Why Guests Choose Other Bed & Breakfast Inns Over Yours

Why Guests Choose Other Inns Over Yours

The new Five Gables website is a good example of how to design and layout a website so guests will choose your inn over others. (Very important this year!)

The Five Gables new website has a well thought out layout that makes it easy to see the benefits of choosing the inn.

1. Images
2. Lists (search engines love lists, too)
3. Activities are compelling
4. A section on the Home Page – It’s All About the Food
5. A blog that starts on the home page (good for mobile viewers) but also has its own separate page
6. From the Kitchen – read the engaging text and you’ll almost feel the breeze at afternoon tea or cocktail hour on the porch while watching the lobster boats.
7. Authenticity – the inn’s unique personality shines through

I Want a Free Audit of My Website to Find Out Why My Inn Isn’t Chosen First

 

Hotel Owners Predict Leisure Travelers Will Come Back First

Monday’s boutique hotel owners webinar brought predictions such as 60 more days, not 30 before travel starts to open up. Business travel will take a long time to pick up – maybe next year. However, leisure travel will come back first.

Short-Distance Getaways Will Come Back First: People will want to get out. But they won’t want to fly to Europe or China. They’ll want to stay close to home and not drive far. This puts your customer base within a 2-4 hour drive.

1. Make sure your website shows off the joy they’ll get at your inn
2. Your former guests will think of you if you stay in touch
3. Create & highlight some surprises waiting for them
4. Reassure, reassure, reassure – talk about new cleaning protocols, wide open spaces, safe & healthy food

 

10 Things You Can Do Now or

Have an Employee Do

1. Bake and Take Photos
2. Make a List of 100 photos you need for Instagram and your website – this can be very productive – some photos have brought in thousands of dollars in bookings
3. Start designing rooms for a photo shoot
4. Interview local real estate photographers, make appointments, get quotes, make trades
5. Call former guests to re book
6. Audit all your competitors sites and make lists of why yours is better and how to show it
7. Write 12 blog topics you already know will interest your guests
8. Come up with aggressive new services/features/food/drink (competition will be tough but you don’t want to drop rates) late check out, 4 days for the price of 3,
9. Clean like crazy and rewrite cleaning protocols
10. Catch up on all deferred maintenance

 

Recipes That Are Basically Made for Instagram – and Taste Amazing

Beautiful Food Ideas – Real Eye Candy Here

The second photo is of stunning sandwich wraps that could serve as a breakfast or picnic jewel – just scroll and you’ll be inspired. These kinds of food shots would evoke drools on a website as well.

Make — and photograph — more trendy dishes recommended by the Food Network for Instagram.