Cant sell my hotel

lynzpower

slowdog wrote: »

to be honest with you, i honestly feel that there is only so much i can do to attempt to improve TO. like i said, until the town gets busier, its not gonna be easy. thats not to say i shouldnt maximise my chances as much as possible

the size and nature of the business is what is really stopping us selling. chickmug speaks the truth. who the hell is going to buy this place? a new evaluation will stand us in a better position, but in truth, we really are not going to sell to someone wanting a hotel / big guest house.

there are two things on the horizon that stand us in good stead for a sale to a developer; a (probably) university/colleg campus 2 minutes away and a current local council desire to reduce beds in the resort, modernise properties, and so on. as we are in a totally residential street, it would make sense that they would like to convert the property. both of these are likely some years off yet.

Have you approached local housing associations to see if they might wish to buy the proeprty?

slowdog

no, but its worth looking into

as stated before, pet friendly accomodation is few and far between because of the health and safety issues

chickmug

ladypinkof66 wrote: »

i agree we dont go anywhere in this country with our dog so we too always look for dog friendly and they are few and far between

With 37 bedrooms and the large number of repeat guest I know the new guests, with dogs, would be far less in number than those established guests that find out about dogs being accepted and who stop booking.

I am not anti dog but speak from trade experience .

barnaby-bear

ladypinkof66 wrote: »

i agree we dont go anywhere in this country with our dog so we too always look for dog friendly and they are few and far between

I wouldn't stay anywhere that allowed dogs, some dogs bite/poop/smell/bark/trip people up/shed hair (I know yours doesn't) - I imagine anyone with asthma/fear of dogs/clean freak tendencies would feel the same..... some people feel the same about kids hence couples only resorts.....

slowdog

they speak the truth ^^

hethmar

So do you not have kids either then?

We always stay in fairly up market hotels who accept dogs. In fact in one I said to OH, I wouldnt want dogs in a fantastic room like this - full of antique furniture.

I should think the number of people who fear dogs are in the minority compared with those who love them.

But, no point in thrashing the subject.

chickmug

hethmar wrote: »

So do you not have kids either then?

We always stay in fairly up market hotels who accept dogs. In fact in one I said to OH, I wouldnt want dogs in a fantastic room like this - full of antique furniture.

I should think the number of people who fear dogs are in the minority compared with those who love them.

But, no point in thrashing the subject.

So you want the last word;)

Sorry but what you say is just wrong based on the OP's hotel. Many hotels also operate a NO kids policy as well or some have no kids under 12.

The owners make their own business decision some based on research of their target market.

i1189

Have you thought about business customers? Many business people need somewhere clean and basic to stay for a night or two, and during the recession cost is becoming an issue.

Also could you try approaching business travel booking firms? We have to book all our travel through one firm - they have a booking website and only offer selected hotels (I suspect the ones who give the biggest kickbacks), which eliminates a lot of competition.

In addition, business people will talk to each other, and will often recommend good hotels to colleagues.

i1189

One more thing I noticed from your website - your sample menu has no proper vegetarian option, meaning that most veggies would probably plan to eat out.

Even adding a line saying "Vegetarian option available - please request in advance" would help.

It would also be nice to add a page about local attractions/events, perhaps with walking distances, as your guests may not have cars. You could link through to the events' own websites, maybe in a calendar format?

mistah

Some good advice on here. I think there are a few short term actions you can take immediately to try and increase turnover.

Maybe it's because I'm a toffee-nosed southerner, but I have never come across a hotel in the UK as cheap as £15 per night! I reckon you could probably get away with putting your prices up a bit. In fact it is probably a neccessity.

Other than that, as everyone keeps telling you - GET NEW PHOTOS! You could do this in a couple of hours. Borrow a tripod from someone so you can take the photos on the no flash setting. Most cameras will compensate by keeping the shutter open for longer and you will get nice bright naturally-lit photos. If you can get hold of a camera with a wide angle lens the photos could look even better.

Sort out your website. Get a proper .co.uk domain name (approx £3 per year) as it looks more legitimate and will help you search engine rankings. Also try to get keywords into your page titles and text - e.g. your page titles should include the word "Blackpool."