alone, everyone on this forum can attest to knowing those who serve booze without a license. Makes it simple for those who don't want to serve it or sell it in packages.
.

"Serving alcohol anywhere is a licensed matter, just because some inns do it does not make it legal like you have seen. It is the same all over - there are places who serve it without a license. But they are the ones breaking the law. There is a reason it is highly regulated, a reason you must show ID to buy it. The liability s/b higher imo. You are not alone, everyone on this forum can attest to knowing those who serve booze without a license. Makes it simple for those who don't want to serve it or sell it in packages."
Not true. In my state, a B&B with 6 or less rooms can even SELL beer and wine to our guests without a liquor license. It's a nice little source of revenue for us.

 

[Samster]

I started out doing a "Social Hour" at 6 PM. I had great plans! I also had sweet treats out in the dining room and lemonade and iced tea, ice bucket and sodas in the Summer, mulled cider in the Fall. I don't do either of that anymore in that way. The website does still say "refreshments available" - I think that gives me a wide berth

What I do now is this - 2 night stay or longer gets a snack basket in their room with a few small bags (100 cal packs of crackers, peanuts, Chex Mix, Animal Crackers) a regional prepackaged sweet treat, maybe an apple and banana. Everyone gets a different type of homebaked good every single afternoon (ok...I confess, I will sometimes cheat and get something from the bakery if I just have one room but it will generally be something really good...like last week I bought eclairs one day because I had one room that day but they were here 3 nights

). I plate the baked goodies for each room and put a little placecard on it letting the guest know what it is. I have a repertoire for some favorites by now so it is different everyday. This is a HUGE hit. No other B&B here does it and the guest can have their little nosh when the mood strikes them. I've only had one occasion where it looked like some guests had a brownie party in the bed and that all came out in the wash.
I was throwing away cakes that wouldn't freeze well or my dh was eating too much of that kind of stuff when I was putting it out in the dining room. Folks here arrive at all different times and most are out & about all the time. This is what works here...

 

[GeorgiaGirl]

I've stayed at Inns that have some kind of afternoon snack and some that don't. I've also stayed at 2 that offered wine/cheese & snacks. We don't plan our day around the "social hour" but if we happen to be back in the Inn during it, then it's a real nice plus. I think having a cookie jar or plate with glass dome with cookies, cake or brownies is nice, especially if it's left out all afternoon/evening, it's nice to have a treat after dinner when you are finally back in your room and you've gotten on your jammies.

 

[GeorgiaGirl]

I started out doing a "Social Hour" at 6 PM. I had great plans! I also had sweet treats out in the dining room and lemonade and iced tea, ice bucket and sodas in the Summer, mulled cider in the Fall. I don't do either of that anymore in that way. The website does still say "refreshments available" - I think that gives me a wide berth

What I do now is this - 2 night stay or longer gets a snack basket in their room with a few small bags (100 cal packs of crackers, peanuts, Chex Mix, Animal Crackers) a regional prepackaged sweet treat, maybe an apple and banana. Everyone gets a different type of homebaked good every single afternoon (ok...I confess, I will sometimes cheat and get something from the bakery if I just have one room but it will generally be something really good...like last week I bought eclairs one day because I had one room that day but they were here 3 nights

). I plate the baked goodies for each room and put a little placecard on it letting the guest know what it is. I have a repertoire for some favorites by now so it is different everyday. This is a HUGE hit. No other B&B here does it and the guest can have their little nosh when the mood strikes them. I've only had one occasion where it looked like some guests had a brownie party in the bed and that all came out in the wash.
I was throwing away cakes that wouldn't freeze well or my dh was eating too much of that kind of stuff when I was putting it out in the dining room. Folks here arrive at all different times and most are out & about all the time. This is what works here....

I started out doing a "Social Hour" at 6 PM. I had great plans! I also had sweet treats out in the dining room and lemonade and iced tea, ice bucket and sodas in the Summer, mulled cider in the Fall. I don't do either of that anymore in that way. The website does still say "refreshments available" - I think that gives me a wide berth

What I do now is this - 2 night stay or longer gets a snack basket in their room with a few small bags (100 cal packs of crackers, peanuts, Chex Mix, Animal Crackers) a regional prepackaged sweet treat, maybe an apple and banana. Everyone gets a different type of homebaked good every single afternoon (ok...I confess, I will sometimes cheat and get something from the bakery if I just have one room but it will generally be something really good...like last week I bought eclairs one day because I had one room that day but they were here 3 nights

). I plate the baked goodies for each room and put a little placecard on it letting the guest know what it is. I have a repertoire for some favorites by now so it is different everyday. This is a HUGE hit. No other B&B here does it and the guest can have their little nosh when the mood strikes them. I've only had one occasion where it looked like some guests had a brownie party in the bed and that all came out in the wash.
I was throwing away cakes that wouldn't freeze well or my dh was eating too much of that kind of stuff when I was putting it out in the dining room. Folks here arrive at all different times and most are out & about all the time. This is what works here...

I like the way you do it! It keeps people from eating more than their portion of the goodies (like me

)

 

[Don Draper]

I'm blaming all of you when I blow my diet this afternoon...all this talk has me dreaming of some hard cheddar slices and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc!

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

TT_HLB Wrote:
The ones that bug me the most, are the "rebuttal" type reviews that seem to get posted within 24 hours of a particular place getting a negative review. These rebuttal reviews will be full glowing adjectives and alsways focusing on refuting whatever the less than positive review was about.
Now, some folks say, savvy readers will see right through that stuff. The reality is that most people aren't that savvy and TA's own numbers reflect that the vast majority of its users are new users who may not know all the ins and outs of a giant site like that.
If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews. I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review. The timing is what bothers you? Gotta play with a full deck. So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review...but never say never..

"If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews."
We'll have to agree to disagree. I'm convinced that any review not driven of a consumer's own volition and desire to share their experience without prompting, coaching or input by the owner is a false review.
Who says all bad or even lukewarm reviews are false crap? There are times when even a great business drops the ball, or doesn't deliver what they are advertising.
It is that exact self-serving attitude and manipulation of the review process that will eventually lead to consumers not fully trusting what they read as being honest and objective.
You know, kind of like TA's motto.
"I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review."
That is the epitome of what I'm referring to. TA isn't "ours" to manipulate or manage. We live in an increasingly skeptical and cynical world. The more people feed the alligator the worse it will get. Travelers use sites like TA because most believe what they read is objective and untouched by any influence or pressure coming from the owner of a business.
"The timing is what bothers you?"
No, its the obvious and strategic manipulation of the process combined with the obvious disrespect it reflects for both the consumer and one's colleagues who play by the books. After all, I thought we were all "co-workers" and part of a fraternity loking out for each other.
Why should TA or sites like it even have posting guidelines and rules if the very folks benefiting the most from its existence work hard to get around them?
"So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review..."
And if you ever do and its full of crap or falsehoods you have the management response function to use in order to correct and refute the information for the benefit of future potential readers.

 

[JBloggs]

TT_HLB Wrote:
The ones that bug me the most, are the "rebuttal" type reviews that seem to get posted within 24 hours of a particular place getting a negative review. These rebuttal reviews will be full glowing adjectives and alsways focusing on refuting whatever the less than positive review was about.
Now, some folks say, savvy readers will see right through that stuff. The reality is that most people aren't that savvy and TA's own numbers reflect that the vast majority of its users are new users who may not know all the ins and outs of a giant site like that.
If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews. I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review. The timing is what bothers you? Gotta play with a full deck. So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review...but never say never..

"If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews."
We'll have to agree to disagree. I'm convinced that any review not driven of a consumer's own volition and desire to share their experience without prompting, coaching or input by the owner is a false review.
Who says all bad or even lukewarm reviews are false crap? There are times when even a great business drops the ball, or doesn't deliver what they are advertising.
It is that exact self-serving attitude and manipulation of the review process that will eventually lead to consumers not fully trusting what they read as being honest and objective.
You know, kind of like TA's motto.
"I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review."
That is the epitome of what I'm referring to. TA isn't "ours" to manipulate or manage. We live in an increasingly skeptical and cynical world. The more people feed the alligator the worse it will get. Travelers use sites like TA because most believe what they read is objective and untouched by any influence or pressure coming from the owner of a business.
"The timing is what bothers you?"
No, its the obvious and strategic manipulation of the process combined with the obvious disrespect it reflects for both the consumer and one's colleagues who play by the books. After all, I thought we were all "co-workers" and part of a fraternity loking out for each other.
Why should TA or sites like it even have posting guidelines and rules if the very folks benefiting the most from its existence work hard to get around them?
"So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review..."
And if you ever do and its full of crap or falsehoods you have the management response function to use in order to correct and refute the information for the benefit of future potential readers.
.

"If some moron posts a bunch of false crap about your BnB I think it is within your power to call out those who have stayed with you for those "rebuttal" reviews."
We'll have to agree to disagree. I'm convinced that any review not driven of a consumer's own volition and desire to share their experience without prompting, coaching or input by the owner is a false review.
Who says all bad or even lukewarm reviews are false crap? There are times when even a great business drops the ball, or doesn't deliver what they are advertising.
It is that exact self-serving attitude and manipulation of the review process that will eventually lead to consumers not fully trusting what they read as being honest and objective.
You know, kind of like TA's motto.
"I think it makes good sense to do so. Focusing on correcting the bad guests comments should not be, however the goal, but to push the review down further in the list chronologically. I know of a few inns who have "stand by" reviewers, these are people who have indeed stayed there and will write a review at the request of the innkeeper. Nothing false about it, they stayed there and it is a legit review."
That is the epitome of what I'm referring to. TA isn't "ours" to manipulate or manage. We live in an increasingly skeptical and cynical world. The more people feed the alligator the worse it will get. Travelers use sites like TA because most believe what they read is objective and untouched by any influence or pressure coming from the owner of a business.
"The timing is what bothers you?"
No, its the obvious and strategic manipulation of the process combined with the obvious disrespect it reflects for both the consumer and one's colleagues who play by the books. After all, I thought we were all "co-workers" and part of a fraternity loking out for each other.
Why should TA or sites like it even have posting guidelines and rules if the very folks benefiting the most from its existence work hard to get around them?
"So far I have been fortunate to not have a negative review..."
And if you ever do and its full of crap or falsehoods you have the management response function to use in order to correct and refute the information for the benefit of future potential readers.

Yes I have read some managment responses to bad reviews and they make the situation worse than it already is. I reply to all my reviews and they are not coerced, thank you. If I do get a crappy false review by some moron you bet your

I will call up on reviewers who stayed with me and loved it here. Absolutely. I am not going to let some jerk blacken what we work so hard to provide here for our guests. I will not respond tit for tat to any reviewer, I will move on.

 

[Country Girl]

Right after the breakfast clean-up, I put out a basket full of snacks that guests can help themselves to anytime during the day. We also have wine and cheese, and coffee, tea, water, and soda available anytime. I keep cookie batter frozen and in the afternoon I bake cookies, usually 2 each for the guests. Sometimes they eat them all, sometimes they don't get touched. But cookies are a lot easier to control than brownies where you have to make a whole batch. I hate throwing them away if they don't get eaten though. You can always try donating "leftovers" to the staff at your local post office or library!

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Yes we can all attend to where the leftover treats go. I am better off freezing them from the start and just removing what is needed for that day. Some guests adore the treats, thinking how sweet we are for doing this, but the majority ignore them. I think the first time B&B goers are the ones who enjoy them the most, they had no idea, so it was a real surprise for them.

 

[hawley]

If I have muffins for breakfast, I put leftover ones in the glass covered cake dish. Once in a while dh will make brownies and I will put a few of those in the glass dish. Otherwise, I have a bowl of fresh fruit out, a dish of individual packaged mints and prepackaged cookies, bars, etc. out in a compote dish. It stays fresh and some people like them with a coffee or tea for late night snack.
I used to plan an afternoon tea, but people were going out to dinner or other plans, so it wasn't used much.
I also started with local handmade chocolates, but they weren't all that popular, so stopped doing that and started putting out the mints in the common room. They aren't expensive and if people want a few, not a problem.

 

[cedarhouse]

My wife use to make delicious cheesecake for guests to enjoy in the evening and no one seem to partake so we ate them. Did not need to however.
She now makes cookies every afternoon from dough she keeps in the fridge. She has them ready for check ins along with mint water, ice tea or hot tea the guests can make themselves. The cookies are a hit and she only makes enough for each guests to take a couple. Some take none and some take more so it evens out.

 

[EmptyNest]

My wife use to make delicious cheesecake for guests to enjoy in the evening and no one seem to partake so we ate them. Did not need to however.
She now makes cookies every afternoon from dough she keeps in the fridge. She has them ready for check ins along with mint water, ice tea or hot tea the guests can make themselves. The cookies are a hit and she only makes enough for each guests to take a couple. Some take none and some take more so it evens out..

Cheesecakes were my specialty as well and my guests licked the plates clean every time. I always had a little sign up indicating what dessert for the evening would be and if they didn't want any they should let me know. No one ever refused

 

[Samster]

I started out doing a "Social Hour" at 6 PM. I had great plans! I also had sweet treats out in the dining room and lemonade and iced tea, ice bucket and sodas in the Summer, mulled cider in the Fall. I don't do either of that anymore in that way. The website does still say "refreshments available" - I think that gives me a wide berth

What I do now is this - 2 night stay or longer gets a snack basket in their room with a few small bags (100 cal packs of crackers, peanuts, Chex Mix, Animal Crackers) a regional prepackaged sweet treat, maybe an apple and banana. Everyone gets a different type of homebaked good every single afternoon (ok...I confess, I will sometimes cheat and get something from the bakery if I just have one room but it will generally be something really good...like last week I bought eclairs one day because I had one room that day but they were here 3 nights

). I plate the baked goodies for each room and put a little placecard on it letting the guest know what it is. I have a repertoire for some favorites by now so it is different everyday. This is a HUGE hit. No other B&B here does it and the guest can have their little nosh when the mood strikes them. I've only had one occasion where it looked like some guests had a brownie party in the bed and that all came out in the wash.
I was throwing away cakes that wouldn't freeze well or my dh was eating too much of that kind of stuff when I was putting it out in the dining room. Folks here arrive at all different times and most are out & about all the time. This is what works here....

I started out doing a "Social Hour" at 6 PM. I had great plans! I also had sweet treats out in the dining room and lemonade and iced tea, ice bucket and sodas in the Summer, mulled cider in the Fall. I don't do either of that anymore in that way. The website does still say "refreshments available" - I think that gives me a wide berth

What I do now is this - 2 night stay or longer gets a snack basket in their room with a few small bags (100 cal packs of crackers, peanuts, Chex Mix, Animal Crackers) a regional prepackaged sweet treat, maybe an apple and banana. Everyone gets a different type of homebaked good every single afternoon (ok...I confess, I will sometimes cheat and get something from the bakery if I just have one room but it will generally be something really good...like last week I bought eclairs one day because I had one room that day but they were here 3 nights

). I plate the baked goodies for each room and put a little placecard on it letting the guest know what it is. I have a repertoire for some favorites by now so it is different everyday. This is a HUGE hit. No other B&B here does it and the guest can have their little nosh when the mood strikes them. I've only had one occasion where it looked like some guests had a brownie party in the bed and that all came out in the wash.
I was throwing away cakes that wouldn't freeze well or my dh was eating too much of that kind of stuff when I was putting it out in the dining room. Folks here arrive at all different times and most are out & about all the time. This is what works here...

I like the way you do it! It keeps people from eating more than their portion of the goodies (like me

)
.

But if you want seconds, all you have to do is ask. We had that happen last weekend. Some guests called me and asked, "Please can we have more?" haha! Luckily, I had four more of the yummy cookie bars that I made that hadn't made their way into my dh's stomach yet.

 

[Samster]

My wife use to make delicious cheesecake for guests to enjoy in the evening and no one seem to partake so we ate them. Did not need to however.
She now makes cookies every afternoon from dough she keeps in the fridge. She has them ready for check ins along with mint water, ice tea or hot tea the guests can make themselves. The cookies are a hit and she only makes enough for each guests to take a couple. Some take none and some take more so it evens out..

Cheesecakes were my specialty as well and my guests licked the plates clean every time. I always had a little sign up indicating what dessert for the evening would be and if they didn't want any they should let me know. No one ever refused
.

What person in their right mind would refuse cheesecake ??

 

[Morticia]

Well, here's the deal...I made cookies yesterday, no one touched them. I put them out today and 2 guys waiting to check-in while I did a house tour for walk-ins, ate them all.
Luckily, I was already making a new batch...