Changing The Way Your Hotel Works
If you have a hotel and you have been in operation for a number
of years, you might think that it is time to change some things,
especially if you are a small hotel.
Hotel chains are popping up all over the world and they are putting smaller hotels out of business because they can offer lower prices. However, it doesn't have to be that way and there are things that you can do to compete with them.
Special Offers
One of the things that chain hotels can do is offer special prices for certain times of the year. They can also offer discounts as part of package deals. For example, they can offer the price of their room, with a tour included.
If you want to compete with the large chains, then you need to offer something that takes the customers out of their hotels and into yours. You might not be in the position to offer discounted rates at the moment, but you could add something so that you have an incentive.
You could offer a free breakfast or lunch when customers book certain rooms, by certain dates. If there are other local businesses in the area, then make partnerships with them so that your customers get a discount with the partner company, and vice versa.
You don't have to make discounts to compete with the chain hotels, if you don't want to, but there are a few things that you can do to make booking with you, the better option.
Website
The first thing you need to do is open a hotel website. On the website, there should be information about the hotel, how to get there and where it is located. You should also have pictures of the hotel, the rooms and the amenities that you offer.
If you want to compete with the bigger hotels, then you should have a section for booking online. This is so your customers have the added convenience of booking anytime they want. They can even book in the middle of the night if they wanted to.
That way they don't have to phone or email the hotel and wait for a response from you. Phone reservations can be tricky because if you are busy, then you might not have time to answer the phone. If you don't answer then people would be more likely to book with the hotel that does answer their phone. You could be putting customers off and you won't even know it.
You might be reading this and wondering how you are going to keep up with online reservations, but don't worry. Just carry on reading.
Software
If you have opted to have online reservations, then you will need to have some software running on your computers so that you can keep track. The software will run in conjunction with the website and when a room is booked, it will automatically update your inventory of rooms.
You will also be using the same system to make reservations on your end, so there will be no confusion. If you book a room in the hotel, then the website will not show that the room is available.
Therefore, both you and the website will be running off the same inventory. In addition to this, you could offer your hotel rooms for sale on wholesale websites. You can assign how many rooms that you want them to sell and they won't be available on your booking system unless they don't sell on the wholesale site. Then you could offer them for sale at a reduced rate, to make sure that they sell eventually.
Hotel chains are popping up all over the world and they are putting smaller hotels out of business because they can offer lower prices. However, it doesn't have to be that way and there are things that you can do to compete with them.
Special Offers
One of the things that chain hotels can do is offer special prices for certain times of the year. They can also offer discounts as part of package deals. For example, they can offer the price of their room, with a tour included.
If you want to compete with the large chains, then you need to offer something that takes the customers out of their hotels and into yours. You might not be in the position to offer discounted rates at the moment, but you could add something so that you have an incentive.
You could offer a free breakfast or lunch when customers book certain rooms, by certain dates. If there are other local businesses in the area, then make partnerships with them so that your customers get a discount with the partner company, and vice versa.
You don't have to make discounts to compete with the chain hotels, if you don't want to, but there are a few things that you can do to make booking with you, the better option.
Website
The first thing you need to do is open a hotel website. On the website, there should be information about the hotel, how to get there and where it is located. You should also have pictures of the hotel, the rooms and the amenities that you offer.
If you want to compete with the bigger hotels, then you should have a section for booking online. This is so your customers have the added convenience of booking anytime they want. They can even book in the middle of the night if they wanted to.
That way they don't have to phone or email the hotel and wait for a response from you. Phone reservations can be tricky because if you are busy, then you might not have time to answer the phone. If you don't answer then people would be more likely to book with the hotel that does answer their phone. You could be putting customers off and you won't even know it.
You might be reading this and wondering how you are going to keep up with online reservations, but don't worry. Just carry on reading.
Software
If you have opted to have online reservations, then you will need to have some software running on your computers so that you can keep track. The software will run in conjunction with the website and when a room is booked, it will automatically update your inventory of rooms.
You will also be using the same system to make reservations on your end, so there will be no confusion. If you book a room in the hotel, then the website will not show that the room is available.
Therefore, both you and the website will be running off the same inventory. In addition to this, you could offer your hotel rooms for sale on wholesale websites. You can assign how many rooms that you want them to sell and they won't be available on your booking system unless they don't sell on the wholesale site. Then you could offer them for sale at a reduced rate, to make sure that they sell eventually.
Anand Systems is a software company that was developed in 1998.
They have their headquarters in California and in the beginning they
only had their systems installed in 4 hotels in the San Francisco area.
Since then, they have grown rapidly. They now have installations in
hotels in 160 different countries and they use their experience in the
business so that the hotels can run smoothly. Their aim was to be a
one-stop shop for hotels, where they can meet all their technological
requirements. The company has a very good reputation in the hotel
industry and they are very proud of their system. You can visit their
website at http://www.anandsystems.com.
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