Surprise Guest

[Samster]

i am sorry it is so slow for you!.

Thanks for that. I am hoping that this is just my "January", but I know that January will be slow too...hopefully not this slow. We all know that it's tough when you're just starting out. The electricity for the A/C is the killer this time of year for us. Thankfully, this one night guest picked a guest room in the main house so I don't have to cool the whole 2nd house down. Of course, my dh thought I was an idiot to offer a choice of the rooms over there! But this is a referral from a neighbor who also happens to be a department head at our university. I like to treat those folks well since they're a good source of recurring guests any time of the year

I did deeply discount the room (and told the guest that this was a special rate for the university), but this guest told us that this would be a great place for the parents when they come to visit so that will bring more business too. Yay!
Every little bit helps.......
.

Thanks for that. I am hoping that this is just my "January", but I know that January will be slow too...hopefully not this slow. We all know that it's tough when you're just starting out. The electricity for the A/C is the killer this time of year for us. Thankfully, this one night guest picked a guest room in the main house so I don't have to cool the whole 2nd house down. Of course, my dh thought I was an idiot to offer a choice of the rooms over there! But this is a referral from a neighbor who also happens to be a department head at our university. I like to treat those folks well since they're a good source of recurring guests any time of the year

I did deeply discount the room (and told the guest that this was a special rate for the university), but this guest told us that this would be a great place for the parents when they come to visit so that will bring more business too. Yay!
Every little bit helps.......

I was thinking about your situation with the 2 buildings and I know a LOT of places here close the second building in the off season, or close off certain rooms to save on fuel. You could do the same. Not sure if you would want to do that right now, but once you have a real sense of what your occ is like you might just block those rooms in the other house off for Aug. We have friends who have one room that is VERY hard to heat and it's their cheapest room. In the winter it is 'booked' all the time. They just don't want to bother for $100/night.
It does 2 things...it saves you the hassle and it makes it look like you are always busy. If there is one room in the second house that is easier to cool or take care of, leave that one open. But, because you have to cool the main house for youselves and those are beeyootiful rooms, you might want to consider that option.
.

That might be a good idea except for the fact that those are often our most popular rooms with the steam showers & big 2 person jetted tubs! We also have been having a good run with our suite that has the full kitchen & private entrance. The problem is that our rooms are all different!

 

[gillumhouse]

I had a call at 11:30 Thursday night for a room and I actually turned him away. At 11:30 pm, he was at least 30 to 45 minutes away and I was not guest ready. Decided he was obviously NOT a B & B person.
Tonight I had a call from a military family going from Maryland to Washington State - 2 adults, 3 children, and 4 horses. I offered the whole house for the price of the 2 w/shared after the military discount, no escort fee, and cut the price of the horses fee by $10 per horse - and they have to think it over! I cannot give the store away! They have tents - OK but where do they expect to put the horses. Oh well, I did the best I could for them..

Horses?!! You have accomodations for horses?!
Who has accomodations for horses!? for almighty sake. I think you should stick to your price.
.

For "regular" people, I will not budge on my price. However, for military and police I have a special rate - my daughter is a cop and my grandson is Navy and his wife is Air Force.
This is not a pleasure trip. This is a move to a new duty station - they have a limited amount of money to make a coast to coast move WITH horses. By finding out the kids are all small (10 and under) I am saving them a bit of money by setting up a cot and putting them in 2 rooms that share a bathroom and saving me having to clean 2 bathrooms tomorrow.
Since I know one kid is gluten-free, I have already made a loaf of bread for him and some muffins for his breakfast (they will be given all gluten-free leftovers to take on their journey). Our military and police do not get enough appreciation (imnvho) but I can show it - without giving away the store, almost.
.

Thanks for taking care of our military folks! We do a 15% discount here and have quite a few military guests because of our location. As a retired Major & since dh was a surgical tech in the Air Force as a young whipper snapper during Vietnam, we are most appreciative of our service men & women. These young people are really having it tough with their rotations.
Let us know how this family enjoyed their stay with y'all.
.

In winter it is 25% off. I knew you were funnin'. Was just acknowledging your post.

 

[Morticia]

i am sorry it is so slow for you!.

Thanks for that. I am hoping that this is just my "January", but I know that January will be slow too...hopefully not this slow. We all know that it's tough when you're just starting out. The electricity for the A/C is the killer this time of year for us. Thankfully, this one night guest picked a guest room in the main house so I don't have to cool the whole 2nd house down. Of course, my dh thought I was an idiot to offer a choice of the rooms over there! But this is a referral from a neighbor who also happens to be a department head at our university. I like to treat those folks well since they're a good source of recurring guests any time of the year

I did deeply discount the room (and told the guest that this was a special rate for the university), but this guest told us that this would be a great place for the parents when they come to visit so that will bring more business too. Yay!
Every little bit helps.......
.

Thanks for that. I am hoping that this is just my "January", but I know that January will be slow too...hopefully not this slow. We all know that it's tough when you're just starting out. The electricity for the A/C is the killer this time of year for us. Thankfully, this one night guest picked a guest room in the main house so I don't have to cool the whole 2nd house down. Of course, my dh thought I was an idiot to offer a choice of the rooms over there! But this is a referral from a neighbor who also happens to be a department head at our university. I like to treat those folks well since they're a good source of recurring guests any time of the year

I did deeply discount the room (and told the guest that this was a special rate for the university), but this guest told us that this would be a great place for the parents when they come to visit so that will bring more business too. Yay!
Every little bit helps.......

I was thinking about your situation with the 2 buildings and I know a LOT of places here close the second building in the off season, or close off certain rooms to save on fuel. You could do the same. Not sure if you would want to do that right now, but once you have a real sense of what your occ is like you might just block those rooms in the other house off for Aug. We have friends who have one room that is VERY hard to heat and it's their cheapest room. In the winter it is 'booked' all the time. They just don't want to bother for $100/night.
It does 2 things...it saves you the hassle and it makes it look like you are always busy. If there is one room in the second house that is easier to cool or take care of, leave that one open. But, because you have to cool the main house for youselves and those are beeyootiful rooms, you might want to consider that option.
.

That might be a good idea except for the fact that those are often our most popular rooms with the steam showers & big 2 person jetted tubs! We also have been having a good run with our suite that has the full kitchen & private entrance. The problem is that our rooms are all different!
.

That might be a good idea except for the fact that those are often our most popular rooms with the steam showers & big 2 person jetted tubs! We also have been having a good run with our suite that has the full kitchen & private entrance. The problem is that our rooms are all different!

I figured there might be an issue there somewhere.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Had a Boomer stay with us today. Never asked for military discount as she booked the room. They got one tho.

 

[gillumhouse]

Well, I got the big surprise. When he told me the kid was gluten-free he neglected to tell me (until they were here at 11pm) that the kid also cannot have bananas or eggs. Guess who made peanut butter, BANANA, chocolate chip muffins today!! It is now 1am, I just took the carrot-date muffins out of the oven - I do hope they are good! Oatmeal with blueberries for the kid in the morning and an egg bake for the rest of them. I even bought some different sour cream to try to ensure no gluten.
I told him, if you stay at any B & B along the way - tell them no gluten, no bananas, and no eggs and they will be able to work around it if tey know in advance.
GOD sent them to us for their first stop for a reason.