revenues 25% down

[Generic]

We are way down and have decided to list with ex pe dia. For those of you who list and have themed rooms are you able to move guests reservations around to maximize occupancy? We are going to price our rooms all the same in hopes that we can do this. Just wanted to find out if anyone else does or has tried this? I'm nervous to use Air as I hear they do not populate their site but every 4 hours and this could lead to double bookings with expe di a or air..

We have always sold the room individually, I sometimes think guests like knowing what they will get because when they check in to a specific room they immediately feel like they are where they should be and want to be. It may be more selling specific rooms but to me, that individuality of the room styles is what sets us apart from the big boxies. Sometimes, quite honestly, I may offer a guest an upgrade just to get them further away so my dogs don’t get excited with every noise they make (I’m sorry.. ) but I am surprised how many stick to what they booked even though the upgraded room is way bigger and nicer!
.

We've had guests ask to downgrade too. I have a room that is particularly large and grand and have had guests ask about moving down to that room.

But the point here is that booking direct should be an advantage. If you want a specific room... book direct.

 

[JimBoone]

We are way down and have decided to list with ex pe dia. For those of you who list and have themed rooms are you able to move guests reservations around to maximize occupancy? We are going to price our rooms all the same in hopes that we can do this. Just wanted to find out if anyone else does or has tried this? I'm nervous to use Air as I hear they do not populate their site but every 4 hours and this could lead to double bookings with expe di a or air..

We have always sold the room individually, I sometimes think guests like knowing what they will get because when they check in to a specific room they immediately feel like they are where they should be and want to be. It may be more selling specific rooms but to me, that individuality of the room styles is what sets us apart from the big boxies. Sometimes, quite honestly, I may offer a guest an upgrade just to get them further away so my dogs don’t get excited with every noise they make (I’m sorry.. ) but I am surprised how many stick to what they booked even though the upgraded room is way bigger and nicer!
.

Folks have their own reasons for liking a certain room, years ago mine was that a certain room at a motel we visited had its own little parking spot.
For business present day, I do state that I reserve the right to change a guest to an equal or larger room. Now our rooms differ by color and decoration, but pretty much uniform other than that, I will alway try to avoid moving someone that desires something specific, but it does give us an out if needed to use rooms more efficiently.

 

[Morticia]

We are way down and have decided to list with ex pe dia. For those of you who list and have themed rooms are you able to move guests reservations around to maximize occupancy? We are going to price our rooms all the same in hopes that we can do this. Just wanted to find out if anyone else does or has tried this? I'm nervous to use Air as I hear they do not populate their site but every 4 hours and this could lead to double bookings with expe di a or air..

We have always sold the room individually, I sometimes think guests like knowing what they will get because when they check in to a specific room they immediately feel like they are where they should be and want to be. It may be more selling specific rooms but to me, that individuality of the room styles is what sets us apart from the big boxies. Sometimes, quite honestly, I may offer a guest an upgrade just to get them further away so my dogs don’t get excited with every noise they make (I’m sorry.. ) but I am surprised how many stick to what they booked even though the upgraded room is way bigger and nicer!
.

If someone books thru an OTA and then calls to verify they got x room I let them know they can have x room if they book directly. Otherwise, the room selection is my choice and based on what is left at arrival. Some have panicked and said they don't want the room with the detached bath so I know they have looked closely at our room choices but opted to use BDC instead of direct booking.
And again, book directly for choice. Hotels do the same thing.

 

[OnTheShore]

In our case, each of our cottages is very unique (with different capacities, bed arrangements, etc...); there is really no way we could do a generic booking where we assign the guest to whatever cottage is available.... So to the extent that we list on 3rd party sites, we have to list by specific unit....

 

[Morticia]

In our case, each of our cottages is very unique (with different capacities, bed arrangements, etc...); there is really no way we could do a generic booking where we assign the guest to whatever cottage is available.... So to the extent that we list on 3rd party sites, we have to list by specific unit.....

In our case, each of our cottages is very unique (with different capacities, bed arrangements, etc...); there is really no way we could do a generic booking where we assign the guest to whatever cottage is available.... So to the extent that we list on 3rd party sites, we have to list by specific unit....

We've got 'standard queen' as the description. One bed, two person max. You might get a king if all the queens are taken.

 

[JerseyBoy]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems.

 

[gillumhouse]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

Rather than list each room, why not list room type by floor? Ground floor (or first floor), Second floor, Third floor (and if this floor has a view list it as penthouse floor)

 

[Morticia]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.

 

[JerseyBoy]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?

 

[JimBoone]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?
.

Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?

Not related to OTA's, but I state that we reserve the right to move guests to a different room of the same or larger sleeping size as it makes for a more efficient use of space if we happen to be busy.

 

[Morticia]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?

Yes. If we get a repeat guest who wants 'their' room it is good to keep them happy. Or, someone who needs a particular layout.
We've had 2 guests come back direct who first booked thru an OTA. But that's it. So, the direct guests get my best deal, and choice of room.

 

[Arks]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?

Yes. If we get a repeat guest who wants 'their' room it is good to keep them happy. Or, someone who needs a particular layout.
We've had 2 guests come back direct who first booked thru an OTA. But that's it. So, the direct guests get my best deal, and choice of room.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?

If we get a repeat guest who wants 'their' room it is good to keep them happy.

I have a single woman business traveler who, over a few years, has stayed in the same room 48 times so far! If "her" room isn't available, she'll reschedule her business trip to a time when she can get it, even if she has to put her trip off for a month. It's my smallest room, but I think she feels secure there, and she won't stay anyplace else!

 

[Lee2014]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?
.

Yes!
We have moved guests because there were only two rooms on two different heat zones so we "upgraded" one guest to another room that was on the same heating zone as the other. So we only had to heat that zone.
We have moved guests since they were one nighter in a room that we could rent out the whole weekend so we moved them to a nicer looking room that was the same price range which already had two one-nighters in it for the weekend. We put their original room back on and rented it out as well.
We have moved guests just because they showed up nice and cheerful Sunday afternoon and boasted our tried selves, so we gave them our best room.
Its all about convenience for the innkeeper. Do what works for you. Act like you are doing them a favor and tell them your favorite feature of their upgraded room so they will be looking forward to their gift room.

 

[Morticia]

I just came across this thread and have a question for the folks listing their properties on the OTA's, but are not providing specific rooms.
We have 3 different room classes and 17 rooms but we list every room separately. We have done this primarily because each of our rooms are a little different but more importantly we have 3 floors and 2 buildings. There are no elevators. We have always been concerned about guests booking a room and ending up on the 3rd floor without knowing it and not being able to climb the steps comfortably.
I would much rather use the option some of you are using which is not to guarantee specific rooms leaving the ability to move people as needed but fear it will lead to more problems or fewer bookings.
I am curious if anyone has tried both ways or if those of you who are assigning rooms are finding a lot of problems..

We have (internally) removed certain rooms from the list. Steep stairs and no elevator got us some fairly bitchy complaints.
So. We list rooms as 'standard queen' and 'all rooms are upstairs.'
I do my best to give ota guests rooms in the first floor. However, even these rooms are up a 20 step flight of stairs.
.

Thanks. Some good suggestions. Do you find being able to move the guests around very helpful?
.

Yes!
We have moved guests because there were only two rooms on two different heat zones so we "upgraded" one guest to another room that was on the same heating zone as the other. So we only had to heat that zone.
We have moved guests since they were one nighter in a room that we could rent out the whole weekend so we moved them to a nicer looking room that was the same price range which already had two one-nighters in it for the weekend. We put their original room back on and rented it out as well.
We have moved guests just because they showed up nice and cheerful Sunday afternoon and boasted our tried selves, so we gave them our best room.
Its all about convenience for the innkeeper. Do what works for you. Act like you are doing them a favor and tell them your favorite feature of their upgraded room so they will be looking forward to their gift room.
.

Convenience for the innkeeper! Gomez hates cleaning the only room with a bathtub. He'll give someone a $50 upgrade so he doesn't have to clean it.

 

[GoodScout]

I need to get a thicker skin.
This happened today, right after looking at my February projections (soft), and doing my monthly calculations on Air revenues in my town (climbing fast). A friend who's a real estate agent posted something on social media about a new Air rental in town, complete with 30+ photos, saying, "If you're coming to [our town], you MUST stay here!
This is a lady who's regularly enjoyed the hospitality of our home, sat with us at our weekly knit night, attending the charity auction we host every year, attended our annual Christmas party, and even hit us up for donations and the like.
I realize she probably didn't think of this as a competitor to us, but the headline, and the fact that we constantly contribute to our community while these Air carpetbaggers do nothing but run unlicensed, uninspected and unhelpful multi-unit rentals just galled me.
In my weakness, I simply wrote one word in the comments section: "Nope"
Later, the owner of the unit wrote me a long message saying at first he was mad and now he just wanted me to know how much he respected our establishment. My friend has yet to say anything.
As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I will work to get a thicker skin. But for this morning at least, I'd had enough and had to say something. Even if it was a single word.

 

[MidwestBB]

I need to get a thicker skin.
This happened today, right after looking at my February projections (soft), and doing my monthly calculations on Air revenues in my town (climbing fast). A friend who's a real estate agent posted something on social media about a new Air rental in town, complete with 30+ photos, saying, "If you're coming to [our town], you MUST stay here!
This is a lady who's regularly enjoyed the hospitality of our home, sat with us at our weekly knit night, attending the charity auction we host every year, attended our annual Christmas party, and even hit us up for donations and the like.
I realize she probably didn't think of this as a competitor to us, but the headline, and the fact that we constantly contribute to our community while these Air carpetbaggers do nothing but run unlicensed, uninspected and unhelpful multi-unit rentals just galled me.
In my weakness, I simply wrote one word in the comments section: "Nope"
Later, the owner of the unit wrote me a long message saying at first he was mad and now he just wanted me to know how much he respected our establishment. My friend has yet to say anything.
As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I will work to get a thicker skin. But for this morning at least, I'd had enough and had to say something. Even if it was a single word..

Air charges the guest $18 to stay at our place and charges us $5. If the guest books direct neither of us gets those fees.

There needs to be a national advertising campaign educating the public that AirBnB has nothing to do with a real B&B and that people should book direct.

 

[MidwestBB]

Another thing...use facebook for free!

You can join local facebook groups. You will find groups like "things to do around (insert your city)" Join all those groups that you can.

Then make a facebook post and choose the option to put your post in all those groups. Its free advertising! You will also find a ton of people "liking" your facebook page after you do that.
Just keep working the social media and you can really boost your business.

 

[Morticia]

I need to get a thicker skin.
This happened today, right after looking at my February projections (soft), and doing my monthly calculations on Air revenues in my town (climbing fast). A friend who's a real estate agent posted something on social media about a new Air rental in town, complete with 30+ photos, saying, "If you're coming to [our town], you MUST stay here!
This is a lady who's regularly enjoyed the hospitality of our home, sat with us at our weekly knit night, attending the charity auction we host every year, attended our annual Christmas party, and even hit us up for donations and the like.
I realize she probably didn't think of this as a competitor to us, but the headline, and the fact that we constantly contribute to our community while these Air carpetbaggers do nothing but run unlicensed, uninspected and unhelpful multi-unit rentals just galled me.
In my weakness, I simply wrote one word in the comments section: "Nope"
Later, the owner of the unit wrote me a long message saying at first he was mad and now he just wanted me to know how much he respected our establishment. My friend has yet to say anything.
As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I will work to get a thicker skin. But for this morning at least, I'd had enough and had to say something. Even if it was a single word..

Air charges the guest $18 to stay at our place and charges us $5. If the guest books direct neither of us gets those fees.

There needs to be a national advertising campaign educating the public that AirBnB has nothing to do with a real B&B and that people should book direct.
.

Air charges the guest $18 to stay at our place and charges us $5. If the guest books direct neither of us gets those fees.

There needs to be a national advertising campaign educating the public that AirBnB has nothing to do with a real B&B and that people should book direct.

I've asked guests why they opted to use Airbnb instead of booking direct. All of our info was in our listing. I asked if the additional charges weren't quite steep. One guest said she didn't pay anything more than the room rate. So, they don't realize it, or air lists it as some sort of handling fee. One particular guest used them for 2 weeks of vacation. That's a lot of souvenirs!
Others like the idea of 'belonging' to a 'disrupter.' (it's all fun and games until your parents have to move in with you because you put them out of business.)

 

[JerseyBoy]

I need to get a thicker skin.
This happened today, right after looking at my February projections (soft), and doing my monthly calculations on Air revenues in my town (climbing fast). A friend who's a real estate agent posted something on social media about a new Air rental in town, complete with 30+ photos, saying, "If you're coming to [our town], you MUST stay here!
This is a lady who's regularly enjoyed the hospitality of our home, sat with us at our weekly knit night, attending the charity auction we host every year, attended our annual Christmas party, and even hit us up for donations and the like.
I realize she probably didn't think of this as a competitor to us, but the headline, and the fact that we constantly contribute to our community while these Air carpetbaggers do nothing but run unlicensed, uninspected and unhelpful multi-unit rentals just galled me.
In my weakness, I simply wrote one word in the comments section: "Nope"
Later, the owner of the unit wrote me a long message saying at first he was mad and now he just wanted me to know how much he respected our establishment. My friend has yet to say anything.
As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I will work to get a thicker skin. But for this morning at least, I'd had enough and had to say something. Even if it was a single word..

Air charges the guest $18 to stay at our place and charges us $5. If the guest books direct neither of us gets those fees.

There needs to be a national advertising campaign educating the public that AirBnB has nothing to do with a real B&B and that people should book direct.
.

I like the idea of an advertising campaign but it would be hard to somehow coordinate it among such a large number of small and independent properties. I am wondering though if somehow within a group like this or even this group and some of the other groups on facebook that some of us belong to that we could craft some sort of consistent message which clearly depicts why it's better to book direct. Phineas mentioned some great social reasons regarding contributing to the local community. We try to educate every customer they will always get the best price and best service during the booking process if they book direct.
I'm thinking that if we can craft a generally standard and consistent message that instead of trying to collect money from 1000 small businesses and have some sort of advertising campaign, that maybe if we can put the message into the hands of the 1000 small businesses and each one of us consistently and frequently push it out through our email lists, or thank you letters, post it in our check-in spaces, put it on our websites, post it on our facebook pages and any place we can get it, including (until they stop us) responses to Tripadvisor reviews. Hilton is pushing this concept of "book direct" through national advertising and we can piggyback off of that with direct contact to past and current customers as well as those who show interest in our properties. What do you think?

 

[Morticia]

I need to get a thicker skin.
This happened today, right after looking at my February projections (soft), and doing my monthly calculations on Air revenues in my town (climbing fast). A friend who's a real estate agent posted something on social media about a new Air rental in town, complete with 30+ photos, saying, "If you're coming to [our town], you MUST stay here!
This is a lady who's regularly enjoyed the hospitality of our home, sat with us at our weekly knit night, attending the charity auction we host every year, attended our annual Christmas party, and even hit us up for donations and the like.
I realize she probably didn't think of this as a competitor to us, but the headline, and the fact that we constantly contribute to our community while these Air carpetbaggers do nothing but run unlicensed, uninspected and unhelpful multi-unit rentals just galled me.
In my weakness, I simply wrote one word in the comments section: "Nope"
Later, the owner of the unit wrote me a long message saying at first he was mad and now he just wanted me to know how much he respected our establishment. My friend has yet to say anything.
As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I will work to get a thicker skin. But for this morning at least, I'd had enough and had to say something. Even if it was a single word..

Air charges the guest $18 to stay at our place and charges us $5. If the guest books direct neither of us gets those fees.

There needs to be a national advertising campaign educating the public that AirBnB has nothing to do with a real B&B and that people should book direct.
.

I like the idea of an advertising campaign but it would be hard to somehow coordinate it among such a large number of small and independent properties. I am wondering though if somehow within a group like this or even this group and some of the other groups on facebook that some of us belong to that we could craft some sort of consistent message which clearly depicts why it's better to book direct. Phineas mentioned some great social reasons regarding contributing to the local community. We try to educate every customer they will always get the best price and best service during the booking process if they book direct.
I'm thinking that if we can craft a generally standard and consistent message that instead of trying to collect money from 1000 small businesses and have some sort of advertising campaign, that maybe if we can put the message into the hands of the 1000 small businesses and each one of us consistently and frequently push it out through our email lists, or thank you letters, post it in our check-in spaces, put it on our websites, post it on our facebook pages and any place we can get it, including (until they stop us) responses to Tripadvisor reviews. Hilton is pushing this concept of "book direct" through national advertising and we can piggyback off of that with direct contact to past and current customers as well as those who show interest in our properties. What do you think?
.

AIHP is setting up a 'Book Direct' campaign. If you find them on Facebook, you can get the details. I don't see it on their website.