People wanting Fri and Sat nights, but not Sunday

[kendalcottages]

Come on now... make your mind up!

First you underline 'off season'.

Then when I make reference to your highlight of it, you tell me not to get bogged down with it.

And now you're raising it again.

For the record, I never said there wasn't an off-season. I simply said that we still enjoy reasonably high occupancy in the off season. But I assume your comments are directed instead towards Nemo when she stated:

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

I may be speaking out of turn, but from that I think she's simply meaning the same thing. Yes, prices are lower but it's not an off-season in the sense that occupancy is necessarily low.

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

Nemo was giving the truth as I see it. ie. that you can spend all day on Sunday at the property. Does it not make sense to emphasise this rather than to highlight the fact that you'd pay for Monday night, but not get it. There's no dishonesty in that that I can see. It's simply a case of highlighting the pros and not placing so much emphasis on the cons. Surely any owner in their right mind would do that.

[pepsipuss]

How about:

'Take advantage of our great winter weekend break prices:
Stay from Friday evening to Sunday evening for xx and extend your stay to Monday morning for just £x more'

When I was gainfully employed and someone else was paying my salary (sometime in the last millennium) and spinning was something done on a wheel (or to a top if you were a child) that would have been called MARKETING.

[CSE]

Like I said you are getting bogged down with some words I have used. yet again you have picked up of these.

Yet again I ask: Please read the message I am writing.

Maybe I have to write this much more simply for you.
No flexibility or what seems like not flexibility from an owner puts customers off. Customers are in general sure of what they want. In you case you are asking them to pay or seemly pay for a nights sleep they do not want, because you do not want modify your change over days.

Lets go back to this term off season.
Yes I used it to illustrate I was not talking about peak (read easy let) season and I underlined it to stress this point. Customers think in terms of off or low season. It is used as a time of year when there are less tourist, and the rental prices are lower. Some tourist attractions are even shut during this time. I know even some rentals that use one or both of these terms.
Look at this example form nearby Ambleside.
http://www.waterwheelambleside.co.uk/tariff.htm
I would have thought you could see that I was using these terms to illustrate my point(s) of view as to what you could do to get your occupancy rate up. Maybe next time I will not use words that fogs the point of my response.


Richard I have I have read the topic title. The only question in the post or the tile is: Anyone else get this?
Rather ambiguous if you ask me.

[Nemo]

I don't necessarily think that by not letting out the Sunday night, that your occupancy rates would go up. I think you would probably lose more financially. Flexibility is fine if it works, but I suspect for me, KC and many others it doesn't.

I get maximum capacity by designating my changeover days. My cleaner knows where she stands and I personally would not ask her to work on a Sunday. I'm sorry if as a guest that is frustrating, but if you expect full flexibility then that would be why I would stay in a b & b or a hotel, where they have a cleaner every day and several rooms to clean. Horses for courses as they say!

[kendalcottages]

Exactly, Nemo. I acknowledge that people may want to come and go on specific dates but, for me, allowing flexibility in the changeover dates is usually more likely to lead to lower occupancy than higher, as I struggle to fill one and two night 'gaps'.

casasantoestevo... I'm sorry you found my post ambiguous. I actually thought it was pretty clear, but hey ho...

Funny you should reference that particular B&B website. I actually created that one.

[CSE]

KC...again you have getting what I write and you read completely wrong.
I had written about the the question not the post.
Maybe have a word with the owners and tell them there is no such thing as out- low or off season.

[kendalcottages]

To be honest, I just get the feeling you're deliberately trying to be difficult/pedantic. You highlight "Anyone else get this?" as being my key question when really my original post also states "I still think the price stacks up well and am wondering if I could be 'selling' it better..." and, whilst that doesn't have a question mark, it's been pretty clear to others replying (yet seemingly "rather ambiguous" to you) that I was seeking suggestions as to how I might tackle the issue of tempting guests who originally just sought a Friday and Saturday night, but not necessarily the Sunday night as well.

Others have made some useful suggestions in this regard, but - I'm sorry - I get the feeling you'd just sooner nitpick on the precise wording of members' posts, have a moan about owners in our area being inflexible out of the main season, and repeatedly tell me that I'm not reading your posts correctly.

[CSE]

To be honest, I just get the feeling you're deliberately trying to be difficult/pedantic.

Whilst my English is not the best on this forum I always thought the use of a question mark denoted a question. You only used one in your first post.
With the use of four words in the question it is ambiguous
You have not got a good clear answer.

You see you are taking my words and yet again not reading the basic message.
I have not moaned one bit. I have given this an true example. Like I said next time I will not be so precise so that my message does not get fogged up.

[kendalcottages]

Whilst my English is not the best on this forum I always thought the use of a question mark denoted a question. You only used one in your first post.

Yes, I addressed all this in my last post.

It's a bit rich that you should feel the need to highlight the correct grammar required when asking a question when you completely ignored the specific question - complete with question mark - that I put to you earlier in the thread.

[Jenny C]

Hi KC,

Going back to the original question, we too offer short breaks Fri - Mon and Mon - Fri. I have found the same, that some guests want to stay just Friday and Saturday night (or even just Saturday and Sunday night) and I found it difficult knowing what price to charge, as it seemed expensive on a per night basis to charge about 80% of the 3 night break for just 2 nights. However, that is what we do, as it is simply not worthwhile letting the cottage for just 2 nights without it being close to the price of a 3 night break. I do exactly what you suggest, and "upsell" the third night by promoting the late Sunday checkout and use of the cottage all day.

We are lucky to have a flexible cleaner (and on the odd occasion she can't come on an unusual changeover day I can manage the cleaning myself, especially at a weekend when my husband is at home to look after the children). What I find more difficult is that many guests expect much more flexibility in terms of changeover days - and as a fairly new operation I don't feel we can dictate our changeover day too strictly without losing business. Hence, we have a couple of Saturday changeovers in November, which luckily fit nicely with other bookings who also wanted Saturdays - but on the downside there's the odd Tuesday or Thursday changeover that results in an annoying Tuesday - Fri or Monday - Thurs break... Experience will tell whether we have adopted the right strategy in being slightly flexible with changeovers out of the high season!

Our occupancy is looking good until the end of November and then we are very quiet, apart from Christmas and New Year. Hopefully that will change if potential guests decide that a winter weekend in the Cotswolds is just what they need!

I'd be very interested to hear what you decide to do in terms of sales strategies for your two vs three night breaks!

[greenbarn]

Rather than quoting a rate for arr Friday, dep Monday, or arr Monday, dep Friday, we now quote a "short break rate" of arrive any time after 4:00pm Mon or Fri, and depart any time before 10:00 am Fri or Mon. If guests don't want the full period, that's fine - they can arrive and leave when they want, but the rate's the same. It's no more than playing with the words, but maybe it tilts the thinking in the right direction.

It has occurred to me to offer a one night rate, which would be a minimum of £200 to be worthwhile, and then point out that the short break rate is only £295 (or whatever, depending on time of year). I need to think about that one - if people took one night it would knock out the possibility of selling the short break (so less money for virtually the same expenditure), and we really wouldn't want to be doing even more changeovers, so another one night booking in the same few days wouldn't be on (and unlikely anyway, I'd guess.) Nonetheless, if one night has a realistically high rate, subsequent nights seem like a bargain.

More to think about

[pepsipuss]

Rather than quoting a rate for arr Friday, dep Monday, or arr Monday, dep Friday, we now quote a "short break rate" of arrive any time after 4:00pm Mon or Fri, and depart any time before 10:00 am Fri or Mon. If guests don't want the full period, that's fine - they can arrive and leave when they want, but the rate's the same. It's no more than playing with the words, but maybe it tilts the thinking in the right direction.
:

Spot on, GB. It's a win-win this way.

[Nemo]

Rather than quoting a rate for arr Friday, dep Monday, or arr Monday, dep Friday, we now quote a "short break rate" of arrive any time after 4:00pm Mon or Fri, and depart any time before 10:00 am Fri or Mon. If guests don't want the full period, that's fine - they can arrive and leave when they want, but the rate's the same. It's no more than playing with the words, but maybe it tilts the thinking in the right direction.

I'm liking this concept and thinking I must steal it. I think it's right to plant the seed in the mind before the guest makes contact. So GB, does it work for you? Do you have many enquiries for just two weekend nights? If you then tell them the above, do most go on to book or do you never hear from them again?

[golfing girl]

We have been asked several times now,for an out of season 1 night break. I quote my weekend nightly rate plus some, no one wants to pay!!!.They seem to think they will just have to pay the nightly rate for 1 night and when I point out I have change over costs, time etc...they seem surprised. I think they think, I will be cheaper than a hotel...and thefore get a good deal.