Cant sell my hotel

slowdog

the list of why blackpool is in decline is a long one. ryanair is just one small part of it

barnaby-bear

slowdog wrote: »

the list of why blackpool is in decline is a long one. ryanair is just one small part of it

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1798975

interesting - from a potential customer's point of view.... if you are looking for the family holiday trade - the travellodge is £56 a night - but it's hard to work out what you'd charge a family from your website, I'm guessing if the kids are in parents room - less? Hard to tell with the per person prices... or if breakfast is cheaper/kiddy menu?.... I'm still not 100% sure if you welcome kids or not - you seem to have family rooms, happy family reviews and families in the photos but the lack of high-chairs and bar photos a bit confusing....

barnaby-bear

slowdog wrote: »

the list of why blackpool is in decline is a long one. ryanair is just one small part of it

Any thoughts as to your plans of action yet - we'll keep coming back as long as you feed our nosiness..... :rotfl:makes a change from how do I improve/sell my 2 room flat....

slowdog

thanks barnaby. i feel like a BB contestant :rotfl:

anyway, the immediate quick plan of action is the website, and im currently having a little chat to someone that messaged me about sorting that out.

in terms of selling, well as everyone here, myself included, knows, its aint gonna sell as it is. mind you, i did find an advert that whichever company it was hadnt changed for 2 years or so stating our profit margin was at 94% !!! i wish my accountant didnt have them figures so i could check where they got that figure from. especially as they are the only company that mention pm's.

anyway, the website is really the only thing im looking at at the moment. we already advertise in 3 of the better places. the internet is the only one that hasnt really been sorted properly, and the advertising we get from having an AA award will be interesting. like i mentioned earlier, how busy we are actually isnt the issue to a degree. the times that we should be busy, we are, and the times that blackpool isnt busy, we do ok at times, and crap at others.

for example. its a monday in april. theres 5,000 people coming for 4 days in blackpool on that day. say, 1,000 of them will only stay on the promenade, another 1,000 prefer a higher standard, 500 require ground floor rooms, or places with lifts, another 500 put the safety of their car above all else and we cannot guarantee a parking spot for anyone. and then theres some that find us too expensive (yes, those people exist too)

so, ok, these numbers have been plucked out of thin air, but you get my point. when there are very limited numbers coming into town and you KNOW that there is a huge amount of them that will never even entertain staying with us because of assorted reasons, then we, along with hundreds of other people like us are trying to convince people to sleep in our beds instead of the thousands already out there.

so as you can see, unless you can actually make people want to come back to blackpool at these times, then its a bit hard to increase trade

like i said, the busy times are easy. its the quiet times that are the killer

anyways, in terms of selling....try and improve the numbers. in the meantime, try and get planning permission and see about going to auction.

SouthCoast

the busy times are easy.

Do a Late Rooms search of Blackpool for Saturday 11th July and you will find lots of vacancies.

Then do the same search for Brighton.

hethmar

Forgive me, not read all of this, but - just a point, me and thousands like me search for a hotel looking for the words "pets welcome" - they are the only hotels we ever stay in because we have two small dogs.

Do you accept dogs? You can charge extra for them - advertise on the dog friendly sites - even Dogs Trust links to pet friendly hotels now.

People with dogs also tend to look for out of season accommodation, when their pets can go on the beach.

slowdog

allowing pets is a minefield of health and safety issues, which is why you find most places dont take them. i realise you may bring your dogs away with you, and im not knocking you for that, but believe me, you are massively in the minority


with regards to Southcoast, i dont know what your agenda is, but it isnt helpful. what relevence does how busy brighton is or isnt have on the discussions in this topic? zero. whatever point you're trying to make, kindly stop and leave the discussion please

cats!

Sorry to hear about your predicament slowdog. As someone who takes their holiday in Blackpool each year I know that some hoteliers have been feeling the pinch.

I have stayed at some of the new self catering luxury apartments and wonder if this might be the way to go to achieve a sale?? Would you be oppposed to considering such a change?

The new Travelodges have the potential to seriously dent the hotel trade in Blackpool and I think there is talk of the company wanting to take over the old swimming baths at Lytham as well to convert it to a Travelodge too.

Do you have many bookings for the Illuminations this year??

dougk_2

Property redevelopment would be my thought. Change it from a hotel into apartments /flats or sell it as a large house rather than a hotel!

GDB2222

One last suggestion, and then I'll shut up. (Well, hopefully I'll shut up.)

Does your local council need B&B emergency accommodation for homeless people etc? That might give you more out-of-season guests. I guess there are people already doing this?

http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Services/G-L/HomelessnessAdviceandSupport/Home.htm