Small Inns benefit from Internet
By Mark Bailey on Jan. 29, 2008
By Tasha Kates
The Charlottesville Daily Progress
Business at the Foxfield Inn has been good so far this year, and that’s partly because of the power of the Internet.
“As we start off the year, our phone is ringing constantly,“ said John Hulburt, who runs the Albemarle County inn with his wife, Mary Pat.
The Hulburts attribute a pickup in business to TripAdvisor, a free travel Web site that features user reviews at http://www.tripadvisor.com. TripAdvisor recently put Foxfield at the top of its list of 10 best inns and bed and breakfasts in the United States for its 2008 Travelers’ Choice awards.
A positive online presence makes a big difference in bookings at inns and bed and breakfasts. Mark Shore, director and CEO of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the travel industry is seeing more visitors looking to hear someone else’s experiences before committing to a night’s stay.
“There is a great deal of validity in the travel industry given when hearing other peoples’ experiences rather than seeing that they won a corporate award,“ Shore said.
As of Friday afternoon, Foxfield had 288 reviews on TripAdvisor and was rated five out of five stars. Many of the reviews detailed the rooms and amenities available at the bed and breakfast, and complimented the innkeepers and the inn’s cleanliness.
Hulburt attributed the favorable reviews to a high level of hospitality that he and his wife provide.
Before TripAdvisor was founded in 2000, bed and breakfasts had few outlets beyond word of mouth to tell people about their rooms. Dick Cabell, innkeeper at the Inn at Sugar Hollow Farm, said the only reviews his inn had before TripAdvisor were comment cards. Cabell said customers never knew how highly rated his Crozet inn was because those results weren’t posted anywhere, but TripAdvisor has changed that.
Cabell’s inn was seventh out of 10 inns in TripAdvisor’s 2007 best inns and bed and breakfasts list. He said he tells travelers about the site, but doesn’t push them to create a review.
Sites such as TripAdvisor tend to offer objective descriptions of the inns and their amenities, Shore said.
“You can view what a room looks like, get a sense of the property, location and the experience you’re going to have,“ Shore said. “That’s really good for our visitors because they are more apt to choose the environment that is going to meet their expectations. As a result, you end up having a more satisfied visitor.“
TripAdvisor’s 2008 inn list included Piney Hill Bed & Breakfast in Luray, which took second place.
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