Cant sell my hotel

barnaby-bear

slowdog wrote: »

thanks barnaby

my wife bought it off the previous owners. she worked for them and had a private mortgage with them. then we met and married. then we got a bank mortgage and paid them off.

i take on board the pictures comments. with regards to the website, i made it myself. yes it shows, i know, but its free. why havent i paid someone else? becuase i did that once and got well and truly stung. 0 visitors in 12 months from the website they built and where they advertised it. we advertise the website on yell.com, and to be honest, i dont know where else to try. i know there are a lot out there, but its all more money. im not saying we cant afford it. im just wary of throwing money at companies that say they can do this that and the other for us.

I don't think you've made a terrible job but you aren't a professional (and there are tricks - camera angles, no. of shots, order of shots) and it's hard to be objective about your home - this is why when selling houses people get an estate agent to do the marketing in the hope of a better job. Your site just needs a bit of work - better photos and honest feedback. A lot of people have done their own selling on here and people do come along and tell them how to re-write it better/retake the photos.... You have had loads of positive suggestions already:
- Sunny picture of the front
- Lighter picture of bar - perhaps with nice looking people in it
- Bright photos of your best room
- perhaps emphasise you as the proprietor / couply picture making clear guest house warmth
- emphasise you have rooms on ground floor and to contact you in advance to accommodate mobility issues
- A decent clean bathroom shot
- If a quiet road emphasise that

Then get feedback - I've seen 10 pages of discussion tweaking the marketing for a 1-bed flat on hear before - plus it's useful to hear the harsh as well as the good feedback as you are accessing people who might not have thought of visiting you rather than those who already do....

You have a hotel that seems better than the marketing and is clean and has good feedback and the website infrastructure.... all you need is some text editting and photos (virtually free)... your feedback from those visiting is saying you are better than advertised and a hidden bargain that's not that depressing.... the low turnover on no. of rooms would be very depressing if your marketing was good so at least there's something easily fixable to be done....

barnaby-bear

slowdog wrote: »

we get from repeat, blackpool brochure, notw, internet and teletext

You could do with getting into google searches on blackpool....

Tripadvisor is where a lot of us under 35s automatically go for accommodation.... plus your supportive customer base may help you

Who are your clientele - bit hard to tell from the website:
are you suitable for bucket-n-spade families
the pensioners
stag dos
????

dazco

Can you not give someone a private mortgage, whatever that is?

slowdog

thanks guys. please continue to post anything you may help. i do appreciate it

for now, my head is spinning and, to be honest, im a bit of a mess and cant concentrate, so i will come back and look at all this again tomorrow

i actually feel a bit of the burden has been lifted a bit. needless to say, theres no a great many people i know that could have offered even half the advice you guys have, so just being able to discuss all this with people that know what they are talking about is invaluable

thanks again so much.

SouthCoast

Late Rooms gives me 283 hotels in Blackpool, most with vacancies for Sunday 5th July!

slowdog

i'll quickly reply to dazco. not really an option, for assorted reasons, the main one being if they do a bunk, then its ours again. plus, it doesnt get rid of the mortgage in one go

lincroft1710

Another idea which may/may not be possible because of layout. Could building be split into 2 or 3 units, one remaining as guest house, others being flats or houses.

charliee_3

hi, you are getting ome really good ideas here... i didnt mean to sound harsh earlier, its just the amount of work you have with 37 rooms and only making 16pppn is ridiculous..how many nights of the year are you fully booked? i dont know if it would work in the part of blackpool you are.. but do a 'hotel inspector' maybe smartening up a couple of rooms, your 'best ones, the sunniest ones with the nicest views, maybe knock 2 rooms together if its not too much trouble to make them bigger.. or whatever... making them more 'premier travel inn' you know neutral colours, kingsize bed fresh white bedding, no clutter, nice fresh curtains, etc..doesnt have to be expensive just fresh and minimal.. look at what some of the other more modern (but not really fancy) local hotels are doing decor-wise and then you can charge more for those rooms.. call them your luxury rooms or whatever.. have a 2 tier rate system, ask people if they would like to 'upgrade'.. in your advertising focus on these for the main pictures to draw people in, but then choose the best of the other type of rooms to show your 'standard' rooms..dont show that and get some matching duvets.. for the photos at least!! You should have at least 1 or 2 highchairs as people wont want always to bring them and travel cots arent that expensive (look on ebay) and you can charge a supplement for people borrowing them.. you'd make the money back.. that way those who want to pay £15 a room can do and those who want a nicer room can book the more expensive rooms. it looks like you do a good job of looking after your guests and you have great reviews, people have a lovely time with you and im sure they wouldnt mind paying £20pppn for the normal rooms if it were marketed in the right way.. and less rooms at a higher price means more money and less work.
focus on the positives, the friendly atmosphere, the great value, the fun events, the great reviews.. dont point out the negatives..the small rooms, the lack of disabled access and lift and people dont need to know how often bedding is changed on the website, just that the room is cleaned daily and as long as their sheets are clean they will be fine about it... thse things may not put off some people, but others will take one look move on as there are soooo many other places to choose from...

what is the breakfast/food like, is it REALLY good, or just ok? is it worth shouting about and putting a picture??
do you get a lot of business on the food side? people coming in off the street just to eat or is it just guests? the menu you have there looks really dull..roast of the day and roast chicken?? could you make it sound more interesting?

if you can get the business looking more like a going concern, even in the short term, then it may knock on and be easier to sell as any prospective buyers willl be looking at your website and your advertising materials etc... and dont mention the turnover until you really have to!!

franklee

slowdog wrote: »

i take on board the pictures comments. with regards to the website, i made it myself. yes it shows, i know, but its free. why havent i paid someone else? becuase i did that once and got well and truly stung. 0 visitors in 12 months from the website they built and where they advertised it. we advertise the website on yell.com, and to be honest, i dont know where else to try. i know there are a lot out there, but its all more money. im not saying we cant afford it. im just wary of throwing money at companies that say they can do this that and the other for us.

One way to get more customers is by the coach load, say get details of smallish coach companies within a days drive of you that do the short holiday breaks and see if they'd like to have your hotel as a destination. When they find a good value hotel they use it regularly and they have customers that go back to them year after year. I'd expect you'd do quite well with spending at the bar with these types of groups, often older age but like a fun evening, so long as the evening meals are of good quality and value which it does sound like they are. Suspect you've tried leads like this anyway.

I'd stay if I was going to Blackpool.

Not that this suggestion has got anything to do with selling the hotel

I'd also get brighter pictures, any youngsters who you know with a good digital camera who'd do them for a couple of drinks?

lynzpower

I agree about pricing. Im sure that you could put your prices up by say a fiver, but if you are a returning customer offer a freebie ( bogof on breakfast or first breakfast of 3 complimentary)

There are loads of ways of upselling.

Do people usually buy breakfast. Last time I stayed in a blackpool hotel similar to yours breakfast was included but my oh my it was really not good at all ( everything deep fried, v oily etc) Thus I only bought it the once.

I also think that - whether this is to sell or not- you might want to remove some of the photos of the boozed up clinetele, I can think a few people, even coach organisers would be put off by that. If you have your core fun lopving clientele that like coming back, then reducing down some of the boozy photos wont harm, they know what they are getting,. I must say I wouldnt stay here on the basis of those, I jsut know it wouldnt be right for me who needs her kip and nor for tht coach tour of old ladies for a few days away for the lights.

You can still put them on the facebook site, i really think thats a good idea. Another way of spreading the word is a facebook flyer competition, where someone could win a few nights styay if they forward the comp details on. It will advertise hugely adn probably would only cost you 35 quid on a 3 night midweek off peak stay.

Do you arrange any shuttles up to the pleaseure beach or anything., even if its just calling a cab. You should make a point of it, on the website.

I dont think the website itself is a problem the layout etc is good - easy to use, but some of the content - as others have said does you down!! totally agree about the high chairs and cots etc, I really would spend a bit of time investing in these ( do keep them clean) and maybe a menu page with the food costs on so people can see what they could have before going. Whenever I choose a hotel I always look at the menu to see whats on offer, if it sounds nice. it often tips the balance if the price is right for the room.