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is ''expedia'' or other hotels web sites , good also for hostels ?

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Peter started this discussion 14 years 6 months ago

many hostels have private rooms , some have just dorms.
is it good to be registered at hotels web sites as well ?

if the private rooms in the hostel are mostly basic ( sharing facilities , very basic rooms )
is it good to try to advertise on hotels web sites ?

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Rucksack Brian

14 years

You might have some luck selling private rooms on Expedia or the other hotel sites. I wouldn’t do it myself though unless my rooms were really upscale. I would definitely NOT sell dorm beds on those sites.

There are plenty of low budget and low quality hotels on those sites, but the people who book them know what to expect. Most people booking a room on a hotel site have no idea what a hostel is all about, and almost certainly aren’t looking for it. If they arrive with a reservation for what they think is a hotel room and get a very basic room with a shared bathroom (even in a really good hostel) they may refuse to stay there or to pay their bill.

There is also the atmosphere of the hostel to take into consideration. Someone who doesn’t know what a hostel is, and who specifically looked on a hotel site to find accommodation is not likely to enjoy the social scene of your hostel. In fact, they may be quite put off by it. Some hostels don’t care about that, as long as the guest pays. Personally, I care a lot about the atmosphere.

Not everyone will be a good guest in your hostel. In my opinion, Expedia would be a great source of unhappy guests.

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Peter

14 years

Yes , its all true.
Especially with matrimonial double rooms.
For some couples to have that type of basic room is unaccaptable
and the worst is when the hostel has onw shower or one bathroom for 10-15 people .
May be some private rooms for 4-5-8 people would work some how.
And some times twins and singles.
But probably it should be explained on the web site about the conditions and atmosphere.
Actually some hostels even want to get a status as a hotels have.
Because their property gets more expensive in its value and prices.
I even know the hostels have function by another name as a budget hotels.

If the hostel for example , makes the private facilities in each room , and has plently of twins , threeples and quorts , may be in this case , hotels sites would be helpfull .
But its true that , hotels people usually preffer ''solitary atmosphere'' and do not like to socialize and to communicate with a ''strangers'' ( the word stranger does not exist in the hostels people terminology , right ? :D.

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Peter

14 years

I consider it not wise when some hostels try to get the status of hotels.
Instead of learning how to sell the beds , they invest the money to repair the rooms , to make them smaller , to make expensive repair , facilities , and eventually try to convince themselves that to have a status of one star hotel is better than to have a nice hostel.
Of course - privasy and luxuries are good but I think to have a very good hostel is much better than to have a hotel.
Management , marketing , mavens , connectors , ability to have success in running the hostel - that's what is needed most !

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euro

14 years

Hostels are not very popular on that websites.

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seansul

13 years

Im operating two small hostels in korea and it seems to work on bookings.com
it's been a week since i listed and i already got about 10 bookings.
i get about 2~3 daily bookings from hostelworld
now i'm registering with expedia.

so i say it works really well for some areas like korea where you can end up at love motel

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Rucksack Brian

13 years

I talked to a hostel manager recently who sells private rooms as well as dorms beds on Expedia. He said that they are seeing a lot more bookings than either of us would have expected. The dorm beds are surprisingly popular, and most of their guests arrived with a clear understanding of what they had booked. Frankly, I'm shocked. Maybe I was wrong before.

Personally I still would not sell my dorm beds on a HOTEL-specific site, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't work for anyone else. It's important to be crystal clear about what you're offering though, especially if it's out of the ordinary compared to standard hotel setups.

Seansul, I'm curious to hear about your experience with Expedia. When I worked with them on the HOTEL side we had to allocate a certain number of rooms to them every day that no one else could sell. Those rooms were theirs to sell until two days before the arrival date. Only then could we sell the rooms ourselves or reallocate them to another vendor. Do they have a different agreement for hostels? Are you required to dedicate rooms or beds to them, or can you adjust your allocation in real time like you can with the hostel booking engines?

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Good Morning Hostels

13 years

Frankly i didnt expect it either. But my experiences with hotel booking engines is more than great, and in some of my object it is near to exceed earnings from hostelworld!!! My point is, even hostelworld is entering that middle market with their bedandbreakfastworld.com so there is no point denying that hotel booking engines are recognizing hostels as legit for their business like hotels.
Of course there will be some unsatisfied guests coming from hotel based booking engines expecting something more, but there again there are some unsatisfied guests coming from hostelworl.com too. Basically there is rating system on all those GDS sites so in terms of bad reviews its just percents:)

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byron

13 years

Hi
We have been selling on several Hotel booking engines and it is going well. It is very important as mentioned here before, to provide a clear description and prepare the guest' expectation to where they are arriving.
Booking.com is bringing a lot of work, and Venere.com is good as well. Laterooms, Hotel.de and others have not been very efficient so far. We are selling only private rooms on these websites. I don't see any reason why not to sell on hotel engines - there is a direct competition between the budget hotels and the hostels all around.
The main problem I have with Expedia is the fact that they charge 25% commission which is extremely high. The maximum I am preparing to give is 15%.
Indeed it is true that some guests that book on hotel booking engines might be slightly different than other hostel guests, BUT many times they were very pleased to find out what a true hostel can do for them.

Is any of you working with Expedia and thinks that 25% commission is OK for hostel rooms?

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Ricardo Silva

11 years

Its True, I was Hostel manager in Go Hostel Lisbon, and i opted to sale my 4bed dorm as a family room and it was really a good surprise...we Sold a Lot, now you will have too be careful because sometimes they don´t realise that they are in a Hostel, so they complain about the noise and the free spirit...Also it was really good to support the low season.... sure we also had there the doubles with and without bathroom.
Best wishes 2 all of u.

Ricardo Silva

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