I think that some people here have mentioned (in the past) that this is a dangerous game to play. If people write in their reviews that they get free upgrades, then others may start to expect that by default and will book only the cheaper rooms, especially in low season.
So tread carefully
.
dumitru said:
I think that some people here have mentioned (in the past) that this is a dangerous game to play. If people write in their reviews that they get free upgrades, then others may start to expect that by default and will book only the cheaper rooms, especially in low season.
So tread carefully
Always tricky. We find that our cheapest room is often booked first, perhaps the guests thinking no one else is staying so they'll give us a better room! Then they find out that the rooms filled up and they've got the room they booked.
We had 2 booking guests in last night and no standard rooms left. They both got upgrades. One was easy enough as it was their honeymoon so we explained it that way. The other we never saw so they probably don't even realize.
.
Mort, do you ever sell the upgrade? Perhaps at a discount from the original price?
We haven't ever had a tiered structure, but we have considered it a few times.
.
happykeeper said:
Mort, do you ever sell the upgrade? Perhaps at a discount from the original price?
We haven't ever had a tiered structure, but we have considered it a few times.
For the booking guests I think it would seem like bait and switch unless I did it in advance. Then, if they said no, they did not want to pay for an upgrade, it would be weird to
give them the upgrade because I had no other rooms open. (We've gone from only selling the 2 'standard' rooms to leaving the listing open until we have no rooms left. I used to close out the listing when we had booked the 2 queen rooms, regardless of the place the rez came from. Now we just want the money.)
For guests who book directly and choose the lowest priced room I don't want to put them on the spot by asking if they'd like to upgrade for $x. (The difference is generally $10-$20, not $50 or so, so I figure there was something about the room (maybe price) that they liked or they would have sprung for $10 more for a different room.) I don't even ask on the phone if someone wants an upgrade. If they know the room, I assume that's the one they want. If I explain the rooms, I assume they picked the one that had what they wanted.
We have had guests from booking demand an upgrade and refuse to pay. Those people can go straight to hell as far as I'm concerned, but Gomez is a nice guy.
.