Why It’s Important to be Booking Direct:
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I do want to talk a little bit more about the importance of booking direct. Again, I can only speak directly for Carriage Corner.
Best Rates:
When you book direct with us you get the best rates around. We know you’ve all seen the commercials for whichever website compares prices – but did you know that they DO NOT include the price for booking directly with you? And if the rate is significantly lower at one OTA, that most likely the play you are booking at hasn’t authorized that price, but the OTA is offering a special rate to get you to book with them.
Ease of Booking:
Multiple ways to book your room. Not only can you click through to our website to book the Log Cabin Room, but you can also call us at 717-768-3059, text us at 717-768-3059, send a direct message through facebook or instagram, or just leave a comment on a post saying you’d like to book a certain day. Ever tried getting a hold of a person at one of the OTAs?
Cancellation:
We understand when you have to cancel and will work with you. Most times, your deposit will be applied toward a future stay within a set time period (generally 3 months). When you book through an OTA and you need to cancel – we find that’s when guests can find our phone number. Unfortunately, we cannot cancel a reservation you made through an OTA. So when you are the midst of a hurricane and you need to cancel your reservation, sadly we are unable to help you.
Deposit:
When you call Carriage Corner to book, we rarely take a deposit. WE do this because we pay credit cards fees every single time we process a credit card. So if you book and pay a deposit – we pay a fee. Then when you arrive and pay the balance – guess what? We pay another fee just for running your card. This is in addition to the percentage of the fee that the credit card processing company takes. We try to limit the number of fees we pay on each booking to help keep our costs and thereby our room rates as low as possible.
Availability:
Because we are a bed and breakfast, each of our rooms is different. They have different names and similar – but different amenities. So, when they are listed with an OTA – it will always says – book now only one room left. That doesn’t mean we only have one room left – it means that style of room is the only one of it’s kind, and remember we have 5 styles of rooms. If you are looking at our website or talking to one of us, you can see exactly what is available for the date you are interested in.
You will also get all all of the details regarding a specific room. For example all of our rooms have private baths, but if you are looking at an OTA and you don’t click on the actual room info, you’d never know that the bathroom for Dahlia is across the hall.
Finally – did you know, our website is almost always available for 1 night bookings – even on the weekends. The except is holiday weekends. But, we don’t open the weekend up to 1 night booking until much closer to the weekend.
Small Business:
Also – when you book direct – you are supporting a small business who lives and works in the community you are visiting. We the opportunity to get your food preferences. We also have a chance to find out if there is a special reason you are coming to visit – a birthday or anniversary – and help you plan something special.
So – regardless of where you are staying – call the bed and breakfast or visit their website. And don’t be fooled by the “Book Now” button when you google them. That button will send you directly to an OTA who bid the most on getting it. I find that many of our guests think they were booking directly with us by clicking that button and were sad to find out they weren’t. For more information on booking direct – check out this post!
We look forward to meeting you and helping you plan the perfect get away in Amish Country! Give us a call and book a stay in any one of our quilt themed rooms.