Have you been asked for rates by the day rather than overnight?

[MooseTrax]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.

 

[gillumhouse]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.
.

this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.
Never met them but I LIKE your Mom & Aunt. If I had the wherewithal (and was alone), I think I would like to do just that.

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.
.

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.

Just out of curiousity, have they ever had to sleep in their car?

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

"I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like."
No, this is people still wanting to travel but maximize their savings on our backs based on the advice the TV financial talking heads have been giving out for the last six months.
My opinion is that if you're not hurting and your occupancy rate is comfortable for your needs, then don't grind your teeth over it.
We just had a call really late last night from someone looking for this weekend and despite being really wide open, when I called him back today I didn't just open the floodgates and start knocking big bucks off. Because he so clearly was only interested in the "deal" I could offer him, I went the conservative route. Nothing about our place, what great things he had heard about us, etc.. We probably won't hear from him again, but we have a comfort level we maintain.
For holidays here, we have a three day minimum and a 10% surcharge if the holiday is in thr high season. In the low season we charge the high season rate. He only wants two nights so I offered him a waiver on the minimum stay requirement and our standard high season rate, no surcharge.
We have a renovation project we've been putting off finishing on our living quarters, so if we get a few bookings between now and the weekend, great, it'll get worked on piecemeal. If we don't I can focus on it more fully.
Do you offer rooms via any second party systems where you pay a commission? If so, and you want the business ( in general, not "that kind of business" whatever that means to you ) then you've got an internal argument to make with yourself. If you're willing to pay a second party a commission for a reservation that depending on your setup with the system could also be last minute, but not willing to extend a discount to the guest themselves, that would seem to be a contradiction.
We do offer rooms that way and so if somebody calls and we really want the business ( in general, we always do ) we'll offer the room at a discount that is half the percentage of the commission we'd pay if they used the second party system.
We're always looking ahead and if our being flexible in the most trying economic times in 70 years helps get us through it then its all good. If it also shows the guest we empathize with their situation, then we may have earned ourselves a loyal, returning guest when things turn around.
Its a choice one needs to make based on need, intuition and comfort level. If late arrivals on very short notice at a discount or not are problematic for your setup, then that helps answer the internal dilemma.

 

[gillumhouse]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.
.

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business.

it depends on what feeling you are getting from these callers. my mother and aunt travel a lot together and they never make reservations. very difficult when they happen on some sort of event or festival in the middle ot podunk but they just keep driving. they are both in their 70's so it can be a little upsetting when they cannot find a room. sometimes it is late in the evening when they arrive in a town. now that they have a gps an computer in the car they can look things up ahead of time but they don't make resevations. this is the vagabond life they want to live. no destination. just go.

Just out of curiousity, have they ever had to sleep in their car?
.

We did once - in a 1986 Jeep Cherokee with 2 adults (front seat), 3 kids in back seat (who were 5' 9", 5'3", & 5'3" and not overly fond of each other as siblings 16, 16, and 12 would be), and in the back-back with luggage that did not fit in the lid on top the Jeep was a 6'2" 18 year old son. Thank goodness he listened to me from then on when I said let's stop for the night.

 

[SweetiePie]

I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like.
Okay, this is just getting weird. Another one tonight and I couldn't even understand what he was asking me.
I think people are lumping us together with motels. The only experience I can related it to is a road trip in college. We never booked anything in advance. Just played it by ear. We would drive until it started to get dark and then would begin looking for a motel.
To answer your question Tim. No, I don't need that kind of business..

"I think people are just losing it anymore. Another 8 o'clock call last night. This is becoming a pattern I don't like."
No, this is people still wanting to travel but maximize their savings on our backs based on the advice the TV financial talking heads have been giving out for the last six months.
My opinion is that if you're not hurting and your occupancy rate is comfortable for your needs, then don't grind your teeth over it.
We just had a call really late last night from someone looking for this weekend and despite being really wide open, when I called him back today I didn't just open the floodgates and start knocking big bucks off. Because he so clearly was only interested in the "deal" I could offer him, I went the conservative route. Nothing about our place, what great things he had heard about us, etc.. We probably won't hear from him again, but we have a comfort level we maintain.
For holidays here, we have a three day minimum and a 10% surcharge if the holiday is in thr high season. In the low season we charge the high season rate. He only wants two nights so I offered him a waiver on the minimum stay requirement and our standard high season rate, no surcharge.
We have a renovation project we've been putting off finishing on our living quarters, so if we get a few bookings between now and the weekend, great, it'll get worked on piecemeal. If we don't I can focus on it more fully.
Do you offer rooms via any second party systems where you pay a commission? If so, and you want the business ( in general, not "that kind of business" whatever that means to you ) then you've got an internal argument to make with yourself. If you're willing to pay a second party a commission for a reservation that depending on your setup with the system could also be last minute, but not willing to extend a discount to the guest themselves, that would seem to be a contradiction.
We do offer rooms that way and so if somebody calls and we really want the business ( in general, we always do ) we'll offer the room at a discount that is half the percentage of the commission we'd pay if they used the second party system.
We're always looking ahead and if our being flexible in the most trying economic times in 70 years helps get us through it then its all good. If it also shows the guest we empathize with their situation, then we may have earned ourselves a loyal, returning guest when things turn around.
Its a choice one needs to make based on need, intuition and comfort level. If late arrivals on very short notice at a discount or not are problematic for your setup, then that helps answer the internal dilemma.
.

I think I'm finally getting the picture on this and you're right Tim. The last guy appeared to be calling from a bar, as there was a lot of loud background noise. He seemed to have some type of foreign accent or was just drunk, either way hard to understand. I think what he was asking was, how much for a room.
So the modus operandi appears to be - to wait until the very last minute, then call around and see who will give you the best price. Well, as someone else said, "This innkeeper isn't playing that game."
The reason I have been able to last as long as I have without burning out after a few years, as many around me have, is that I try to avoid unnecessary aggrevation. I enjoy what I do and the people I meet. To me, that kind of business is unnecessary aggrevation.,

 

[Samster]

I had one request for this with a morning check-in, supposedly followed by a very early check-out the next morning, so no breakfast was needed. I charged for 2 nights since the room had to be reserved for 2 nights with that timeframe. Turned out that they actually checked out that evening (which was probably the plan all along). Appeared to be a fling. Only incidence like that in a little bit over a year in business....
Breakfast is complimentary, I don't knock anything off the rate if they don't eat breakfast.

 

[Proud Texan]

By the day??? what kind of place do they think you run there? I sure wouldn't want to get a reputation for doing that....what about by the hour??

.

By the day??? what kind of place do they think you run there? I sure wouldn't want to get a reputation for doing that....what about by the hour??

I know it sounds seedy, doesn't it?
I got a call yesterday from a couple with a new baby. They weren't comfortable leaving the baby overnight, but found a sitter for the day. They said they just needed some 'away time'...from 3 to 10 PM. ( guess this is when they could get a sitter for)?
.

They said they just needed some 'away time'...from 3 to 10 PM. ( guess this is when they could get a sitter for)?

They wouldn't need a sitter if they hadn't previously had some "away time". (>wink< >wink< nudge, nudge, say no more.)

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

By the day??? what kind of place do they think you run there? I sure wouldn't want to get a reputation for doing that....what about by the hour??

.

By the day??? what kind of place do they think you run there? I sure wouldn't want to get a reputation for doing that....what about by the hour??

I know it sounds seedy, doesn't it?
I got a call yesterday from a couple with a new baby. They weren't comfortable leaving the baby overnight, but found a sitter for the day. They said they just needed some 'away time'...from 3 to 10 PM. ( guess this is when they could get a sitter for)?
.

They said they just needed some 'away time'...from 3 to 10 PM. ( guess this is when they could get a sitter for)?

They wouldn't need a sitter if they hadn't previously had some "away time". (>wink< >wink< nudge, nudge, say no more.)

.

bwahahahahahaaaa!
I see I'm not the only Monty Python fan around here !