In the morning when I'm staying away at a hotel, I can be impatient. I don't like it to take 20 to 25 minutes from coming to the breakfast room to actually getting my breakfast delivered, I don't like standing in a queue at the desk to pay when I leave, and I don't like being quizzed on the phone and minibar use, and I don't like having to go through and check a load of extras over and above the room rate. I'm being a bit negative, aren't I? I like to be able to get an early breakfast, I like plentiful supplies of food and not having to keep asking for more coffee / toast / butter and (paradoxically) I like to be able to be able to take a few minutes to read the paper and look around while eating without being rushed.
I'm not alone ... many of our visitors at Well House Manor like it like this (they vote by returning time and time again!) and the visitors leave with a positive feeling that the bill they've paid was straightforward and exactly what they expected.
Here's the way it works.
Well House Manor | Alternative Scheme |
---|
Room with breakfast | Room Breakfast Newspaper Internet Access Bar bill minibar bill Telephone bill Extra dog charge Teas and coffees taken in the lounge |
Our straight forward scheme doesn't stop us offering extended checkout time (no extra fee), help with onwards travel plans with our compliments, help with baggage, and a warm welcome to local friends and business colleagues of people who are staying too. The alternative would be to have a marginally lower room rate to attract visitors, then rack up lots of extra charges. Short term, perhaps more bookings. Short term, perhaps more income. Longer term, fewer returning customers and much more work to be done to keep the rooms filled. We're mid-January, low season for others, but we've already got some full nights during the next weeks.
As a reviewer put it "Even though this hotel is used for business purposes a lot of the time, I would highly recommend it to anyone to stay there for whatever occasion."
(written 2013-01-15, updated 2013-01-19)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
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[4613] Our best hotel customers help us ... to help them ... be our best customers. - (2016-01-04)
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[1084] Writing terms and conditions for conferences and other events - (2007-02-17)
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[1815] Hotel Guest Surveys - (2008-09-28)
[1907] Melksham Hotel Rates - (2008-11-25)
[2377] Wiltshire / Melksham Weddings - guest accommodation - (2009-08-26)
[2403] Hotel Booking Scam / Cost of calls to 070 numbers - (2009-09-12)
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[2705] Hotel booking in Melksham made easy! - (2010-04-03)
[3281] Does Well House Manor Hotel in Melksham offer lots of discounts? - (2011-05-07)
[3825] Well House Manor - direct hotel bookings help us improve the customer experience - (2012-08-04)
[3932] River nearly bursting its banks in Melksham - (2012-11-23)
[4122] Well House - booking through agents - (2013-06-23)
[4138] Should a hotel accept guests who book for just one night? - (2013-07-11)
[4144] Getting the best hotel rates - customer and hotelier viewpoints - (2013-07-27)
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