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Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Volume 2, Issue 38
PAII
News & Announcements:
Childcare
at the PAII Conference
Planning
to come to the PAII Conference in Anaheim with your children? Sharon Fry, innkeeper
at the Old World Inn in Napa and mother of a toddler, has volunteered to coordinate
conference attendees who want childcare. She has a couple of ideas for sharing
resources to make childcare more affordable. Please let Sharon know you are interested
by emailing her at sjfry@sbcglobal.net.
The Disneyland Hotel does not offer childcare services. Instead they have
a list of bonded childcare professionals that parents contact directly after signing
a waiver.
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Summer
Business Survey Results
Thank you to the 140 PAII inns who responded
to our survey. We would like to encourage all innkeepers to take 5 minutes to
complete these quarterly surveys as they provide valuable information against
which you can measure your seasonal business. PAII also uses the results to gauge
the state of the industry, for comparison with the hospitality industry as a whole,
and to give a current snapshot of the inn industry, when the media contacts us.
Please participate—more data means more accuracy.
1. How did your Summer (June 1 through September 4) business in 2007 compare
to last year for the same time period?
Better than last year 77.1%
About the same 7.1%
Not as good as last year 15.0%
Not sure
0.7%
2.
If your summer business was UP over last spring, please indicate the approximate
increase in revenue:
1-5 % 15.5%
6-10 % 29.1%
11-15 %
18.2%
16-20 % 10.9%
21-25 %
8.2%
26-30 % 6.4%
31-35 % 0.9%
Over 35 % 10.9% 3. If your business was DOWN over last year
please indicate the approximate decrease in revenue:
1-5 %
27.3%
6-10 %
13.6%
11-15 % 22.7%
16-20%
9.1%
21-25 % 13.6%
26-30 %
0.0%
31-35% 0.0%
Over 35 % 13.6% 4. To what do you attribute the
increase in revenue?
Website Revamp
36.2%
Repeat Guests
65.5%
New Photographs on Website 32.8%
Traffic From Online Directories 33.6%
Online
Reservation Service 33.6%
Special Packages
14.7%
Renovations
11.2%
Word of Mouth
64.7%
Local
activities/events
23.3%
Increased Marketing Efforts
28.5%
Increased Advertising
12.1%
Raised
Prices
28.5%
Weather
23.3%
More Business Travelers
12.1%
Better
Customer Service 10.3%
Increased Visitation to Region 26.7%
Networking with Local Businesses 16.4%
Upgraded Amenities
12.1%
5. To what do you attribute the decrease
in revenue?
Weather
21.7%
Economy
52.2%
Gas
Prices
56.5%
Renovations
4.4%
Rate Increase
17.4%
Decreased Marketing Efforts
4.4%
Decreased Advertising
4.4%
Decrease
in Visitation to Region 30.4%
Negative Media Coverage
8.7%
More Cancellations
Than Usual 17.4%
6. How do your advance bookings
look for the Fall?
Better than expected 40.6%
Same
as expected 43.5%
Less than expected
15.9%
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PAII
Membership Minutes:
Getting
Inn Now Available Online
Our latest electronic monthly newsletter,
Getting Inn, is now available at www.paii.org
in the Members Only area. Although Getting Inn is primarily geared toward
aspiring and new innkeepers, many veteran innkeepers have told us that they have
gotten some good tips and "reminders" from it as well. Let us know if
you would like to be on the mailing list to receive Getting Inn each month
by emailing membership@paii.org. If
you are a vendor or an innkeeper and are interested in contributing an article
for Getting Inn, please email Laura Middleton at laura@paii.org.
Calling All Innkeepers: Contribute to
Author's Book
Author Jacki Brown has just finished her second book and
is looking for innkeepers who have great stories to share. Please send her one
or two stories with your inn contact information for consideration. No fee is
provided for inclusion of a story, however if you are selected there is an opportunity
to welcome new visitors through a coupon that will be provided in the back of
the book. Distribution is expected through major book sellers. If you are interested,
please contact Jacki at jleebrown1@yahoo.com
before October 30th.
Click
here to read an excerpt from Jacki's book "B&B Diaries—Tales
of an Innkeeper"
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PAII Forum
Digest: Screening Criteria,
& More!
If you have not had time to log on to the Forum located
in the Members
Only section of www.paii.org,
here are some of the interesting topics that have been discussed this past
week.
Forum Digest September 8th thru September 14th Screening
Criteria
The longer I run a B&B the more criteria I add to my screening
list of most guests when I feel uncomfortable for some reason. Better to have
the guests go somewhere else if it is not a good match. It is the responsibility
of the innkeeper to be reasonably sure the expectations of the guest match the
reality. Some of the things on my list are: does the guest have allergies, chemical
sensitivity, allergic to cats, sensitive to noise or light? Making sure they understand
the refund policy, the feeling of the inn, etc. I also ask how many B&B's
they have stayed in. That tells me a lot about their experience in B&B's and
their expectations. Do any of you have other questions you ask your guest when
you are taking the reservations to qualify them?
Help Emailing from
Word
How do you email a Word Document? When I click send from a Word Document
the Outlook browser opens and makes the document an attachment. Most people, including
me, are reluctant to open attachments even from people I know. Isn't there any
way to send the document as a regular online email rather than an attachment? Check
in Area
I am in the process of opening an inn and have a large entry way
and hallway that will serve as my reception area. What are the "must haves"
for swift, efficient service? I don't want to have my "working desk"
in this area, but need to create a warm, functional space to take care of business,
welcome my guest, and then escort them to their rooms. Any ideas would be so helpful. Breathing
Machines
Is it just my inn, or is everyone having a huge rise in the number
of people using breathing machines? This is my problem, last night; all four of
my rooms had breathing machines of which I knew two had them. Now I have all new
wiring, etc, but at 2 a.m. the power failure alarm went off in our "private
area" so needless to say, we are up quickly to check what is happening. I
have a guest who is out in the hallway, it was only his machine, but it was a
whopper machine not like most of the portables that most of my guests use. He
is yelling at me that power caused him to have a bad nights sleep. My question
is, do you ask if people have breathing machines? Keys
I have
just purchased a small B&B in a small town that I will be opening early next
year. My living quarters will be on the 3rd floor, which I can lock up. All the
guest rooms (on the 2nd floor) have bolt locks on the inside. I'd like to be able
to leave the house on occasion in the afternoon. Given all these considerations,
what is the common practice for giving keys to guess? Do you provide a front door
key and a room key? Or what other options are there? Reservation Software
I
am looking for reservation software, something that can possibly also handle online
bookings. I am looking for something that will work on Mac OS X though and not
Windows. Does anyone know of anything out there? I have spoken with the people
at Booking Center but their software only works in Mac OS 9 and they are working
on a new version that works in OS X but it has not come out yet. RezStream
I
am looking to convert my old Guest Tracker to a new PMS. Because I have 3 separate
companies that require totally separate accounting using the same date base, I
cannot use either RezOvation or RezOvation GT. I am wondering if anyone has similar
experience with either RezStream of another PMS recommendations. Service
Dogs for Emotional Support
We had a guest last night that made a reservation,
then states that she has a service dog. She said the dog is certified, and that
she would show me. When the woman got of the care, I was surprised as her dog
didn't behave the way that other service dogs behave. I asked her what service
the dog provides, and she said emotional support, and this has been part of the
law for the past three years. I googled service dogs today, and found the site
www.servicedogsamerica.org.
Anyone can get their dog certified on this site for $249.00. You just have to
agree that your dog passes the "Public Access Test for Qualification."
I can tell you this that dog didn't act the way that the guidelines on the website
says the dogs must act. Bedding for Cottage
I'm in start up and
need to make a decision regarding bedding. I will open with two suites and one
cottage. Each of the suites will have a king size bed. The cottage has two bedrooms,
one with a queen the other two twins. The bedding is brand new and will work fine.
Do you think the smaller bedding will work or should I put a king/queen in each
of the bedrooms in the cottage? Off Season Rates: Should I or Shouldn't
I?
I'm in a bit of a quandary trying to decide whether to reduce my rates
or not for the off season. The problem is, I think they are already low enough
given what I offer. We just opened this past summer so I kept my rates lower to
attract guests. It was a matter of testing the market and seeing what it would
bare. Now that we've been booked like crazy, I am more confident in my product
and am not sure about lowering the price for the off season. If any thing, I'd
really like to increase them but I don't want to lose any business. The
Internet Yellowpages.com
Has anyone used this firm to advertise? I cannot
find their site nor can I find them in any information listing, yet they keep
calling me. There calls come from a blocked number and sometimes from a number
in Quebec. I recently bought my B&B and constantly receive calls like this.
I am tying to weed out the real from the scams so I can place my limited advertising
dollars in the best places. Does anyone know if this is a scam or if they are
for real?
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PAII
Food Feature: Breakfast
Ham and Cheese Sandwich II
John and Malinda Anderson, Maplevale Farm Bed & Breakfast
(www.maplevale.com) offers
this delicious recipe for Breakfast Ham and Cheese Sandwich II.
Ingredients:
12
slices Pepperidge Farm Bread
1/2 pound muenster cheese
1 1/2 cups ham—chopped
2
eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Directions:
Remove crusts from bread
and butter one side of each slice. Lay 6 pieces, buttered side down, into a 9
X 13 greased baking dish. Place cheese over bread and stack ham over cheese. Cover
with remaining 6 pieces of buttered bread, buttered side up. Beat together
the egg and milk and pour over the sandwiches.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Set out for 30 minutes and then bake at 325 for one hour.
While baking,
make up sauce. Sauce:
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs. butter
1
Tbs. flour
1 cup milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp sherry (optional)
Sauté
the mushrooms in the butter, remove from heat and add the flour to make a roux.
Add the milk and cook, stirring, until thickened. Season with salt, pepper, and
sherry (if desired).
Let us feature a recipe from
your inn!
Please send your submission (and a photo of the dish if available)
to Laura@paii.org.
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PAII
Pointer: How
To Set Up a Blog or Website Reader Go to www.google.com/reader If
you have a google account, enter your email or password If you don't have
an account, just sign up for one. It is FREE! On top left click on Add Subscription.
Enter a website or keyword. If anything of interest comes up click on Subscribe.
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About INNfo INNfo
is published weekly. Annual subscription is included in the price of membership.
Publisher
Professional Association of Innkeepers
International (PAII) Editor-in-Chief
Laura
Middleton
Production Coordinator
Laura
Middleton Editorial Staff
Laura Middleton,
Karen Hudgeons, Jeanine Zeman
Editorial Suggestions
and Contributions
Editorial comments and suggestions are welcomed. In
addition, if you have a suggestion or would like to contribute news and announcements
for INNfo, please contact INNfo’s Editor-in-Chief, Laura Middleton,
at 856.310.1102 or Laura@paii.org. Advertising
Rates & Information
Weekly sponsorship ads are
available. Please send all inquiries to Marlene Sapir at marlene@paii.org
or 856.310.1102. MC/VISA/AMEX/DISCOVER accepted.
Editorial
Offices
c/o PAII
207 White Horse Pike
Haddon Heights, NJ 08035
Phone: 856.310.1102 • Fax: 856.310.1105
membership@paii.org
• www.paii.org
Title
Image Courtesy of Jumping Rocks ©2007INNfo,
all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without written permission from the editor.
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