Observations
I was doing some initial research into possible B&B accommodations for our upcoming holiday. Once again, I'm surprised at the lack of understanding among B&B owners on how to use the internet for advertising, marketing and selling one's B&B rooms. I'd have expected to see a big improvement between 2002 and 2006 but unfortunately I don't (unless my
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And it's been my policy for years to never book a place that can't be reached over the internet, especially hotels. I'll cut B&Bs a little slack (in that I'm willing to deal through e-mail) because they are small scale and not everyone can be as internet-savvy as I'd like them to be. But really, most of it is plain common sense (and not relying on IE-only webdesigners who are far more interested in showing off all the little virtual gizmos they learned than in what their client would need).
/off soap box now
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12.) If you provide an email adress/booking or contact form: make sure someone actually reads the email and reacts to it!
There are few things more frustrating then trying to make reservations via email and simply not getting a response (especially if you do not speak their language fluently).
As you can see, I've had much fun doing hotel reservations recently ;-) and that was not some small B&B but a huge hotel chain ....
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I didn't add your #12, because I thought that was too obvious even for the list. Apparently I was wrong. Of course, I usually give them two or three days to respond and if not, I'll look elsewhere. Fortunately, there are very few places on earth where the choices are truly limited.
Oh, and I refuse to correspond in anything but English. I don't care if they speak Babelfished English when writing e-mails, or the King's own, but if you're in the tourist trade, the least you can do is speak some international language.
Gee, I don't think I'm an easily satisfied customer, am I?
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This might work for most countries, but people in France, even if they are working in the tourist trade, are somewhat peculiar about their language. Though their willingness to use English in conversation with potential customers has grown a bit over the years. And the 5 years they tried to teach me French at school have to account for something ;-)
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No offense to any French people reading this. But the reputation of the French with regard to conversing with foreigners isn't exactly travel-inducing.
OTOH, the Dutch believe they have incredible language skills and never hesitate to show off their rather gruesome English... Because, really, what does this mean:
The packs stayed in the cast and on the needs came the leaks from the lying.
(Apparently a Real Life example, uttered by a Dutch policeman abroad...)
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