Bagel Belly Blog

Hotel 101

(Since today is disgruntled traveller day, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Oh, and don't even get me started on the problems I had with KLM's broken website this morning, that's a 10,000 word essay right there.)

Dear Hoteliers,

Here's some handy hints to boost your bookings and increase your customer retention:

• Provide secure booking on your website, not just a simple web form to email. There's no way I'm going to trust email with credit card details.
• Avoid listing a range of prices. Pick one. If I call having seen €85-95, I'm going to wonder why I'm charged €95 and not €85.
• When I call, don't tell me I need to fax or email reservation confirmation or bank details. It's one more hassle I don't need.

Thanks,

Andrew.

Actually, the hotel in question (yes, Rho Hotel, I'm looking at you) did me a favour. They gave me all the incentive I need to not just go for the easy repeat business option, but to look around and try somewhere else. So now I'm booked into a more conveniently-located four-star hotel (rather than the Rho's three stars) for the same price. And if it's good, I doubt I'll be back in the Rho any time soon.