We have never taken online reservations here at The Terra Cotta Inn. Occasionally we get asked why. Today I saw a good article that explains our philosophy. Here is what they wrote:
"Small Business tip of the Day
All Business is Not Good Business
While your product or service may be beneficial to the vast majority, not every client is worth the effort. A business filled with clients who are consistently looking for a "better deal" – or are otherwise causing you to lose sleep at night – is a clear sign that it’s time to redefine your target market." Click for story
As all nudists and naturists know, Terra Cotta Inn is the most popular nude sunbathing resort in Palm Springs, California. We are the only nude sunbathing resort that caters to guests on vacation and will even sell out midweek. The press is always picking us as the best nude sunbathing resort to stay at in Palm Springs or out west. Because we are known as the most mainstream nude sunbathing resort in the west and perfect for couples trying topless or nude sunbathing for the first time (from Desert Sun newspaper), we have lots of first timers contact us. As nudists all know, not all first timers realize that nudist resorts are not sex clubs and are not for swingers.
We screen our potential guests with every single phone call. Probably 20% of new people that call were looking for a sex clubs or swinger resorts. We always recommend them to go elsewhere. If we were like some other nude hotels and booked anybody with a credit card, then we would have lots of people staying here for the wrong reasons. Part of the reason we are so successful is we do carefully screen our guests and that is one of the many reasons why we have one of the highest repeat guest rates in the travel industry at just over 80% repeats.
The other reason we don't take reservations online is because we are very popular and do sell out. We get guests calling or e-mailing asking about certain dates where we are already sold out. This way, we can suggest what we have available. Many of our guests are flexible as far as their vacation time is concerned. In the summer for instance we have lots of school teachers. So they can easily pick different dates to stay here.
Once repeat guests learn the way we operate is to ensure they have their best vacation here ever, they are happy we don't book online.
Now is the perfect time for a fun, romantic, sunny, unique vacation experience. One that you will want to repeat over and over again..
Never been to a clothing optional resort before? No problem at The Terra Cotta Inn
In 2010, MSNBC picked us as the Best value nude sunbathing resort in the western US. And in October, 2011, AOL Travel picked Terra Cotta Inn as one of the top 10 BEST nudist resorts in the world and the only one in the US that caters to couples on vacation. And they also picked Terra Cotta Inn as the BEST VALUE nude sunbathing resort in the world!!! Now that is really cool. And 2012 marks the 5th year in a row that Terra Cotta Inn has not raised room rates. We love saving guests money and they love it. With our great value and rates it's no wonder Terra Cotta Inn is the smart choice for experienced nudists and naturists and first time nude sunbathers.
In July 2011, the Los Angeles Times newspaper picked us as the most popular of ALL small resorts in Southern California. Pretty cool that our nudist resort is more popular than all the other boring textile hotels. And they picked the city of Palm Springs as the runner up best travel destination of ALL Southern California.
Give us a call at 800-786-6938 (toll free Us and Canada) to make reservations or for more information. We answer the phones from 8am-10pm PST.
Visit our site at http://sunnyfun.com
Visit our Facebook resort page at http://bit.ly/TerraCottaInnFBPage
Hope to see you this year in sunny Palm Springs at Terra Cotta Inn!!!
2 comments:
I do suggest that you add an online calendar with up-to-date availability. Even most of the bed and breakfasts we have been to have that and it really helps someone who is considering a trip, especially someone with flexibility, to be able to look at a calendar and know there is availability during the period they are thinking of or some other period near that without having to call or email.
Thanks for the suggestion. What we do have is last minute availability for the upcoming week printed on the home page of our site http://sunnyfun.com
Besides belonging to AANR, we also belong to PAII Prof Assoc of Innkeepers Internat'l. Successful B & B's in the US year round average around a 40% occupancy rate. And I would bet that is also pretty true for many nudist resorts (or it might be high). We average around an 80-85% occupancy rate year round. In certain months like right now in April, we will be a 95-98% occupancy rate. Thus, when we get a call from someone wanting to stay here for a week, we show them why booking the last 1 or 2 nights here midweek will be more fun than booking a week somewhere else. And of course once they're here, they love it. Also many times people calling about April will then book their nudist vacations in May or the summer. If we had a calendar of availability, these people would never call as they would just see us as being full and look elsewhere.
We have also learned that for newbies, where they realize there are differences in restaurant quality and experiences, textile hotel qualities and experiences, etc. For some reasons, most newbies think all nude sunbathing places are the same as you're just going poolside to lay out naked in the sun, right? Of course nudists know it is so untrue. Here in Palm Springs, there are 2 places to go nude sunbathing. In Desert Hot Springs there are 3 places. All are so unique, some are sex clubs, some cater to swingers, a few like us are nice places just for nude sunbathers, not swapping partners. Each place though is so unique, Even if we are full, we want people to call us so we can educate them as to the different places, so even if they stay at a place they are not happy at, they will come by for a tour and then book us for their next vacation.
Being the most popular nude sunbathing resort out west, we are the biggest referrer of potential guests.
I hope this helps you understand why we don't print a calendar of availability. Thanks Tom
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