Posted on

IWBMob is a New Mobile Booking Technology

Bed Breakfast Traveler is a brand operated under the Instant World Booking umbrella. A few weeks ago we introduced a brand new concept in mobile booking.  Yes, Bed and Breakfasts can be booked on the fly, from anywhere. And, as an innkeeper you can host your booking engine on your B&B website, and be assured that people from any location using any type of devise can book your rooms instantly. This includes users of mobile phones, tablets, and any computer.

The first phase of this re-branding has just been released. It’s a mobile-first design. This means that your profile page, and the entire booking process, has been redesigned. Our new design features leading edge mobile aesthetics and streamlined user experience. For users of our new booking engine, the experience will surpass almost any modern booking site available today.

What does mobile-first mean?
Mobile-first means that our site will respond flexibly to all types of computers and devices, with an emphasis on mobile users. After all, more than 25% of worldwide travel bookings are made on mobile devices.  In the coming weeks, additional phases of our IWBmob re-branding will be visible across our entire website.

One thing to consider when selecting your primary booking engine is this. Have you gone through the booking process on multiple different mobile devices such as an iPhone, an Android phone, and a tablet?  Are the email confirmations that your guests receive equally mobile-friendly? Instant World Booking has this all covered for you.

We invite you to check out your new profile pages.  We’re sure you’ll agree that it works better on mobile devices, and is easy for users, than most other booking sites.

Here are some of best profiles we’ve seen. We recommend you check them out for ideas. Remember, add your best photos!

Hotel Convento Santa Catalina, Guatemala
Wander Inn Bunbury, Australia
Amigos Hostel Cozumel, Mexico
Bondalem Beach Club, Indonesia
New Ostel Florence, Italy
Nanu Guesthouse, South Korea

We will soon introduce some innovative methods of integrating your IWB experience with Facebook and other social media. These are brand new innovations that are currently not used by any other booking service. Look for future announcements to learn how to take advantage of these innovations.

For more information, please see:

http://www.instantworldbooking.com/blog_iw/2017/06/introducing-iwbmob-mobile-booking-concept/

 

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

Why a Booking Engine on your Website is Vitally Important for B&Bs

Here are some reasons why instant online booking capability on a Bed & Breakfast’s website is vitally important:

  1. B&B’s can offer incentive pricing for direct booking on their website versus OTAs.
  2. Encourages international guests, and can actually increase the diversity of guest demographics.
  3. Helps capture reservations from potential guests that would otherwise leave the website and search elsewhere (the fact is, most guests are searching multiple accommodations on the internet, and just don’t want to waste time emailing or calling).
  4. A well-integrated Booking Engine raises the credibility bar for a B&B.  Properties using freebee booking buttons, old style email request forms, or PayPal-style payment buttons are often perceived by guests as amateurish or “low-budget”.  This is a perception that, rightly or wrongly, reflects how well the B&B manages their accommodations.
  5. The importance of collecting deposits online with a booking cannot be overlooked.  Most free booking buttons don’t offer this.  Additionally, a well-established Booking Engine that can verify customer credit cards, and handle collections in multiple currencies is important, particularly in many regions.  Many international guests will not be able to book if their cards are being declined by second-rate providers and merchant accounts.  Most innkeepers don’t know that even PayPal restricts payments from cardholders in many countries.  These are questions that all innkeepers should be asking when selecting a Booking Engine provider.

So, if you are an innkeeper or manager of a small hotel, consider how online booking capability may enhance your business.  Ask questions, and consider several providers before selecting one that’s right for you.

For some ideas on how BedBreakfastTraveler.com (Instant World Booking) can improve your website with a Booking Engine, visit:

http://bedbreakfasttraveler.com/booking-engine.php

 

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

Praise for Britain and Ireland Bed & Breakfasts

As part of an introduction to Europe’s bed and breakfast accommodation, travel specialist Rick Steves recently had some very positive things to say about UK & Ireland B&Bs in the Seattle Times.

An obvious fan, Steves begins by giving a warm impression of B&Bs in general and makes a number of pertinent observations: “While B&Bs often lack the conveniences of a hotel — such as fancy lobbies, restaurants, and in-room phones — I happily make the trade-off for the personal touches that they do offer, whether it’s joining my hosts for tea in the afternoon or relaxing by a common fireplace at the end of the day. […] But even though B&Bs are family-run, it doesn’t mean you have to feel pressure to become ‘part of the family.’ Chatty friendliness is not forced on guests. Depending on my mood and workload, I am often very business-like and private during my stay. On other occasions, I join the children in the barn for the sheep-shearing festivities.”

Read More

Book Bed and Breakfasts

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

Volcano Bed and Breakfast

Aloha,

We offer several Bed & Breakfast Suites.

Our beautiful Fern House hosts two cozy rooms with private baths on the second floor. It has a common sitting room with microwave and coffeemaker on the second floor as well. Guests of the Ohia Room and Ola’a Room can use the large 60 ft swimming pool in the back yard of the Fern House.

Our Ohia Room features a queen size bed, saterllite tv and dvd player. It is furnished with bamboo hardwood flooring, teak wood bed and furniture. It has a private marble bathroom with walk-in shower and Jacuzzi tub. From the windows you have an intimate view of the Volcano Forest with Ohia trees and Hapu’u ferns.

Our Ola’a Room features a queen size bed, satellite tv and dvd player. It is furnished with Lyptus Fire hardwood flooring, mahogany wood bed and furniture. It has a private bathroom with shower. From the windows you have a view into the forest of Ohia trees and Hapu’u Ferns and onto the 60 foot salt water swimming pool in the spacious garden beneath you

This beautiful Bed & Breakfast lies on virgin land in the middle of the Volcano Forest, 10 minutes north of the famous Volcanoes National Park. The Spanish-style Fern House with yellow stucco and red tile roof is surrounded by Hapu’u ferns and the famous Hawaiian Ohia trees that grow on elevation and carry red blossoms in the spring.

The Fern House is very classical in its set up. It features hard wood floorings, teak furnitures and cozy rooms.

Due to rising quest inquiries, we now offer three more rooms at only 3000 feet away from the Fern House.

Our Forest House features three spacious rooms; the Ginger Room and the Hibiscus Room for couples and the Orchid Room for families. Outside the house is an area with two Jacuzzi tubs and a sauna for use by the guests of the Forest Rooms only.

Our Ginger Room in the Forest House features a 300 sqft room with king size bed, satellite tv, small seating area with coffee maker and private bathroom with tub and shower. Laminate flooring and island style furnitures. Guests of this room can use the outside lounge area with two Jacuzzi tubs and a sauna and the large common living room with wireless internet.

Our Hibiscus Room in the Forest House features a 300 sqft room with king size bed, satellite tv and private bathroom with tub and shower. Guests of this room can use the outside lounge area with two Jacuzzi tubs and a sauna and the large common living room with wireless internet.

Our Orchid Room in the Forest House is ideal for families. It is a 400 sqft unit with one queen bedroom and one twin bedroom, satellite tv and private bathroom with tub and shower, washer and dryer. Guests of this room can use the outside lounge area with two Jacuzzi tubs and a sauna and the large common living room with wireless internet.

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

BedandBreakfast.com, Rezovation, and Webervations Raise Prices

BedandBreakfast.com, Rezovation, and Webervations have raised prices again.  Upon recently visiting their websites to update our analysis of comparative pricing, we discovered that another wave of price increases have been rolled out in the last 6 months.  But don’t take our word for it, visit their websites for yourself.

BedandBreakfast.com for example now charges about $433 per year for a “Silver” membership.  This is up about 8.5% from last year’s price.  Apparently BedandBreakfast.com, which was bought up by a vacation site holding company called Homeaway in 2010, believes that their hold on the North American B&B industry demands more value.  Their increase in pricing seems to ignore the fact that many specialty bed and breakfast directories (BedBreakfastTraveler.com included) still offer B&B memberships for free.

This is not to say that BedandBreakfast.com doesn’t offer value for their price.  For example, the price you pay enables a B&B hotel to participate in BedandBreakfast.com’s online reservation system.  This is a system that will charge a B&B an additional 25% commission (on top of the membership price) to publish their availability on the BedandBreakfast.com-owned sites, as well as Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, and a selection of others.

So, Bedandbreakfast.com does offer some value for B&B’s who absolutely want exposure to Expedia, Hotel.com, and other premium sites.  But is 25% too high a price to pay (we didn’t mention that they charge 30% to some properties, depending on the specifics of their arrangement).  Consider BedBreakfastTraveler.com’s new IWB Channel Manager service (presented by Instant World Booking).  With  a free membership at BedBreakfastTraveler.com, B&B’s have access to join IWB Channel Manager, which offers connections to Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Travelocity.com, and others for a total commission rate of only 18% (compare to BedandBreakfast.com’s 25% – 30% commission).  Assuming an average reservation value of $200 and about 60 reservations per year (conservative assumptions), after considering all membership fees, commissions, etc., BedBreakfastTraveler.com comes in at savings of about 31% versus a BedandBreakfast.com Silver membership, or about $1,260 in the first year.  Quite significant savings indeed.

What about Rezovation and Webervations?  Well, Webervations have now increased their pricing for the smallest B&Bs by 11% – 18% over last year’s prices.  This is really quite a substantial increase in a down economic cycle.  But, let’s consider Rezovation, which now offers a more full service set of options.  Prices for Rezovation GT Basic software increased between 20% – 33% in the range of property sizes between 1 and 19 rooms.  A price increase of 33% represents an increase of a full third of last year’s cost.   The Rezovation GT Online product, and online offering which starts at a higher price than Rezovation GT, now has prices between 13% – 20% higher than last year, also substantial increases.

Rezovation has a rather dominant market position, and perhaps their price increases reflect this.  But, considering that a B&B with 5 rooms may now pay $90 per month for Rezovation GT Online (or a 15 room B&B $130 per month), is this still a positive value proposition.  Sleek alternatives like IWBFrontDesk.com will cost only $16 per month for the same property ($28 for the 15 room property), a significant savings pocketed.  But, what about Rezovation’s built in service suite, including a website Booking Engine.  Well, BedBreakfastTraveler.com can bundle Booking Engine with IWBFrontDesk.com, essentially the same product set as Rezovation GT Online, and still save up to about 60% of the cost a user would pay for Rezovation GT Online (as much as $1,000 savings per year given the assumptions above, for a 15 room B&B).

When it comes to Channel Management, Rezovation offers connection to the GDS or BedandBreakfast.com’s third party website connections (like Expedia).  The GDS connectivity will cost $649 just to get the process started, and then there are ongoing 15% commissions, $15.50 per reservation, and $250 per year after the first year.  If this sounds expensive, it is.  The connection to BedandBreakfast.com’s online reservations may be cheaper for some B&Bs.  But, as mentioned above, with commissions of 25% – 30%, this is still quite an expensive undertaking.   This is why BedBreakfastTraveler.com can bundle GDS connectivity, or connectivity to Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Travelocity.com (or about a hundred other choices), right into the IWBFrontDesk.com solution.  So, an end to end solution including property management system, booking engine for your website, and channel management, can save you $1,000 or $2,000 every year versus Rezovation’s and BedandBreakfast.com’s new pricing.

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

Avalon Guest House Plymouth Bed and Breakfast Guest House

Louise and Joe McShane extend a warm welcome to their  Plymouth Bed and Breakfast which is a friendly, relaxed and comfortable family run bed and breakfast Guest House.
Our Bed and Breakfast Guest House is perfectly situated on Plymouth Hoe in the heart of Plymouth with both the excellent shopping facilities of Plymouth City Centre and the historic Barbican just a short walk away.
Train, Coach and Ferry Terminals are also close by.
Tastefully decorated with a warm and pleasant atmosphere, all at the Avalon Guest House in Plymouth with ensure that your stay in Plymouth is a memorable one ensuring your return to us time after time

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBAw3jNnL3U

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!
Posted on

Bed and Breakfast in Galicia, Spain. A Casa da Eira.

A Casa da Eira, B&B and apartment, is situated in Galicia, in the province of Ourense (Spain), in the midst of the historic area of “the Ribeira Sacra” with its spectacular river Sil canyon and a considerable number of romanesque monasteries. Our village, Alberguería, is located at the upper part of the river Sil canyon and surrounded by hundred-year-old chestnut woods.

A Casa da Eira, B&B  is an ancient Galician farm house restored in 2000. The double rooms (135×200 double bed) are spacious and comfortable with en suite bathroom. The generous common space invites to read, share the table and exchange experiences with other travellers or to have a scrabble game at nightfall. The three rooms – living room and dinning room with open fire on the ground floor and the two reading rooms on the intermediate and first floor – allow each guest to find “his/her” place and encourage to benefit from the free cafeteria-self-service with fair trade tea and coffee. Garden facing south and large balcony.

A Casa da Eira rural apartment: the two-story granite stone house lodges a modern bright architecture. Each of the rooms receives natural light from the 9m2 roof skylight. Have dinner under the stars or take a shower feeling the sun on your skin. The apartment consists of one double room (double bed 135×200) and the equipped kitchen and dinning room on the ground floor. A spacious living room (which can be transformed into a second double room) with a view on the river sil canyon and the bath room on the first floor. Altogether 60m2 which guarantee a maximum comfort playing surprisingly with volumes and light. For outdoor life enjoy the private balcony and patio with dinette. Access to the garden through the b&b.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj7pZGMRPTg

Bookmark and Share
Link to this post!