During our 20+ years in this business we have come up against a fair number of scams and scammers, some more obvious than others, and mostly aided by the power of the internet through forums such as Craig's List or even email.
For the most part we have managed to avoid or recognize them except for the instance in which an operator on Craig's List duplicated our copy and created the same business (even using our name as if we were a chain) in another neighborhood, specifically Tribeca. It turns out that the place didn't even exist. Happily another innkeeper alerted us to the ad in the nick of time and we had it pulled. On the one hand we were flattered but on the other we recognized that our tenure at Craig's list was over; rather than risk our reputation any further we ceased to advertise there, and had only been doing so in the wake of the crash when times had gotten very tough for the industry.
No scam has been more injurious to our morale or self worth, however, than the one that comes courtesy of the travel industry itself. During our infancy Country Inn the City was fortunate enough to have been included in many guide books, but since the advent of the internet, the travel guides we all used to depend on as travelers have become less and less a player in the market place. And I say that with regret, because now it would appear that the consumer is in charge and not the professional, especially when it comes to something so important as reviews. In light of the fact that professional reviews are harder to come by we are more prone to attack from the 'professionals' themselves. Many 'writers' have approached us for free stays and we have turned them down as we think it's an unfair bargaining tool, that a writer should feel he or she has a right not to pay if we get something in return. In the end it feels like payola and that is not what we are about. All our professional reviews have been based on merit.
However, in a moment of weakness I said yes to a Mr. James Saville who claimed to be a writer (news editor) for the popular Sunday British newspaper, The Sunday Mirror. As a Brit myself I was intrigued and have always hoped that we might some day attract more British travelers. He claimed that he was doing a piece on the New York Marathon (November 2010) and was very keen to check out our property as a viable alternative to hotels. I was of course a little skeptical but courtesy of the fact that he provided me with a fellow 'legitimate' contact in Marjorie Yue, at the said newspaper, that attracts 5 million readers, I thought I would give him 3 nights during the week.
When we met he was full of praise for our property and seemed perfectly legitimate and pleasant. However, more than 10 months has passed since his visit and I have yet to have a follow-up of any substance, or any indication of when the piece might run. All subsequent contact has been initiated by me. At times he has claimed that he had a PDF to send me but I have still yet to see it. He at one point told me not to panic and that he would check with Marjorie who I have yet to hear from, in spite of my having cc'd her on a number of occasions. In my last email (our first contact since May) I suggested that if the article didn't run then perhaps he would consider paying me for his stay.
I have not yet heard back and it's been about a week. I am hopeful that the situation will resolve itself and that I will at some point get some sort of a conclusive answer either way, but with nothing to show for himself at this point I have to hold James Saville and his team accountable, or rather as further evidence that the innkeeper in a climate of scammers should be very careful when it comes to making arrangements such as this. In spite of the above I remain hopeful that they can prove me wrong and that I will one day be able to post something positive about them, but for now I must remain skeptical.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Hotels versus Bed and Breakfasts: The upcoming fall season in New York
As many of you may know 'fall' is a very busy time of year for the accommodation industry. In New York City we receive twice as many visitors as we do in the winter or summer, when the weather is typically too harsh to attract large numbers. In light of the economic times we thought it might be interesting to update you as to our current situation as one of the leaders within the bed and breakfast industry.
So far we have noticed a slight increase in demand this fall over last fall but we are still experiencing a schizoid-like inconsistency in as much as there are days when we get slammed and days when we get nothing. I have talked to others and this pattern seems to be consistent through the industry including those who work in real estate. We do not know what causes these market fluctuations but like the current stock market we have our up days and our down days. Fortunately, however, where the stock market remains depresssed and rather stagnant we have enough good days to overcome the bad and have much to be thankful for.
It should be noted that our environment lies in stark relief to the myriad hotel options within the city. Hotels of course provide a different level of service and have to cover themselves, due to their larger size, for higher overhead. In spite of what hotels or hotel lobbyists may believe we are not in competition with them, rather we provide an entirely different kind of service, specifically one that is much smaller in scale and offers a reduced level of service. Our emphasis is on quality and affordability at the expense of not having many of the services we associate with hotels, a 24 hour desk, a concierge, maid service, public areas, elevators, and so on.
In the end we only wish we could compete with them but we are simply too small and too handcuffed by our limited budget to even consider it. This is why the likes of even the basic to moderate hotels here, such as the Comfort Inn, can charge $450 per night for a basic room during high season, a full $100 below our rates, that is in spite of our larger sized rooms. They have greater reach and more recognition. Many do not even know that bed and breakfasts exist in New York City and that is because we are so few in number and far less visible. Ultimately there should be room for all of us. The irony is that we are charging much less per night for our rooms than a similar hotel room not because we want but because we have to. Our prices are a direct manifestation of our scale. From a marketing perspective, we simply cannot reach the large numbers of business travelers and tourists alike that a big name hotel can, and therefore we should not be seen as competition but rather as an inherent choice, one that befits a city as rich and diverse as New York.
Your Innkeeper,
Fergus O'Brien
So far we have noticed a slight increase in demand this fall over last fall but we are still experiencing a schizoid-like inconsistency in as much as there are days when we get slammed and days when we get nothing. I have talked to others and this pattern seems to be consistent through the industry including those who work in real estate. We do not know what causes these market fluctuations but like the current stock market we have our up days and our down days. Fortunately, however, where the stock market remains depresssed and rather stagnant we have enough good days to overcome the bad and have much to be thankful for.
It should be noted that our environment lies in stark relief to the myriad hotel options within the city. Hotels of course provide a different level of service and have to cover themselves, due to their larger size, for higher overhead. In spite of what hotels or hotel lobbyists may believe we are not in competition with them, rather we provide an entirely different kind of service, specifically one that is much smaller in scale and offers a reduced level of service. Our emphasis is on quality and affordability at the expense of not having many of the services we associate with hotels, a 24 hour desk, a concierge, maid service, public areas, elevators, and so on.
In the end we only wish we could compete with them but we are simply too small and too handcuffed by our limited budget to even consider it. This is why the likes of even the basic to moderate hotels here, such as the Comfort Inn, can charge $450 per night for a basic room during high season, a full $100 below our rates, that is in spite of our larger sized rooms. They have greater reach and more recognition. Many do not even know that bed and breakfasts exist in New York City and that is because we are so few in number and far less visible. Ultimately there should be room for all of us. The irony is that we are charging much less per night for our rooms than a similar hotel room not because we want but because we have to. Our prices are a direct manifestation of our scale. From a marketing perspective, we simply cannot reach the large numbers of business travelers and tourists alike that a big name hotel can, and therefore we should not be seen as competition but rather as an inherent choice, one that befits a city as rich and diverse as New York.
Your Innkeeper,
Fergus O'Brien
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
