The biggest mistakes in innkeeping I have made...

[Samster]

1) Overestimating the help that my dh would give me in the business - both in the day-to-day operations and the big picture help, which lead to #2...
2) Investing too much of myself (monetarily & time wise) in the business and not putting aside enough of both for MYSELF, marriage, family, and friends (in that order).

 

[Alibi Ike]

I am lucky I come from a family of go getters where you are taught from a young age that anything is possible and no one sits quietly and take it from anyone. We are all nuts. and you know what they say you want something done give it to a busy person. It is what I do with all that time I don't waste second guessing.
Plus whenever I feel sad i read the reviews for the Azealia and it perks me right up!

---

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I just went and read some of them. Those are horrible reviews.

 

[gillumhouse]

My big mistake was not figuring out HOW/WHERE to do the second bathroom sooner than I did and then not holding Mr. Colt's invention to a certain DH head until he signed the loan papers at least 3 years prior to when I did convince him.
I made a few expensive marketing mistakes - but not enough to drown me thank goodness.

 

[agoodman]

One of the biggest mistakes I've made was just this past Friday night. My very first double booking...and on Valentine's weekend! I still feel horrible about it. We've been able to go back and figure out how it happened, but that doesn't make it any better for the couple we had to turn away. The booking happened during the time when our old computer crashed, we had the new one but RezOvation couldn't be loaded due to it's age and we were using both Webervations and transitition over to Reservation Key. Bottom line is this reservation fell through the cracks and it won't happen again.
I found alternate lodging and was prepared to also buy their dinner, but they chose to be on their own. It wasn't until they got home that they decided to tell me in an e-mail what they thought. It wasn't pleasant! Oh well, live and learn, but this one will sting for quite some time and I hope we don't get slammed on TA..

One of the biggest mistakes I've made was just this past Friday night. My very first double booking...and on Valentine's weekend!

We have nightmares about doing this very thing. As a matter of fact we hold off taking bookings until we double check with each other. I am so scared of doing this!!!!!
riki
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One of the biggest mistakes I've made was just this past Friday night. My very first double booking...and on Valentine's weekend!

We have nightmares about doing this very thing. As a matter of fact we hold off taking bookings until we double check with each other. I am so scared of doing this!!!!!
riki

Interesting how this happens on a daily basis with hotels and they think nothing of it. When it happens to us, we're devastated!
.

One of the biggest mistakes I've made was just this past Friday night. My very first double booking...and on Valentine's weekend!

We have nightmares about doing this very thing. As a matter of fact we hold off taking bookings until we double check with each other. I am so scared of doing this!!!!!
riki

Interesting how this happens on a daily basis with hotels and they think nothing of it. When it happens to us, we're devastated!

Yes but remember, hotels INTENTIONALLY overbook because of the last minute cancels and no show factor, trust me I was a res manager and hated being overbooked by even one room but it was management policy - ever try relocating a guest when you work on a tropical island or when they have come from somewhere in Europe to SPECIFICALLY stay at a Disney property in France???

 

[Gingerbread Latte]

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha

 

[Alibi Ike]

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha.

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha

Oh dear. You know how your parents told you all this stuff and you did what you wanted to anyway? Welcome to innkeeping!

 

[Gingerbread Latte]

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha.

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha

Oh dear. You know how your parents told you all this stuff and you did what you wanted to anyway? Welcome to innkeeping!
.

LOL ~ I'm sure I'll be writing my own stories in soon and y'all can all laugh and and say "I told you so."

 

[Gingerbread Latte]

Keeping a cash-based repeat guest policy from the PO's. Should have gone with gifts instead of money. Slowly phasing the policy out. It was easy to keep track of but too expensive to implement in the long run..

Please explain this. I always thought cash was good. Do you not like having it on hand?

 

[Alibi Ike]

Keeping a cash-based repeat guest policy from the PO's. Should have gone with gifts instead of money. Slowly phasing the policy out. It was easy to keep track of but too expensive to implement in the long run..

Please explain this. I always thought cash was good. Do you not like having it on hand?
.

Please explain this. I always thought cash was good. Do you not like having it on hand?

The PO's did a cash discount. That's what I meant. Stay 2 days, get 10% off the 3rd night. Or, stay 4 nights, get the 5th free. That sort of thing. As prices have gone up, 10% off is a lot of money; free nights are a lot of money. A small giftie for under $10 would have saved a fortune over the years. A lot of guests have said they'd have stayed without the discount. So, I feel like I've given $10-15k away over the years. It's great to have repeats, but I could have done it for a lot less. Don't sell yourself short by thinking the PO's were better or no one will want to stay with you.
Set your own policy and just go with it.

 

[Country Girl]

My biggest mistake was not installing individual thermostats in each B&B room when we first renovated 15 years ago. Now, it's too late. It's not a problem most of the time, but once in a while it is.

 

[Gingerbread Latte]

Keeping a cash-based repeat guest policy from the PO's. Should have gone with gifts instead of money. Slowly phasing the policy out. It was easy to keep track of but too expensive to implement in the long run..

Please explain this. I always thought cash was good. Do you not like having it on hand?
.

Please explain this. I always thought cash was good. Do you not like having it on hand?

The PO's did a cash discount. That's what I meant. Stay 2 days, get 10% off the 3rd night. Or, stay 4 nights, get the 5th free. That sort of thing. As prices have gone up, 10% off is a lot of money; free nights are a lot of money. A small giftie for under $10 would have saved a fortune over the years. A lot of guests have said they'd have stayed without the discount. So, I feel like I've given $10-15k away over the years. It's great to have repeats, but I could have done it for a lot less. Don't sell yourself short by thinking the PO's were better or no one will want to stay with you.
Set your own policy and just go with it.
.

Got it. Thanks for the info. A personal treat might mean more to them anyway. Who knows what motivates people or makes them happy.

 

[gillumhouse]

My biggest mistake was not installing individual thermostats in each B&B room when we first renovated 15 years ago. Now, it's too late. It's not a problem most of the time, but once in a while it is..

That is an excellent tip. We had to have individual thermostats as each room had to have electric baseboard heaters - no ductwork on second floor since each room DID have gas fireplaces. When we did the new furnace with central air downstairs, the cost of central upstairs (because of ductwork, etc) was prohibitive so we went with window units. It is a plus that each guest controls their own climate in any season.

 

[Joey Camb]

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha.

Thank you! Thank you! Please keep this thread going. I'll happily learn from y'all mistakes.( I hope) Haha

Oh dear. You know how your parents told you all this stuff and you did what you wanted to anyway? Welcome to innkeeping!
.

LOL ~ I'm sure I'll be writing my own stories in soon and y'all can all laugh and and say "I told you so."
.

cash has its main advantage in that there are no bank charges but on the negative side you have to mess on getting it to the band (depending on your location how difficult or easy that is) having cash about (from a crime point of view) also however they say they are going to pay get a card number cos if they don't come and or do damage can't get more money out of them.

 

[birdwatcher]

One of the biggest mistake is "build it they will come" and having all the cash that you have plunged into the business and not talking to the bank for a loan or the SBA-or waiting to open so that we had cushion while renovating the B & B to open and knowing that a START UP is exactly that and if you have to renovate, paint, replace etc it takes an exhorbitant amount of $$ even if I though we had enough and we would make enough to cover the B & B and other stuff seasonally-it did not add up to our bills + other stuff you gotta worry about not to mention opening a busineess in part of a state that the jobs are hard to get and the good ones are far away, winters are hard and so much more.
If we would have been patient and waited and maybe paid all our stuff such as paying the car off or even paying one of the houses out right-we may still have the B & B-but you live and learn.
We are now paid innkeepers and this is a different monster in itself but yet its good cause you are getting paid to do the best job in the world...but depending on the BOSS you have is how much control you have.
Perhaps in the future we can re-open our house in WV and have a 4 room Inn..that is our dream or hey you never know we may BURN OUT and find something else to do since we don't have any kids to worry about-we can do anything we want and thats something else not owning it-We are not TIED down with it-truth is we would much rather be in our B & B-but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[MTLLodge]

One of the biggest mistake is "build it they will come" and having all the cash that you have plunged into the business and not talking to the bank for a loan or the SBA-or waiting to open so that we had cushion while renovating the B & B to open and knowing that a START UP is exactly that and if you have to renovate, paint, replace etc it takes an exhorbitant amount of $$ even if I though we had enough and we would make enough to cover the B & B and other stuff seasonally-it did not add up to our bills + other stuff you gotta worry about not to mention opening a busineess in part of a state that the jobs are hard to get and the good ones are far away, winters are hard and so much more.
If we would have been patient and waited and maybe paid all our stuff such as paying the car off or even paying one of the houses out right-we may still have the B & B-but you live and learn.
We are now paid innkeepers and this is a different monster in itself but yet its good cause you are getting paid to do the best job in the world...but depending on the BOSS you have is how much control you have.
Perhaps in the future we can re-open our house in WV and have a 4 room Inn..that is our dream or hey you never know we may BURN OUT and find something else to do since we don't have any kids to worry about-we can do anything we want and thats something else not owning it-We are not TIED down with it-truth is we would much rather be in our B & B-but you gotta do what you gotta do..

I only wished I did this sooner.

 

[Mini]

The most stupid thing I ever did was estimate when a room renovation would be complete and start taking reservations thinking the room would be complete at a certain date. Dah! We all know renos take much longer than anticipated especially when you have guests in the house....can't pound nails when guests are around. It totally stressed me out as the room was not finished and had to call the guests to apologize. Would never take bookings until 100% complete.
Also, I trust people too much and yes many people have played poverty with me too in fact we have someone staying with us now for 5 nights who pleaded for a lower rate until I gave her one. At breakfast we find out she is a medical doctor. This happens to me all the time and still I have not learned.
And like I had mentioned before, hiring the P.O's to innsit was a big mistake as they just didn't care any more.
The first two years we never took any time off at all, big mistake. Now we each take 2 or 3 on our own and at least 2 together during slow periods. You just have to. Unfortunately I still have to get over missing the b & b so much when I am on vacation.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

The most stupid thing I ever did was estimate when a room renovation would be complete and start taking reservations thinking the room would be complete at a certain date. Dah! We all know renos take much longer than anticipated especially when you have guests in the house....can't pound nails when guests are around. It totally stressed me out as the room was not finished and had to call the guests to apologize. Would never take bookings until 100% complete.
Also, I trust people too much and yes many people have played poverty with me too in fact we have someone staying with us now for 5 nights who pleaded for a lower rate until I gave her one. At breakfast we find out she is a medical doctor. This happens to me all the time and still I have not learned.
And like I had mentioned before, hiring the P.O's to innsit was a big mistake as they just didn't care any more.
The first two years we never took any time off at all, big mistake. Now we each take 2 or 3 on our own and at least 2 together during slow periods. You just have to. Unfortunately I still have to get over missing the b & b so much when I am on vacation..

Oh! The poverty card! How come when people play the poverty card, they are still looking for the most expensive room??? I can't remember a time when they were trying to rent the least expensive room and played that card.

 

[JBloggs]

The poverty card amazes me as well. It is not the same as the people who are just cheap and want to pack more people into a room either. Why would you even consider a B&B or a getaway in the first place? Other than to MANIPULATE THE INNKEEPER. That is what I think about this subject, a simple manipulating to get what they want, like a sleazy salesman.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

Update on my double booking: The guest has written bad reviews on Yelp, TA and I expect at any moment bb.com
I sure hope it made her feel better and I'm so glad she's so perfect that she's never made a mistake in her business.

 

[agoodman]

do you have the option to respond?