Hotel Inspector viewers were left fuming over a "proud" businessman's attitude when he refused to take advice from host Ruth Watson who tried to save his business from total collapse. In a recently resurfaced episode, Michael Bissell invested £500,000 to convert a former care home into a hotel in Reading, but the business was not thriving.
After an initial chat, Ruth was quick to realise some issues with the business model. Michael has a "one price fits all" policy, charging the same for his rooms every day of the week throughout the year, which could be putting potential customers off and losing money. The hotel is also lacking in a good rating, and Ruth was keen to get experts in to evaluate for ratings in order to draw more customers in.
Michael lost £310,000 in the first two years, and he has been forced to cash in his pension as the last straw to save his business.
The hotel was priced between £85 and £120 per room per night, and Ruth told Michael: "We have to be far more open and we've got to be giving a base rate that you won't go below and a top rate you won't go above, but within those parameters, we will take the best offer that people are going to give us on any given day."
He disagreed and argued: "If you look in a shop window and you see a piece of jewellery and you can't see the price, you don't like going ask for the price, do you? I think I'm selling shirts like Marks & Spencer. They're £29.99 and that's my price. Now I can't go in and say I don't like the price of that shirt, becasue down the road they're selling them for £25."
Ruth explained that the retail giant has sale periods to offer a different price to their customers. But Michael struggled to come to terms and said: "I'm not selling shirts, I'm selling quality."
Ruth told Michael that it's important to be aware that there are certain price points that people will pay at different times of the year, at different times of the week and according to their budget. She explained that a flexible pricing will help to draw customers into his hotel.
Upon an inspection, there's a strong chance that Michael would need to change Beech House Hotel to Beech House Guesthouse as it "does not have the required facilities". But he's worried that it would "attract non-professional people".
"They come in late, they are noisy, they're disruptive to other residents, I don't think that is the type of trade I particularly want to handle," he said. But Ruth questioned: "The trouble is, you're not actually getting enough people in, are you?"
One viewer fumed and commented: "Oh Michael, get a f*****g grip! He's losing not just a few thousand a year but over a hundred thousand. How can someone be so bloody stubborn when his business is failing. It is certainly not a hotel but could be a good quality guest house."
Another added: "Michael is too stupid to be a good businessman, I hope he didn't lose everything because of his 'I know better' attitude."
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