If you manage or own a hotel, motel or inn, then you realize how important it is to keep occupancy as high as possible. Often, innkeepers tend to believe that lower rates might increase the number of clients. While this might lure guests initially, other elements of innkeeping tend to resolve occupancy issues permanently and they also increase your profits. Here are a few tried-and-true methods that help boost the number of guests you have throughout the year.
First impressions are crucial and if the exterior of your lodging establishment and the lobby have seen better days, it would be wise to spruce up these areas. In addition, the entire hotel should be meticulously clean. There is no excuse for poor housekeeping and obvious signs of disrepair. Your customers certainly deserve better than a shabby environment, and even a motel that charges a low rate should be clean and comfortable. So make cleanliness and the decor a high priority.
While a reputation for cleanliness goes a long way, if your staff is unfriendly or unhelpful, this can be a huge problem. Make sure the staff, particularly those manning the reception area or lobby, are highly trained to handle a myriad of situations. They also should be able to provide some level of local information. Friendly service is truly what hospitality is all about, so make sure this is in place every day of the week.
You can also restructure the way you determine room rates. For example, if a room is small, has just one queen bed or perhaps is located in a less desirable part of the hotel; charge a lower rate for it. Charge more for rooms with two beds or a spacious room with a king bed. You can charge more for rooms on the weekends or during the week, depending on when you typically have higher traffic. You can also adjust rates seasonal or during special events.
If your hotel is in great shape and your rates are competitive, the amenities you offer can make all the difference to potential guests. For instance, if you serve breakfast and the comparable hotel down the street doesn’t, this can attract clients. Other amenities that guests really appreciate include in-room refrigerators and coffee makers, as well as premium television service such as DirecTV. You might think satellite TV is more costly than local cable, but it actually offers more channels for the same or less than a cable provider.
DirecTV business packages are available, and you can hire a company such as Integra Systems to install high definition DirecTV service in each of your guest rooms. They not only install DirecTV, they provide instruction and support for your staff. Guests not only will be happy about the wide array of channels, as many as 128, but also how easy it is to navigate using the DirecTV remote. The selection includes local channels, sports and news channels and premium channels such as Showtime or HBO.
Jansen Wilhelmsen enjoys writing reviews on the commercial DirecTV dealers. To get more information about direcTV for hotels packages or to find about direct TV local offices, please go to the IntegraSystems site now.