10 years
The problem is if I booked a four bed dorm and found out it was four double beds or 3 singles and a double then this is not what I booked.
Double beds in dorms, why do OTA's think is weird
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Hi,
I have been getting a lot of shit from OTA's not letting me put a double bed in a dorm for my new hostel
In my hostel i'd say about 30% of people that sleep in the dorm are couples and they sleep together in a single bed and use the other bed to put their stuff
- Booking refused to do it
- Hostelworld refused to do it
- and the only one that has turn a blind eye to it is Hostelbookers.
do keep in mind that i'm not talking about sharing a bed with someone you don't know, i'm talking about an actual double bed in a dorm room meant for couples(gay or straigh) or close friends like the one pictured here.
Any similar experiences?
- Comments
10 years
yup, i get that, but the way i was picturing it was
6 people dorm divided like this:
-4 singles
-1 double
and then on the OTA they can open 2 rooms
-mixed 6 people dorm with 4 single beds
-mixed 2 people dorm with 1 double bed
10 years
Maybe other OTA's have moral objections?
We would have no problem with this kind of entry!
10 years
6 people dorm divided like this:
-4 singles
-1 doubleand then on the OTA they can open 2 rooms
-mixed 6 people dorm with 4 single beds
-mixed 2 people dorm with 1 double bed
Is the problem that they refuse to list the room the way you described it, or that they are not technically capable of selling it as two separate options?
It would make sense for them to refuse to list a 2-bed dorm with one double bed. It's not a normal arrangement, so people who don't read the description (and they know that no one reads the description) are likely to book it and be dissatisfied when they have to sleep in the same bed with a stranger.
Maybe it would be better if you only gave the OTAs the 4 single beds to sell for that 6-bed dorm. Then write clearly in the room description that there is also a double bed that could sleep either one or two guests. Just don’t sell the double bed through the OTA if they can’t handle it. Sell that one on your own website, to walk-ins, on AirBnB, etc.
Some hostels have bunkbeds with a double on the bottom and a single on top. They could sell the room as a single, double, or triple, but I’m not sure how (or if) the OTAs handle those rooms. Maybe they're only sold as privates.
I know that there are some property management systems that can sell one room as multiple types. I don’t know if that’s only an option on your own website though, or if they can sell rooms that way through OTAs too. It might be worth looking into.
10 years
is been 1 month since i opened the hostel in Providencia and i can safely say there's a market for double rooms in dorms.
I don't know if this will work in your particular hostel, but i get lots of couples booking dorm rooms and they are very happy to sleep together while paying the same price as 2 beds.
I'm going to follow Bryan's advice and just try to sell them on my website, because OTAs are not paying attention to me!
10 years
A hostel I worked at had queen sized bunk beds (IT WAS AWESOME) in some of the dorms. They differentiated on HostelWorld by describing the queen sized bed dorms as "superior" and the singles as "regular," and specified why in the description.
If you have different types of beds in the same dorm, maybe list it as two dorms and just keep the other beds closed? Not a very tidy fix...
10 years
What hostel was this? are they atill doing it? i'd love to see some pics of that.
10 years
Gspot Hostel in Lisbon. They're closed at the moment, but their site's still up: http://gspothostels.com/
It was a party hostel, so very common to have at least two people in those queen sized bunks XD
Edit: they've changed their name to Urban Garden (I guess Gspot was a bit too... well...) but it looks just the same and still has the queen beds. We actually had people switch hostels because of the beds while I was working there.
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