Psst..Have I Got A Deal For You, Or, Is Cheaper Really Better?

I think the answer is pretty obvious, but not sure there is universal agreement on that. Linga Bar has almost always had slightly higher prices than our competitors (there are many factors involved) but at the end of the day we decided, do you want cheap or do you want good? We fully stand behind the quality of our product at Linga Bar, and Linga Spa for that matter.

Now the price factor is starting to invade our hotel situation. Why? Because of the economy, because of increased supply and because of inferior management our competitors have either dropped their rates or have kept in place low season discounts they have never done before. Does that mean they offer a better experience than we do? Of course not. I have been around long enough to know that hotels that need to go to rock bottom prices do so our of desperation, not out of some desire to offer a better product to their customers. Actually, the opposite applies: hotels slash their rates and then have to cut back on staffing, reducing service and or amenities and then do not have the capital to keep investing in their product. Inevitably you end up in a worn down room, with cheap and/or fraying linens with lousy service and wonder, "What have I done?"

On the flip side, because of our small and unique size, not to mention my overwhelming desire to wow our customers, we refuse to do this. On the contrary, we are spending time and money to freshen up the paint, improve our staffing and make sure that everything is in place as it should be so that we can deliver the quality and value that our customers expect. What is the difference between these chain hotels (Raffles, Sofitel, Le Meridien) and us? To me it is quite clear: As the owner, I have to look our customers in the eye and know that we have delivered to the best of our ability. I dare you to try and do that at these other hotels. Even if you were to finally get to the General Manager (You will never, ever meet the owner), he/she will only be able to give you the excuses as to why they have cut back and not lived up to your expectations. The reason for this is that they are beholding to owners (venture capital vultures, cash-strapped and desperate single owners, or public company shareholders) that dictate just getting any cash is better than nothing. Will we be affected by those hotels cutting their rates to the bone? Maybe so, but we are not about to sacrifice our quality and experience to try and compete with them. After all, they have hundreds of rooms to fill and we do not. You are welcome to get their special low rates, and then endure the lack of service, getting a run-down room, waiting in line with other bargain hunters to be served that is a part of the package. I am so thankful that I do not have to compromise our product or our service in order to fill a room for a few extra dollars. More importantly, we are in the hospitality industry and providing service is the best of what we do.

This is not to say that we are not being flexible in pricing (check our our pre-payment discount for The One Hotel, maybe to be added to Hotel Be soon) and we are doing our best to come to common ground with our potential guests. When necessary and when appropriate, we will be flexible in pricing but what we will never do is to under-sell our selves in order to get a few extra dollars. It is a short-sided philosophy and does not represent what we need to be. I hope you understand, I hope you come and visit and I welcome your feedback.

ADDENDUM TO POST:

In order to understand why a hotel like the Raffles must resort to discounting their product, have a look at their availability report which indicates only one day in a six month period do they not have rooms available for sale:

And, in case you are wondering, this is not confidential information as I am on the Raffles consumer mailing list for promotions which include lunch or dinner specials. This one happened to include rooms.

I Should Have Bought A Boat

Instead of our new Camry, I should have bought a boat since Siem Reap has experienced its worst flooding in the six years a I have lived here. We took the car to Phnom Penh to the Toyota dealer this past Monday. We had it completely checked, changed the fluids and got all new tires and a clean bill of health. We left Phnom Penh at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon to drive back to Siem Reap. It started raining somewhere along the way and for almost all of the trip we had rain that was very, very heavy at times and a lot of wind. I wanted to get back home so I did not really care and I was driving so I felt safe enough. It is about a five hour drive and about half way through there was almost no other traffic on the roads which was great for us though sometimes we could go no more than 25 miles an hour. We actually made good time and got back to Siem Reap just after 10pm. Right after we arrived back at the bar and hotel, the rain just unleashed itself. And it rained, and rained and rained. I drove the car home along the river and it was a bit nerve racking as the road was becoming flooded. Just a week before the water along the river came close to the crest but did not really come over.

The next day I went out by motorbike and found the river had completely overflowed all the way from near the Old Market area and down towards the way to the Tonle Sap lake. I was surprised that the main streets of Siem Reap were not flooded as they had been in years past. I guess the drainage work they did actually worked. But, the rain did not stop on Wednesday, it just kept coming. By this time I had already realized it was the remnants of Typhoon Ketsana that had already struck the Phillipines and Vietnam. So, I drove back from Phnom Penh in a typhoon? It seems that way.

On Wednesday night when I left work around 9pm the area around the Old Market was OK. Thursday morning my house staff came back with the motorbike and it was flooded out again, like the day before from driving through water that was too high. So, I drove the car to work. What a mistake! I could not go from my house along the river so had to go the long way around out by the airport. The airport road was flooded and then I arrived in town to find that all of the streets were now flooded including the Old Market area, Bar street etc. I was shocked since it was not that way the night before and thought the worst was over. Have a look at the pictures below and you can see what I mean. Thankfully, our small street is slightly higher than the main roads and it only came near the top of the curb. It would have taken a lot more rain for it to have come into our street. What a mess though! Today is Friday and the sun is out so our fingers are crossed that the water will begin to recede. It had not affected our guests in that they were still able to go to Angkor Wat and enjoy the sites with very few tourists. So, wish us luck that the flooding recedes before the next storm comes.