This week's informal survey of a mixed bag of 16 B&Bs in California shows business picking up appreciably from last time.
We work a week ahead of ourselves with this, so the latest data set covers reservations from next Monday, Feb 23, for two weeks through March 8.
The East Brother Light Station in Richmond remains the clear "champ" although of course, this is not meant to be any kind of contest. It's just a non-scientific but hopefully useful means of seeing the extent to which the current business slump affects different properties in different ways.
This time, 10 of the 16 properties in our list are up on last week's numbers, and seven of those are showing their best heads-in-beds percentages since we started this little survey.
That's good news, and we all need that.
Before I was summarily bounced out of CAIK, I read that the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay was reduced to a ghost hotel with barely 10% occupancy. Our B&Bs are collectively doing a whole lot better than that, with the median occupancy at 49%, a hefty jump from last week's 35%.
B&Bs really should be doing better than over-priced hotels, which is not to say that high-end Inns face tougher times than their budget cousins (Avalon's Inn on Mount Ada is at 70% this week!).
As we've said before, the plain truth is that B&Bs offer better value for money and a more memorable and enjoyable experience than even the ritziest hotels. If they don't, they are doing something wrong.
You have to wonder why different properties in similar locations are able to attract more guests than their competitors (as with the three B&Bs in South Pasadena, Calif., for example). Room rates figure into the equation to some extent, for sure, but it has to be more than that.
In our experience, accessibility is the key. B&B aficionados are suckers for the personal touch, for the most part, and if they can't reach a warm body on the phone or get a quick response to an e-mail inquiry, their fingers will walk right on by you!
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