People wanting Fri and Sat nights, but not Sunday

[kendalcottages]

I've been getting quite a few enquiries like this lately (ie. Fri and Sat nights, but not Sunday).

Out of season, we do Mon-Fri and Fri-Mon. Sometimes we'll have people stay just the Friday and Saturday nights, but be unable to stay the Sunday night due to work.

Increasingly, I'm finding that people are deciding not to book, because they can't stay the Sunday night and therefore feel they are not getting their money's worth. I try to sell it on the fact that they have the opportunity to have a 'late check out' on the Sunday, until the end of the day if they so wish, even if they can't stay the night, but they rarely 'bite' and instead feel they would be paying for a night that they wouldn't be using and so it can't be good value for them.

I still think the price stacks up well and am wondering if I could be 'selling' it better...

Anyone else get this?

[CarolineH]

Perhaps it's the fact that people think they are paying for Fri - Mon, but not using it, so therefore wasting money - something that is just not PC these days.

Could you weight a deal on the Fri-Sun two night stays and just throw in the Sunday night as a cheapy at the end :

For example, if your Fri-Mon break costs £300, you could say that a Fri-Sun (check-out at midday) break costs £260 (or maybe even £280) and then you could a special offer for one more night at £50.

If you did that you wouldn't lose out too much on the people that had to be back to work on a Monday morning and you may get a little bit extra from those who don't.

[la vache!]

I don't think I've ever had a 3 night week-end booking unless there was a 'pont' here in France and certainly wouldn't sell 2 nights for the price of 3. A week-end for me is always Friday 16H to Sunday 16H so they get their money's worth. Why not offer & 2 night break for 80% of the price for 3 nights in addition to the 3 night weekend you currently offer?

[Harborfields]

Or make your regular price the price for the two nights and say that Sunday is free!

Then those who can only stay for the two nights won't feel like they are paying extra for a night that they are not using, and those who can stay for the three nights will feel like they are getting a great deal.

Just an idea (but it is all in how you present things, or in other words, how you market it).

[CSE]

We have been recently trying to book something off season in the Lakes. Thursday night to Sunday morning.
Could not find one that was flexible enough to change - change over days. So now it will be a small hotel or B&B.


If you feel the market is changing, then maybe change with it.

[kendalcottages]

Generally speaking, we're not having too many problems with letting and are achieving good occupancy rates, but I'd just like to somehow try to appeal more to those people who just want Friday and Saturday nights, without making a significant compromise on rental income. I can see how some of the above suggestions might achieve that.

An occasional Thursday changeover would be a definite 'no' for us since it would impinge on the prior Mon-Fri rental, and disrupt regular cleaning/laundry routines that we have in place and the personal circumstances of those involved, be it work/family/etc. It's better for all concerned if they know where they're up to each week rather than having regular changes to the schedule. Someone staying or not staying on the Sunday night, however, has no bearing in this regard - the clean still happens at the same time on the Monday morning.

[kendalcottages]

We have been recently trying to book something off season in the Lakes. Thursday night to Sunday morning.

I just noticed you placed emphasis 'off season'. Just a small point but just because it's 'off season' doesn't mean to say that the occupancy levels are still not high...

[CSE]

Whilst I wrote my gripe about about inflexible owners I do not think you have taken on board the message. I was looking for something specific. Out of the 100s of rentals not one that met the amount of rooms I required with the amount of days I required. I could have found the right change over day but I did not want to hire a Grange!
The answer is B&B or small hotels.
This is where you could be loosing your bookings too.
You should maybe reread the last sentence of my first response again.

Are you suggesting that it is high season all year in the Lakes?

[kendalcottages]

Thanks - I actually took on board precisely what you were saying, but I don't feel the market is changing to the extent that we need to offer the kind of flexibility that you're seeking.

The fact that you couldn't find that same flexibility among hundreds of rentals (how many of those did you contact?!) would seem to suggest we are not alone in feeling that we don't have to make that kind of compromise in order to attract bookings.

Anyhow... Thurs-Sun isn't quite the same as what I was asking about...

[CSE]

I am sorry I am getting increasingly confused by your postings; in the first posting…

I still think the price stacks up well and am wondering if I could be 'selling' it better...

Anyone else get this?

You then went on to say…

Generally speaking, we're not having too many problems with letting and are achieving good occupancy rates, but I'd just like to somehow try to appeal more to those people who just want Friday and Saturday nights, without making a significant compromise on rental income.

I read your question in being that you want to sell more. To sell more you have to understand the alternatives. I pointed out, from a customers side of things what maybe be occurring and you not selling more.. If I get the impression I cannot purchase exactly what I want I walk away. That includes everything from houses right down the scale.
Another aspect about your replies is I do feel you are getting bogged down in the nitty gritty of what I have written. I gave as much detail as I was prepared to on an open forum. However you seem to have got stuck down with several words I have used like inflexibility and off season. Forget about these things and perhaps put more value on the general picture I am painting.

If you are happy with the letting rates why do you want to appeal to more without some sort of changes to your marketing strategy?

[e-richard]

I read your question in being that you want to sell more...

While I agree that you make some interesting points about the general subject of flexibility, which is probably worthy of discussion elsewhere, I believe the question posed was very specific (read the topic title). How to sell Fri/Sat nights instead or as well as of Fri/Sat/Sun nights ?

Clearly KC has occupancy levels that many of us in different markets can but dream of, so I would think he knows his market pretty well and manages his business profitably. But he has spotted an opportunity to do just a bit better in these specific circumstances.

So, back to the original question:

I have a gut feel that a "Weekend break" of 2 nights sounds like the more attractive proposition rather than 3 nights ending Monday. If this is true, and you gotta believe it is to read on, then you could charge say 90%(1) of your current 3 night rate, with a special offer of (say) only 10% extra for 1 extra night. The maths(2) is not hard to do to work out how many extra bookings (of only 2 nights) you need in order to get back to where you were. Then, if you sell just ONE more weekend on top of that, you're in the money.

--------------------------------
(1) I believe that 90% or thereabouts is quite defensible as the marginal DIRECT costs of an additional night must be trivial.

(2) The maths:
How many 3 night weekends do currently you sell p.a. ?
This gives Annual total weekend-revenue.
Then iterate:
X 2 nighters + Y 3 nighters = new total weekend-revenue total

Where X is all new business !

How big is X ?
How many Y will you "lose" ?

[kendalcottages]

...you seem to have got stuck down with several words I have used like inflexibility and off season.

Forgive me, but if you underline something, I assume it's because you want to give it emphasis.

If you are happy with the letting rates why do you want to appeal to more without some sort of changes to your marketing strategy?

By letting rates, I am wondering here if you mean occupancy rates (as opposed to the £ amount I actually let for). Regardless, since I'm not operating at 100% occupancy, there's always room for improvement. And even if I was, I wouldn't want to get complacent.

Thank you, Richard... you put it so much more clearly than I seem to have managed to so far. I shall look through past bookings and try to come up with some figures. My gut feeling is that most people who have stayed the weekend, have stayed on the Sunday night also, but that might just be because they were paying for it, and felt they might as well...

[Nemo]

KC I also have this occasionally. My short breaks are identical to yours.

When the request comes in, I explain that I do not do Sunday changeovers and therefore they are welcome to stay as late as they wish on the Sunday or up until 10am on the Monday (instead of checking out at 10am on Sunday morning). I don't discuss or mention a price change. Occasionally someone will ask for a reduction and I may knock a minimal £10 off. However my pricing is quite low Nov - Feb, so I suspect that the guests see that they are already getting a good deal!

I think as e-richard says, you just need to do the maths to find if you need to take two night bookings. If it's not vital then just play with your wording and market it with the positive spin of all day on Sunday to stay instead of packing up sharpish and cutting the weekend short.

Like you, there is no "off season" for me, short breaks are selling all year round, just at a lower cost.

[e-richard]

quite by chance, I came across this:

Ebookers search tool puts weekend breaks on the map

... and they define a weekend as Fri to Sun.

[CSE]

Perhaps someone can please tell me; in the world of whole lets why is there no off season? Why lower your rates? Is it not to attract guests when the season would be difficult to fill? Thus meaning off season!

If it's not vital then just play with your wording and market it with the positive spin of all day on Sunday to stay instead of packing up sharpish and cutting the weekend short.

A positive spin? That sounds like certain political parties. Spin is bad. Give the truth, please.