The Innkeeping Blog

Hot off the press – or more accurately, just in my email in-box – is the announcement that Webervations has been purchased by ELG Hospitality, which also owns BedandBreakfast.com and RezOvation. Despite lengthy messages on the PAII Forum from the buyer, Eric Goldreyer, and the seller, David Swain, innkeepers’ concerns and doubts are plenty. Many innkeepers are asking what I think about the recent announcement.

I’m a relatively fresh face to the innkeeping industry, having been on the job at PAII for a mere 17 months. My perspective is one that is pretty unbiased, since I use neither RezOvation nor Webervations. What I see are two companies that have been major players in this industry for a while, so obviously they are good, reliable products. Webervations seems to be a system that has met the basic needs of innkeepers at a very low cost (Swain admits he might have spoiled his customers with such a low price over the years). Evidence of its incredible value has been the thousands of innkeepers who have used the product for years, and the many who are now concerned about the future of the product. RezOvation is a leading full-feature reservation system, which provides a track to the Global Distribution System and is also tied at the hip to the largest online B&B directory, BedandBreakfast.com. Innkeepers are worried about their $80 per year Webervations accounts. They get a lot of functionality for $6.67 per month.

My advice to the Webervations customers? Like with any business decisions you make, you should evaluate as you go. Goldreyer is promising to make no fundamental changes to the Webervations system, recognizing there’s good reason so many innkeepers like it just the way it is. Goldreyer and his staff have a history of being risk takers and progressive business people, so some changes must be in store. Innkeepers appreciate Webervations because it is straightforward and simple. To me, this is a little like Outback Steakhouse buying McDonald’s, and people fearing hamburgers will now be $2.79 instead of $.79, or that the McDonald’s menu will change drastically. McDonald’s has great value and reaches millions of customers every day because people know exactly what they’re going to get (minimalist food that hits the spot), and they get it cheap. Webervations “hits the spot” for many innkeepers, and it’s been cheap.

I encourage members to go onto the PAII Forum and read the innkeeper concerns and the responses from Goldreyer and Swain before jumping to any conclusions. At the same time, major moves like this in our industry are not common, so customers of Webervations are well within their rights to ask questions and pay close attention to announcements of any anticipated changes or enhancements. Innkeepers, like all business people and consumers, vote with their dollars if they’re happy or unhappy. I expect nothing different here, since there are many options in our industry for reservation systems. If Outback indeed drastically changed McDonald’s, you can bet others will be looking to fill the void left by McDonald’s. Customers generally get what they want in a marketplace, and innkeepers will continue to get the reservation systems they desire regardless of the name or owner of the company. There will always be a cheap hamburger joint in every major town.

Enough with the hamburger analogy! Ask hard questions, evaluate and vote with your dollars…stay if you still like the product and believe it will continue to be a good value, or investigate what else is out there in the marketplace. That’s what a good business person should be doing all the time anyway.