Irish B&B of the Year 2011
The Old Cable House B&B in Waterville, Co Kerry is the Irish Bed and Breakfast of the Year 2011. Owners, Margaret and Alan Brown took the prestigious award due to their proactive approach and adoption of new Internet marketing techniques that brought them success in what has been a difficult year. The couple provide added value for guests staying at the historic Ring of Kerry property with the superb “Brown’s Restaurant” that serves local produce from both sea and land. It is fitting perhaps, that as Ireland enters the fibre optic high speed broadband age, a B&B with connections to the early transatlantic cables has won this award.
Pictured is Margaret Brown receiving an Apple iPad as part of her award from Michael Sharpe CEO of the B&B Network Worldwide.
Runners up were Tesesa O’Dea of Karaun House, Galway and Mary Kearney of Pearse Lodge, Sligo Town.
http://oldcablehouse.com
http://karaun.com
http://pearselodge.com
Our latest offering is a B&B Booking website that benefits both the Guest and B&B Owner
Now guests can book directly with over 23,000 B&Bs worldwide and find the best deal.
Booking direct means neither guest nor the B&B pays commission to a third party allowing better offers for the guest and no large commission bills for the B&B.
http://bnb-booking.com – Delivering just some of the things B&Bs have asked for:-
- WebPage: with Picture – Description – Room Rates and Offers – Booking Engine
- Commission Free Bookings: – No Middlemen – Bookings go directly to you
- Bookings Management System – one click confirmation with pre-prepared email responses – Monthly display of ‘arrivals’ – Guests online booking status
- Bookings Payment: various options for taking payment – Cash on Departure – PayPal – WorldPay – virtual or electronic terminal – automated Internet Merchant Account (Free Setup – European Subscribers Only)
- Admin Panel: Secure browser based with sections for – Setup – Booking Management – Statistics – Help & Tutorials
- Room Rates: Ability to change room descriptions and room rates instantly
- Last Minute Deals and Special Offers that are then automatically syndicated across other B&B websites
- Monitor Performance – Visitors v Bookings – conversion ratios – Value of Bookings – month & yearly basis etc..
NOTE! All this for just a small annual fee of Euro30 (approx £25 or $40)
Value Added Tax payable in Ireland or Non-VAT registered Europeans – all other countries Tax Free
The new commission free booking engine is now fully integrated into the webpages or websites of all grades of membership. The booking engine displays standard room rates, last minute deals and special offers and these are syndicated across most B&B Network websites. Guests can book multiple rooms and the total cost of the stay is clearly displayed to avoid confusion – although emails are used to confirm bookings, guests can check the status of their booking online at any time using their booking reference number.
Addditionally, payment can be accepted for bookings using:-
- Virtual or Electronic Credit Card Terminal
- PayPal
- WorldPay
- Free Members Internet Merchant Account (Europe)
- Cash on departure
WHY PAY THIRD PARTIES COMMISSION FOR TAKING BOOKINGS? – THEIR COMMISSION COULD BE AS HIGH AS 50% OF YOUR PROFIT.
Support the B&B Network’s campaign to eliminate the reliance on these 3rd parties.
The B&B Network has introduced yet another “first” for the B&B sector.
All enquiries and booking are now given a Booking Reference number at the first stage – guests are invited to note or printout this number.
At any time guests can check the status of the booking online and when confirmed they can printout full details of the booking plus a photo of the property, B&B address, GPS location, all important telephone numbers & email address and a map of how to get there.
Although this new system is backed up with emails to both Guest and B&B, if emails get stuck in spam filters or there is a ‘typo’ in the email address, the guest can always check online and the B&B in their online booking management system.
The B&B Network booking engine is fully integrated into the booking process and means the guest can also pay the B&B directly without the involvement of commission websites.
Booking Status: Guests can now check the status of their booking online. Each time a guest make an enquiry they are given a Ref. No – this can be used at any time to check the status of their booking / enquiry. eg. Has the booking been confirmed – has a payment been taken – cancellation terms etc. This overcomes the problem of emails that get caught in spam filters.
iPhone App: The B&B Network now has both an Irish and a UK specific iPhone App listing 14,500 B&Bs, Guesthouses and Hotels – Just search for “B&B Network” on the App Store
PayPal: Payment or Deposits for bookings can now be taken using PayPal – this is fully integrated into the members admin panel booking management and once payment is confirmed it automatically updates the Guest’s booking status. Allows you take payment directly missing out the expensive middleman or 3rd party booking sites.
