Ann
We have a chambre d'hotes as well as a gite and there is definitely a difference in booking patterns.
I don't think my gite is doing very well but I have got 8 weeks booked (all high season). With the chambre d'hotes on the other hand, we have only had two lots of guests this year so far and with the exception of one wedding party who has booked all three rooms in June, there are only two or three single night bookings. However, if past years are anything to go by this is quite normal. Most people do book only a few weeks ahead and, especially in the summer, are quite likely to turn up on the doorstep at about 8 pm asking if we have a room available!
I hope this is a little bit reassuring.
Ali
Back after 2 months
Thanks Ali,
I feel a little better now, my problem is the not knowing, I wake up at 3.00 am and think what if nobody books, how will we survive? then I think, well everybody else seems to do o.k. so I must be worrying about nothing, but I still worry, once we have had a season I will have something to compare it to and if we are lucky enough to be busy i will probably be moaning that I can't cope with the ironing.
Anyway thanks for your positive replies, I think this cold weather is making me depressed.
Ann
www.bed-and-breakfast-in-the-dordogne.com
www.stainedglassinfrance.net
I feel a little better now, my problem is the not knowing, I wake up at 3.00 am and think what if nobody books, how will we survive? then I think, well everybody else seems to do o.k. so I must be worrying about nothing, but I still worry, once we have had a season I will have something to compare it to and if we are lucky enough to be busy i will probably be moaning that I can't cope with the ironing.
Anyway thanks for your positive replies, I think this cold weather is making me depressed.
Ann
www.bed-and-breakfast-in-the-dordogne.com
www.stainedglassinfrance.net
You must learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.
You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.
Ann
I don't think it is the cold so much as a bit of missing baby perhaps?
I'm very into my chart - but must admit I don't have my chart updated so much now as Denise is also a grandmother again so doesn't come to visit me so much ( a friend that is an astrologer for quite a few magazines)...but this last few weeks I have had a strange feeling of impending doom...I bet if I spoke to denise I'd find out that the planets are out of align or something!
so keep positive ...I still think get some free publicity...contact magazines etc with your story of stained glass etc...run courses
Good luck - & I'm sure it's just the planets!!
I don't think it is the cold so much as a bit of missing baby perhaps?
I'm very into my chart - but must admit I don't have my chart updated so much now as Denise is also a grandmother again so doesn't come to visit me so much ( a friend that is an astrologer for quite a few magazines)...but this last few weeks I have had a strange feeling of impending doom...I bet if I spoke to denise I'd find out that the planets are out of align or something!
so keep positive ...I still think get some free publicity...contact magazines etc with your story of stained glass etc...run courses
Good luck - & I'm sure it's just the planets!!
Hi Ann,
My unasked for advice, as an outsider new to your business, is that you need to re-brand. At the moment the overwhelming impression I am getting is that yours is 'the stained glass house'.
But that is not why people will want to stay with you. You have a beautiful house in a great location - those are the two essentials for your business to do well. I don't know how many people are interested in stained glass, but I would guess it is less than 5% of your potential market.
By all means dedicate a page of your site to stained glass and the courses you offer, but I would change the homepage so it is just about a beautiful B&B in the Dordogne.
You know what they say about painting your rooms a neutral off-white colour when you are selling a house? It's so that the potential buyers can picture themselves living there more easily. It's the same principle here - the emphasis on a minority interest may put the majority off.
That's my two pennies' worth and as you didn't ask for it I am not going to charge you.
My unasked for advice, as an outsider new to your business, is that you need to re-brand. At the moment the overwhelming impression I am getting is that yours is 'the stained glass house'.
But that is not why people will want to stay with you. You have a beautiful house in a great location - those are the two essentials for your business to do well. I don't know how many people are interested in stained glass, but I would guess it is less than 5% of your potential market.
By all means dedicate a page of your site to stained glass and the courses you offer, but I would change the homepage so it is just about a beautiful B&B in the Dordogne.
You know what they say about painting your rooms a neutral off-white colour when you are selling a house? It's so that the potential buyers can picture themselves living there more easily. It's the same principle here - the emphasis on a minority interest may put the majority off.
That's my two pennies' worth and as you didn't ask for it I am not going to charge you.
Paolo
Lay My Hat
Lay My Hat