Well, I still set my base price, and Beyond Pricing just goes by that. Their stats have been more helpful than anything, because they are educating me on booking trends. They are giving me confidence to hold at my current base price and wait, and that has paid off!! I have to watch it because they cut rates when the vacancy is a day away but I do book last-minute very often. So they have helped me. And, they have increased prices for special events. They already increased my price by over 100% for the inauguration but I’m blocking those dates until after the election. I am depending on them heavily to set the right price for that event. I’m hoping to earn enough to pay for my insurance for the year.
I don’t feel the need to be a ‘good deal’. I feel the need to be a ‘fair deal’. I need to be sure that my family’s labor is valued, that I am actually making a profit. I’m not doing it for free, it’s not a charity. I need to know that people are willing to pay for a good value. I did start out thinking ‘sharing community’ but as I put more and more into the space - and I started very raw - I realize that “A workman is worth his wages” and people have to pay for a good time. I’ve looked, trust me, and find NOTHING to compare for what I offer for a price less than 50% more what I charge, as I’ve searched other parts of my area (not in DC, outside, for my family vacation).
I don’t offer a hotel room - I offer two bedrooms, and little kitchen and ‘living’ area, and a full breakfast. I offer a friendly host that will listen to their stories of their day, offer to drive them to a swimming pool when the temps are over 100 f (like it was yesterday, the family had trooped into DC valiantly 2 straight days at those temps), I give them fresh ginger to make a tea when their son has a fever, let them have some food if their flight is messed up and they check-in after the local pizza place has closed, loan bikes so they can enjoy the gorgeous bike paths in my area, offer a yard with a VERY cool swing and a place to kick the soccer ball, drive the dad to the pharmacy late at night because his little daughter is constipated… Should I do all of that and charge less than 1 sterile hotel room? I do all those things because I want to and I want to make the world a happier place. I share what I can share willingly. So I don’t compare myself to a local hotel.
How many hotels are offering such a beautiful garden as you do, @diamond54? Only those for which you pay $200+, and, that garden is somewhere on the property . What hotel is offering a private place, not on top of or below other guests? How many hotels are painting every 2 weeks to keep the place fresh? Only those you’re going to pay $$$$ for. So think it through - perhaps you are so burned out because you are undervaluing yourself.
I think it’s true - though we don’t discuss it so much on this forum - hosting gets to us emotionally. It’s constantly having some one say “Yay! You’re a success!!” or “BOO - bad pillows!”. It’s very, very personal. We put our heart into hosting and then are constantly evaluated. Anything less than 5* CAN feel like a judgement against us. How many times do we look right past the 5 * ratings and thing “OH MY GOD!! A THREE FOR CLEANLINESS!!” Or, the worst, when they are disrespectful of your place. Or, a dry spell of no bookings. I’m still grappling with that myself. We have to know for ourselves that we did the best job we could, but sometimes people are still going to be unhappy. We can’t kill ourselves trying to keep them so.
I have to go now - but I really feel for you and really wish you a breath of fresh air from somewhere!!