Industries · Hospitality, Travel & Food

A hotel is booked through whoever sits between the guest and the front desk.

A travel desk at a company in Pune needs six rooms for next Tuesday. It checks the corporate rate list, opens the booking app, and writes to three hotels. The reservations desk that replies first with a rate, the inclusions and a named person gets the booking, and the other two never see the shortlist.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of hotels at work in India

In one paragraph

Hotels here means full-service properties with a reservations desk, from luxury and business hotels to budget, boutique, heritage and convention hotels. GullySales looks at how a travel desk, planner, agent or booking app reaches your rooms and halls, how fast reservations replies in writing, and how a past guest books you direct.

A luxury hotel, a business hotel, a budget hotel, a boutique hotel, a heritage hotel and a convention hotel sell to different buyers. They share a reservations desk, rooms or halls that cannot be sold after the night or the date has passed, and a buyer who usually arrives through someone else. Where they differ is who that someone is: a travel designer, a corporate desk, a tour operator, an event planner or an app.

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6 kinds of business

Each kind of business in luxury, business & budget hotels sells a little differently.

Open the page closest to yours for how its buyers choose and what we would fix first.

Luxury hotels

Suites sell through an OTA at a discount, so the work is a direct enquiry path, written replies from reservations, a list of travel designers and a record of returning guests.

Read the page for luxury hotels

Business hotels

Weekday rooms go to travel desks and frequent travellers, so the corporate account list, the rate contract record and a Maps listing that appears for the nearby IT park count for more than lobby photographs.

Read the page for business hotels

Budget hotels

Guests search for the station, bus stand or hospital and pick on a clean photograph, a visible price and an answered phone. Regulars who rebook on the app each time are the commission to win back.

Read the page for budget hotels

Boutique hotels

Ten to thirty rooms sold on character. The story sits in the owner's head, and Instagram followers become bookings only when a message route leads to the hotel's own booking.

Read the page for boutique hotels

Heritage hotels

Tour operators sell the property they can describe, so the building's history has to be told truthfully and in its own words. Event enquiries and the hot, wet months need a process of their own.

Read the page for heritage hotels

Convention hotels

The buyer is an event planner or corporate admin comparing halls, capacity and catering. The sale runs through a quote, a site visit and a signed date, and weddings compete for the same halls.

Read the page for convention hotels

What they share

What usually goes wrong across luxury, business & budget hotels.

Whichever of these you run, you will probably recognise most of them.

“Someone else holds our buyer”
A travel designer, a corporate travel desk, a tour operator, an event planner or a booking app brings our guests to the door. We do not have the guest's number or a reason for the guest to come to us the next time.
“Reservations replies slower than the buyer shops”
An enquiry arrives by email, phone, WhatsApp or an app message, and the reply waits for whoever is on shift. The buyer who has written to three hotels books the one that answered with a rate and what it includes.
“Our Maps and listing pages are not kept as carefully as the lobby”
Guests search for the hotel by the name of a station, a hospital, an office park or a fort, and read the pin, the hours, the photographs and the reviews before they call. A wrong detail on any of them costs the enquiry.
“One rate sheet has to serve very different buyers”
A walk-in, an app guest, a company on a contract, a tour operator and an event planner each get a different price. When the sheet is out of date or held in one person's head, the front desk quotes differently on the same day.
“Rooms and halls are not sold on the quiet days”
The week, the season, the festival or the wedding date decides what fills. The days around them get no offer aimed at anyone until the date is close and the rate is cut.
“A returning guest is a stranger to us”
A guest stays twice and the register holds a name and a phone number, nothing on the occasion or what they asked for. The next booking goes to whichever channel the guest opens first.

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Where to start

What to fix first in luxury, business & budget hotels.

In the order we would look at them. Your own enquiry records may change the order, and we would say so.

Write the reply that reservations sends for each kind of enquiry, with the rate, what it includes and a named person, and send it in the channel the buyer used.
Correct the Google Maps pin, hours, phone number and photographs, and answer every review in public.
Make one current rate sheet for each buyer type and give the front desk the same copy.
Build a list of the travel desks, designers, operators or planners who send us guests, and write to them directly with something specific to the property.
Record every guest with the occasion, dates and what they asked for, and ask for the direct booking on the next occasion.
Decide the offer for the dates that will not fill, and aim it at a named buyer before the date arrives.

Related services

The work that usually comes up.

Which of these you need is decided after we have read your brief.

FAQ

Questions about luxury, business & budget hotels.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need

How do I get guests who return to book direct and not through the app?

Keep a record of each guest and the occasion, then write to them directly before the next one with a rate and a reason to book with you. Make the direct route as quick as the app. Apps still bring new guests, so keep the listing accurate.

What should a reservations reply contain?

The rate, what it covers and leaves out, the cancellation terms, check-in and check-out times, and a named person who can be reached. Reply in the same channel the guest used. Keep the template, not a script, and change the first line for the buyer.

How do I deal with travel desks and agents who ask for a rate?

Hold a current written rate for each buyer type and send it with the inclusions. Keep a list of who asked, what was quoted and the date, so a follow-up is possible. Ask the desk what would make them book you again.

Do I need a separate page for the restaurant, spa or halls?

If a separate buyer comes for them, such as a company booking a hall or a family booking a table, give them their own page, photographs and enquiry route. If nobody outside the hotel guests uses them, a clear section on the hotel page is enough.

How should I reply to a bad review?

Reply in public and promptly. Thank the guest, say what you understand went wrong and what has changed, and leave the argument out. The next guest reads the reply as closely as the review.

How do I price the quiet days without cheapening the hotel?

Name who would come on those days and give them a reason, such as a package or an inclusion, rather than a lower rate on the same room. A reason is easier to withdraw than a discount.

How long is the contract?

The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.

How soon will we see results?

It depends on what is being changed and how many of the people who matter see it. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.

Who will actually do the work?

The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.

What do you need from us?

Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever the work touches, such as your profiles, your website or your accounts, and time with the people who can answer our questions.

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you need or call +91 80958 58589

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you need