Many accommodation providers today across the world market themselves via the internet. All want to be found at the top of the listing so you the customer book with them and they are able to capture your business. Of course the space available at the top of the listings on the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing is severely limited and competition to get onto that space is very fierce indeed.
The internet has only been exploited by accommodation providers as an advertising medium for the last 15 years or so. Prior to that more conventional means of seeking the attention of the public was used such as newspaper advertising and in this respect Blackpool was probably unique in that back in the 1960′s and 1970′s it had whole sections of popular Sunday papers such as the People and the News of the World turned over to bed and breakfast providers from the resort.
Well now we are in the 21st Century and people don’t look for short breaks or weekends by the sea in papers any more they look on the internet where they can check independent sites such as Tripadvisor for reviews and look at up to date full colour pictures of the rooms accommodation providers have on offer.
Most if not all b&b’s in Blackpool will have their own websites. Many will allow you to check availability and prices through those sites. Not many however can get exposure to page 1 or 2 on the Google results page for the popular keywords.
Because of this most accommodation providers will choose to list their rooms on what are called accommodation directories. Many of these are household names such as lastminute, Expedia, Laterooms and Booking.com There are many others which specialise in regional variations like Blackpool bed and breakfast.com the list goes on and there are many hundreds of these sites operating in one fashion or another.
Many will recognise the Popular logo’s above.
These sites have the clout to either throw lots of money at their website optimisation or extensively use Google Adwords and as such will usually be found on page 1 or 2 of the search engine return pages for the popular search terms. As far as Blackpool is concerned one of these is B&B Blackpool and another bed and breakfast blackpool
The downside of this for the consumer looking to book rooms is that these sites will charge commission rates of between 10 – 30% of a room price for achieving a booking. The consumer does not see this as it is already added into the price shown on the page. The directory bills accommodation providers on a Monthly basis who in turn pass on this charge to consumers by marking their room rates up accordingly. The systems are intelligently managed by software solutions which work out up to the date availability and will also mark prices up as fewer rooms become available on a given date.
It is fine to choose a provider from the lists at Toprooms Blackpool or Expedia, indeed check out the reviews and the rest of the info even run the availability checker and get the prices but stop right there. Don’t book on those prices as it is almost certain you will get a better deal by either phoning the provider direct and asking for a verbal quote or by searching Google for the name of the accommodation and checking their own website for prices. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.
We here at Moorbank House sometimes use providers such as Top Rooms and Blackpool Bed and Breakfasts.com but only usually at quieter times such as early season in April and May. Often guests will phone us having found us via these sites and are surprised when we are able to quote them a significantly cheaper price.
To give an idea of savings that can be made I used Expedia to plan and price up a trip to New York for a week in March 2012. Expedia would have allowed me to book the return flights and the hotel as a package. Once I had this price I went to US airways site and booked the flights separate. Once I had done this I searched out the quoted hotel and telephoned them direct making a reservation over the telephone with my credit card and paying for the first night up front as a deposit. The difference between the Expedia price and making the bookings direct was a staggering £179.00 for a week’s stay. I was able to save this money as by booking direct with the airline and the hotel neither had to pay commission charges to Expedia. As a result they are able to pass on the savings from that direct to me.
So for choosing a bed and breakfast in Blackpool remember these simple points.
” Use Google to find either independent sites or directory sites choose your accommodation based on price, availability, location, parking, reviews ect. If you price via the directory sites make a note of the prices being quoted.
” Once you have a short list search out those providers’ web sites and price up your stay again. It will almost certainly be cheaper. You can either then book on-line or telephone them direct.
You will always find the best prices for Moorbank House via this website. Use the availability checker on this site to price up your stay and either book on-line or phone us direct.
