Cutting the time to make a leisure break booking

It takes on average 5 hours for someone to research and reserve accommodation for a family break. How do I know that? Well, for a starter that’s how long it takes my wife. Females are the prime bookers of leisure accommodation. How do I know that? Well hotels4families.com is currently spending time and money researching both the aforementioned subjects. The results of which are greatly going to influence the way we configure our web site.

So there I was holding a stopwatch whilst my other half poured over the computer ….. Um no! That wasn’t the preferred option but I will admit that it was watching her going to no end of trouble in trying to find the perfect location that prompted me to commission the hotels4families team to investigate just how long it all takes and what information is required before the credit card is necessary . What is needed to be known before the booker is confident enough to commit is for another day but what I would like to explore now is how much length of time is entailed before confirmation is required.

In the main it is because the venue leads you right through the web site before you find that they can’t accommodate the number of people you wish to book. A bit like going round the supermarket shelves, filling your trolley up only to find at check out that the tills have gone down, don’t you think?

I would be really pleased if you would respond to the question ‘what is frustrating about web site information when one is trying to commit to a family break and before entering the payment details’? I would be grateful as hotels4families are always looking at better ways to provide the best service. Please contact me on nickfitch@hotels4.biz.

When is a hotel family room not a family room?

We recently received a letter here at Hotels4families.com I have included an extract that I thought might be of interest to you.

‘’We recently found your web site. Thank goodness, no more adventures. The last time we went for a short break, everything looked so promising and the receptionist looked very pleased when we decided to accept the rate. Weren’t we lucky at 11.30pm to discover a hotel with availability? We felt extra lucky when we were told that it was a family room that was on offer and how extra, extra lucky we felt when he told us that all four of us and Spot would be very comfortable in the Pavarotti Room.

Half an hour later we were still deciding the best configuration, should we stack ourselves on top of each other like logs, would we be able to sleep if we all stood up and leaned against the wall? Could we take turns to lie down? Problem partly solved when we hung the baby bouncer in the bathroom doorway and popped Spot in it. The baby, the luggage, the buggy, went into the cot supplied by the hotel. We had slept in king sized and a queen sized beds before but in terms of pecking order this bed was definitely from the lower orders. When my wife and I got into it, I realized that synchronized exhaling and inhaling wasn’t going to work so we got back up and went back to configuration mode. We settled for the Naval approach. She did first watch and at 3 bells we swapped over’’.

Could our new found customer have been pulling our legs? Ascertaining what constitutes a family room gives us a bit of a challenge here at hotels4families.com. We would be very pleased to hear your stories about so called “family rooms” and if you could have designed a better one what are the top must haves in your family room?

There should be a silent letter ‘b’ in the word ‘Hotel’.

In a poll held by Hotels4families.co.uk. 75% of those surveyed said they found holidays stressful. Why would that be? We have carried out research and have found a curious fact. B = Misery. In other words things starting with the letter B are the cause and are to be avoided. For instance if you only read the Bold print in hotel Brochures you are likely to land up signing Blank cheques. The advertised price is not the price. The price shown is only the starting point so when you check out you are likely to find that Breakfast was not included and even though you were quoted the dinner, bed and breakfast rate there was a supplement when you ordered the Bernaise sauce in the dining room last night . In the bid to quote the cheapest available rate you will discover that the hotel has laid a Booby-trap, and you leave feeling a Bit of a Berk.