All Forum Posts by: Ken Boone

Thank you @Sandy Sciales.  I just sent an email in as well.

@Kyle H.  Can you give us a link to the info?  I am not coming up with anything on google.  What counties specifically?  Thanks.

We have had a ton of bookings cancelled so far.  We have been lowering prices and rebooking.  The new bookings haven't caught up with  the cancellations so far but I am hopeful.  I am filling my cabins though.  The problem is that some of these larger cabins 5 and 6 bedroom types are losing their bookings too.  I think the bigger cabins are going to have a harder time re-booking guests than the smaller cabin.   There was a lady that wanted to rent my buddy's 2 bedroom pool cabin, but was debating going with the 5 bedroom pool cabin because they slashed their prices down to $200/nt.  After chatting back and forth with her all day she went with the 5 bedroom pool cabin.  5 bedrooms pool cabins are NEVER that cheap.  So that kind of thing is driving prices down as well.  So I think a  lot of folks coming to the area are coming because 1) they can drive there and 2) their first choice vacation got cancelled and I think a lot know there are bargains to be had right now.  

Hang in there, lower your prices to get booked, cover costs and then this thing will pass and  you will re-coup everything come summer ;)  So I got 2 last minute bookings today.  I am not going to kill it like I should for March on my cabins, but I should still profit.

@Chris Watson  I never doubted that.  Just to clarify, when I said their cancellations were based on fear, I was talking about the cancellations my buddies received on their cabins.  They were not military related.  I am expecting my cabins to stay at 25-30 days as well but we will see ;)

@Avery Carl Yea as soon as we get the cancellations complete and the calendar clears I hope to fill the spots.  That is usually how my cancellations have gone so hoping that will hold true now as well.  Glad to hear yours were filled quickly.

@John Underwood  - I have some LTRs in the Greenville area, but my STRs are in the Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley area.  

Is that meeting a once a month deal?

I just got my 3rd cancellation in the Pigeon Forge area and two of my buddies have been getting cancellations on their cabins  today too in that area.  All of mine have been due to military restrictions, their cancellations from what I understand were based on fear.

Major stuff my guests let me know and like Lucas I get them fixed ASAP.  I visit my cabins often and every time I am at one of them there is always stuff that needs to be done.  Now having said that I am pretty picky and want my cabins in tip top shape all the time, but it seems like there is always some type of maintenance, touch up, or repair that can be done when I go up. I never go up there without tools and a ladder.  

My cleaner will take care of small stuff when she sees it and she takes care of bulbs and batteries and all that kind of stuff so I don't really run into that any more.  

One other thing I did recently along those lines was to swap out all the fire alarms to ones with 10 year lithium batteries.  Even though I had a battery swap plan, I would get the inevitable call about a chirping alarm.  And we all know they only chirp late at night on a weekend.  I won't have to deal with that again or the service call to get the battery swapped for quite some time now!

But now that we are in peak the only time I can do anything is if a cabin happens to not be booked on maybe a mon or tues somewhere randomly.

I had my first 2  coronavirus cancellations today in the Pigeon Forge market.  Two military families scheduled their vacations at 2 of my cabins for the same time.  The base that they are located at just put in restrictions to limit all travel from soldiers stationed at that base to no more than 50 miles.  

Yea peak season Pigeon Forge means you better know the back roads.. and that is for 90% of the year.