I discovered today that Google blogs like this one are "crawled" by the search engine much more efficiently than regular sites. That's both good news and bad...worth knowing from a business standpoint so that we can use the advantage for our next B&B, but potentially embarrassing if someone I have mentioned in less than flattering light trips over an entry that hurts their feelings!
I thought about disguising names and locations, then rejected the idea, because the experiences Jen and I have had are real and relevant to our abilities as B&B innkeepers, and everything I have written has been (and always will be) the fair and honest truth as I see it.
One of my aims is to establish our credentials so that when B&BInnterchange is up and running, potential subscribers and participants can see that we know what we're talking about (the service will be free to innkeepers/owners but guests seeking special overnight stay discounts will have to subscribe to qualify). Too many people get into the B&B business without knowing what they are in for, and we don't want to be lumped in with disgruntled innkeepers whose frustrations, failures and disappointments hamper their ability to treat guests as they deserve to be treated.
The only B&B people we have encountered who were deliberately mean-spirited and, frankly, mad, were our first full time employers, in Long Beach, and if they ever respond to the blog with a contradictory point of view, I'll happily publish it!
Sue in Genoa and Pat in South Pasadena are nice people who happen to be in a business that doesn't really suit them and to which they are unable to devote the proper amount of time and commitment. Nothing good is ever likely to come from being in a situation that does not match your expectations, and people who choose to stay at B&Bs because they expect a more personal, friendly atmosphere are likely to be extra sensitive to what used to be known as bad vibrations.
Janet at the Artists Inn has what seems to be a cynical disregard for guests, but Jen and I both decided after a few months of dealing with her and listening to her take on the business that she lives on another planet and only rarely comes down to earth. Planet Janet, we called it (of course!) and because very few of her business directives were applicable to reality, as a general rule we simply ignored them. Her husband Len was an occasional ally, if accidentally, because he at least was tethered to reason and common sense.
Yesterday I came across an Artists Inn review that perfectly illustrates the problem Jen and I had with the relief innsitters Janet finally insisted that we use. They're not named, but we recognized them instantly. You don't need an MBA to figure out that when you are running a bed and breakfast, you had better get at least two things right...the bed and the breakfast! Not so at the Artists Inn - not any more, anyway!
Any B&B, however well run and however quality-conscious the management, is sure to suffer an occasional bad review, although I have to say that the only one I ever had to deal with pre-dated our time at the Artists Inn and turned out to be a scam by a guest hoping to negotiate a free weekend in return for removing her unkind words from TripAdvisor!
I'll go further and say that the whole TA "review" process tends to attract comments that have an ulterior motive, and I wish I could suggest a better way of running it, but that's a topic for another time (and one that B&BInnterchange might be able to address!).
My belief (based on our experience) is that guests who feel welcome and get a quick and honest response to any concerns they may have are unlikely to bear a grudge long enough to write a negative review when they get home. On the other hand, those who are fobbed off will stay bent out of shape indefinitely, and certainly won't come back again.
In Long Beach, we had one guest, a young man who was trying to provide his new wife with a romantic weekend, who was indignant that the room they had booked in one of the annexed cottages was small, dark and shabby with a bathroom that was falling apart. He was absolutely right to complain - we'd told the Brassers many times about plumbing problems, peeling paint and other issues - and he came at me before breakfast on his first morning mad as hell and spoiling for a fight. He was hard to deal with, but I think he soon recognized that I was not arguing with him, and without consulting the Brassers I moved him and his missus into the best room in the house. After that, the once disappointed guests were our very best friends, and certainly no negative review ever saw the light of day (much as the appalling conditions round the corner deserved it!).
The trick, if it is a trick, is not to be defensive and to remember the old adage about the customer always being right, even when he or she is wrong. I don't recall ever hearing an undeserved complaint, but I daresay they happen. The surest path to failure in a B&B is a bad attitude, a lack of pride in the property and an "us and them" view of guests. There is a line that guests should not be permitted to cross, but there is no need to tell them about it ahead of time - most people know how to behave, and as long as they are treated with courtesy and respect (toadying is not expected!) they will give as good as they get.
I just read a quote, reportedly from Plato: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
A tad dramatic, perhaps, but I guess true enough. A B&B should be a sanctuary, an escape from stress, so problems must be smartly eliminated before guests can trip over them. Janet would always say, "People don't notice..." but of course they do (and they especially notice when they are being treated as if they're fools!).
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