5 Innkeepers Give Their Experience With Expedia Vs. Booking.com

Innkeepers Share Which Way They Went

5 Innkeepers Advise

Booking.com Or Expedia

Did you notice yesterdays’ Question of the Week?

“I read your newsletter, but I have not seen a comparison of Booking.com vs. Expedia.com. Looking at the Expedia site, I did not see a percentage they charge; they infer the percentage is a range depending on the contract. I would like to hear other innkeeper’s experiences with both OTAs.” California innkeeper with 8 rooms

Here are a few comments we received –

I Like Expedia’s Clients Better – We are a Calif. bnb with 7 rooms. I very selectively list our 5 mini-suites with both Expedia and Booking.com. I like Expedia’s clients much better. We’ve had so many bad credit cards and cancellations from booking.com compared to Expedia. Expedia charges us 3% more and also they use a MasterCard for our payment which also costs a few %, but I still like the quality of guests from the Expedia collect. They are prepaid through Expedia and it seems are more trustworthy and consistent. I try to make sure the cost is justified to fill rooms that I want filled. I also don’t like paying after the fact with booking.com or that Expedia takes their payment right out of your account if it’s hotel collect. I’d rather have it all taken care of with the reservation. – Just my experience.

(Note – Expedia Collect bookings will already be paid at the time of the booking and you will charge Expedia Virtual Card EVC.)

Booking.com is impossible to communicate with – Booking.com is impossible to communicate with vs Expedia. Virginia innkeeper

Worth Being On Both – We are on both but have been on Expedia much longer. Booking.com for only the past few months. Lots more foreign guests with Booking.com. Rates are the same. Definitely worth being on both, at least for us. We are not in a tourist market and also get many more business traveler reservations with the Booking.com engine. My 2 cents.

PS. We do “Hotel Collect” for both of them. Makes it much easier for us with checking in as well as bookkeeping. We can see the commission that is paid as a line item and also it makes keeping all of our NY tax collections easier to see and manage.” NY innkeeper

I Don’t Have to Advertise Now That I Got On Expedia – have used Expedia for the past 2-years. I received so many room nights almost immediately and they charge 15% commission. I really do not have to advertise. I think they do a great job. Many good features. They keep me informed of rates around my area and suggestions to do better. They make sure credit cards are valid. Invoiced monthly for their commissions. (We did Air BNB and got 2 reservations in 2 years. Quit that.) 5 rooms, Alaska B&B

More comments are still coming in on this topic.

If you have thoughts on Booking.com compared to Expedia.com let us know and we will pass on to this innkeeper. Deborah@iloveinns.com

 

10 Common ADA Mistakes On a Home Page

Below is a sample of things we are correcting on individual inn websites to make them ADA compliant. This is a typical list found on just one page of one inn’s website yesterday.

1. [aria-*] attributes do not have valid values
2. Links do not have a discernible name
3. Form elements do not have associated labels
4. Header nesting – header following h2 is incorrect.
5. <object> elements do not have [alt] text (images on all pages must have alternative text associated with them.)
6. Background and foreground colors do not have a sufficient contrast ratio.
7. [id] attributes on the page are not unique
8. Fonts – size and style of fonts are sometimes an issue
9. Forms not compatible for certain ADA devices to interpret their function.
10. ADA website compliant statement missing

Most inns find it relatively inexpensive to get their websites adjusted for ADA compliance.

When finished, you’ve reduced the likelihood of ADA litigation. But going forward, you will have to stay on top of changes with any new requirements and remember to add alt text to any new photos you add.

An innkeeper reported:

“I contacted ILOVEINNs and within just a few days our website pages and photos that required fixes were completed. I strongly recommend this,. as this is no joke. At a minimum these lawsuits are settling for Thousands of $$$ and the cost of the FIX is minimal.” Jayne Behman, Bayfront Inn

Call 949-481-7276 x108

Talk to Me About Fixing My Website for ADA

 

Take Care of ADA Now

It’s like making your website secure or adding photos – just pure maintenance – but in this case there’s a twist –

The possibility of a lawsuit!

Sure Google can lower your ranking if youre not mobile, not secure, don’t have the right links,

but at least they are not suing you.

With ADA however, it’s not like that. It’s so much better to make the fixes.

 

Start A New Website Now

Why Now is the best time to start your new website.

If you want to sell your inn some day or build your business for the future get a good start now.

Every extra guest who is convinced by a good website is also a hedge against any future down times in the economy.

That’s because every new extra guest builds your inn’s word of mouth, builds your email list and with their friends builds your repeat guests.

Throughout the 3 decades of serving inns around the United States innkeepers have told us how our company has helped their inns to grow and sometimes to the point where they have expanded their property and purchased additional inns. We have the vast experience of decades in the bed and breakfast industry.

Talk to Me About a New Website and How It Will Improve My Business