I have also been sorting out to use Booking.com as an agent. It has taken me about 3 weeks to get a straight answer out of them about their service. In case anyone else needs this information They ask for 1 free night for every 100 they sell for you this is for their area reps when they come to your area but you don't have to take them. You only have to give 14 days to terminate the contract and there is no minimum contract. Hope this helps.

A lady asked me this week for any tips on smiling at the customers when you really don't feel like it. I was a bit stumped apart from the fact that sometimes if you don't laugh you'll cry. We tend to try and think of our guests as people we really like to see (even though we havn't met yet) and are pleasantly surprised that they have arrived. Another tip is to actually practice smiling and laughing. (I know this sounds bonkers) but laughing is actually a learned behaviour so you have to get your self into the habit of smiling and being happy. As we all know there are times when you just want to bang your head on the nearest hard surface. (I got over booked by 4 and believe me I was not smiling!) but Ive sorted out all the people and everything is back on an even keal so you get there. I am lucky to have a good relationship with my neighbours. I think one of the most valuable skills to have in customer service is the ability to laugh at yourself.

Also one of the reasons I havn't been blogging as much is I have been trying out direct mailing. Where I am is a conference town so I have been looking at the conference web sites getting a list of exhibitors and then searching them out on the internet and emailing them direct. So far I have been successful. This method cost nothing except your time rescearching and for one conference I did 8 hours rescearch and mailing and filled my entire place and my neighbour up the street as well so I feel the effort as regards the pay back was worth it.

Well have been on a really good course titled Confident Communications. I was a bit gutted because it was supposed to be held in my home town but that session was cancelled so I went to the one in Hawes (a good hour and 1/2 drive away) The main thrust of the course was about using all means of communication to contact your potential customers for example You Tube which is not a form I had ever considered before. Met some really nice people and had a free lunch. The teacher showed us how to make a slide show on Windows Movie Maker and then you can upload it to You Tube. The main thrust is to use every avenue avaliable to you to promote your business and to find ways of using areas which you hadn't even considered would be usefull such as Facebook or Twitter.

Hello everyone well I had hoped to be moved in by now but it is not at all going to plan! (not beyond shocked!) Well with the awful weather we have been having some of our pipes in the basement froze over because the builders could not fill them all in with insulation due to the snow. (There is a degree of irony there I feel) So that took at least a day to get fixed luckily the main problem was that they had to cut a hole in the bathroom wall to get at the pipes and therefore made a right mess. However we insulated today and should have all the jobs in the bathroom done by the end of tomorro. The electrician is comming tomorro to put up the three light fittings so that is one less job to do! So all that is left is to touch up the paint in the bathroom and put up a small shelf!. The carpet man who has been giving me run around all week should also be comming tomorro Wish me luck!

Finally nearly finished the decorating etc on the new flat (we have built proper living accomodation in the basement of the hotel!) However we did have a day of it yesterday as some of the pipes froze due to the super fun weather we have been having lately. Therefore we couldn't get any water in or out of the basement. There is a degree of irony in that if it hadn't snowed the builders would have insulated the pipes but havn't been by because of the snow! Oh well tomorro is another day.

Just another tip what decorators charge may seem extortianate and you may think to yourself I can do that and save the money. That may be but you loose the money in the time the room is out of commission. Also it will also pay dividends in the long run if you try and decorate you rooms in the same colours as it is so much easier to say have two colours in rather than 12 for touch ups. We also try to paint the lower part of the room in a darker colour such as red or brown as it doesn't show the damage from cases that are repeatedly banged into your walls. The upper parts a lighter colour so as not to overwhelme the room. The choice is yours.