OCTOBER 2022 MEWS
Hello Longcroft ladies and gents. I think it’s fair to say that we all had an incredibly busy summer and are enjoying the cooler weather and slightly quieter phones!
A staggering 4.7 million* more pets were acquired during the Pandemic with an estimated 12 million cats living in homes with reports of a spike in younger owners who seem to prefer pets over children! Trends like premiumisation and anthropomorphism (humanising our pets) show no sign of slowing down with many owners spoiling their furry friends with luxuries such as meal delivery services, pet tech such as smart collars and virtual vet appointments and a continued improvement in pet nutrition, providing well balanced diets that fit the individual pet’s needs. * Statista [https://www.statista.com/statistics/515381/cats-population-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/]
More and more, our customers are relying on their pets to be their friends and to provide emotional support. Lockdown was challenging for us all with pets now showing signs of separation anxiety as their owners return to work and go on holiday after experiencing round the clock human company and care.
Our customers are reporting many local cattery closures and I am sure many of you will have read about the heart breaking stories around poor care in catteries and kennels over recent months.
We have embraced all these changes and continue to amaze and exceed customer expectations by providing outstanding care in our immaculate hotels. I will never tire of reading the customer feedback and reviews we receive on a daily basis. They are truly outstanding! Thank you.
Abi x
HOTEL NEWS
Suite Price Increase
As the cost of living continues to increase and with growing inflation there is a fine line between raising our suite rates to cover the additional expenses and ensuring our customers do not go elsewhere. Thanks to all of you that responded to our latest pricing feedback email. The replies were a real mixed bag with some hotel owners not keen on another increase so soon whilst others welcome it.
The demand for our services has certainly increased and therefore customers may be willing to pay just that little bit extra.
Our recent suite rate increase implemented in April of this year saw the 1 and 2 guest everyday and all inclusive suite rate increase by an average of 12%. The previous 3 guest everyday and all inclusive suite rate in September 2021 saw an average 16% increase.
We will contact you individually to share our recommendation on our 2023 pricing strategy.
Introducing Megs
Some of you may have already met Megs when she has been chauffeuring our kitties around Herts, Beds, Bucks and London! Megs joined us during the pandemic. She is an admin queen, amazing cat chauffeur, social media and marketing whizz and pretty much knows Longcroft inside out!
Most of you know that you can divert your phones to our Global availability line when you are on holiday yourselves or if you feel like a day off admin! This is a free service, all we ask is that you ping us an email over to let us know you have diverted and we will let you know of any nice bookings that come your way. The same goes for webmaster enquiries. Just drop us a message and we can dive in and respond to these from the lily@ email address for you and will message you if you have availability.
On an admin note Megs already offers some of you admin cover. She can send out your booking confirmations, customer photograph updates, design postcards for you and manage your inbox whilst you are away. If you feel this would benefit you then please just let us know. Some of you choose to use Megs all the time and others just when you are juggling many priorities. Either is fine! This is a paid for service, Megs is very efficient and charges £15 per hour.
Merchandise
Lots more feather wagglers are on their way but slowly. We have kept with the original supplier in China as the quality is great and so is the price! They are due into port in 5 weeks time. We will let you all know when they arrive.
Customers always comment about how much they love the contents of their goody bags and are forever posting about them on Instagram.
Our top goody bag picks …
Longcroft pen | Dreamies | Lick-e-Lix| cat milk | catnip mouse – we still have stock of these cuties in both colours | feather waggler – en route to us| posh tin or sachet of dinner such as Applaws, Encore or Thrive or any other nice dinner that your guest may not already eat at home.
Christmas
This year we want to keep things simple. Please offer a festive goody bag or box of your choosing. We have super soft and squishy star blankets available again. They went down a treat last year. Please email if you would like some posting out to you for your Christmas guests. They are ready to go now!
£5 each, 10 for £45
We also have a limited supply of cute reindeer catnip toys complete with festive crown arriving. They measure 7.5cms x 8cms which is fairly large for a cute head!
£1.25 each
Link to hot pink ribbon – select hot pink colour!
Photo Friday FF!
FF (Photo Friday) – Please send us your photographs every Friday, we share these on social media twice a day, 7 days a week so get through a lot of photos! Customers always comment and love seeing their kitties relaxing at Longcroft, in turn they will often comment and go on to share the post which is then seen by all of their friends on social media, and with around 1/5 th of the population owning a kitty or 2 then this a great way of reaching new customers!
If you are out of the habit of doing this why not start by doing this monthly and send us your photos on the first Friday of every month by email to Lucy.
We are of course happy to accept photo Wednesday, Thursday or any other day that works! Many of you share random funny one-off pics too, we love these!
Our social media theme for October will be sharing the benefits of our warm and cosy suites as the weather gets cooler, gorgeous views of nature and wildlife, weekly reviews and links back to our website so that customers can send availability requests.
Reviews
We all love a good 5 star review and this is a lovely way to round off the end of a Longcroft stay. Once your guest has left ping their humans a review request and include your favorite photo of their kitty. Customers love reading our 5 star reviews!
Feel free to use the below review template and customise the bits in brackets.
We have included a handy shortlink at the bottom of this newsletter so that you can insert this below. This link goes directly to the google review page so is the best one to use going forward.
Hello (customer name)
I hope you are well and that ( cat’s name / s) are settling back in at home and are enjoying ( whatever you put in their goody bag) posh treats / posh dinner / catnip mouse. We miss seeing his / her lovely face / their lovely faces.
Could we ask a huge favour please? Would you mind popping a few words down for us by way of a review when you have a moment. Just a few words would be absolutely awesome. You can do this by clicking here***
We look forward to taking care of (cat’s name) next time.
Sending our finest purrs!
( your name)
*** input the hotel’s short link below and hyperlink it to the words”clicking here” – If you don’t know how to do this let us know and we will do it for you.
Marketing : Availability and The Website
Last month we have had 19, 294 page views on our website. We have seen a high influx of new customers and most hotels are already busy for all peak dates next year, with both new and existing customers. We are receiving a high number of Christmas enquiries. Please keep your spread sheets up to date and add notes if you are looking for particular bookings over certain dates ie. 2 guests / longer booking here etc. Be picky!
Great content and unique photography shared on social media groups, forums, and our website is just one of the ways to grow the number of people visiting the website that leads to availability requests.
DATES FOR YOUR SPREAD SHEET
October 24th Diwali
October 30th British Summer Time ends
October 31st Halloween
November 5th Guy Fawkes
November 13th Remembrance Sunday
November 14th HM The King’s Birthday
December 21st Shortest Day
December 25th Christmas Day
December 26th Boxing Day
December 27th Bank Holiday
IN THE NEWS
CatCon 2022 – Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotels in the UK offers designer cat beds, gourmet menus, and even a spa!
The Cosy Traveller – What to do with your cats when you travel.
The Best Luxury Cat Hotels in the UK – Slingo
The House of Desiderata – Longcroft Cat Hotel, A Luxury Vacation For Your Cats!
Coming Soon …
Partnership article in partnership with Catit . It’s all about kitty care and play!
Training and Development
A snapshot of the latest kitty news for you to read. Licensing requires a log of training including keeping up to date with the latest pet news, research and self development. We thought it would be beneficial to share the month’s highlights here with you. If licensing requests that you keep a log of your personal development you can simply cut and paste the below onto your log. This can be as simple as setting up another tab on your spreadsheet and recording this here. We are happy to set this up for you – please just ask. Please share any interesting articles that you come across with us or on Love Longcroft and we will include them in the next round up.
iCAT Care Article on background noise and stress in cats
Spotlight on Science: Veterinary background noise elicits fear responses in cats while moving freely in a confined space and during an examination
iCAT article on Why Cats Chatter Their Teeth
Teeth-chattering is usually heard when there’s a bird outside the window which a cat is watching but can’t get to. It may then run up to the window or sit and make this strange tooth-chattering noise, which may be frustration or excitement or both.
National Geographic – Interesting Cat Facts
Where do cats come from? From ancient Egyptians to today’s internet users, people have always loved their cats.
Breeds In Focus – The British Shorthair
Pet Gazette – Cat’s Protection Waiting Lists soar to all time high .
Vets Now – How do Fireworks Effect Cats?
If you have any interesting stories you would like shared or features you think would be interesting please get in touch on marketing@longcroftcathotel.co.uk
*** Hotel short links – these links take the customer directly to the review page.
Longcroft Barnet https://g.page/r/Cde6f9em97yEEB0/review
Longcroft Banbury https://g.page/r/CdzYOkHDKzCgEBE/review
Longcroft Barry Island https://g.page/r/CSZ-xVOtec_NEBE/review
Longcroft Bury St Edmunds https://g.page/r/CUC-9QgoJXykEBE/review
Longcroft Cole Green https://g.page/r/CRpEftEEMJMdEBE/review
Longcroft Chelmsford https://g.page/r/CcRCOOiFr5EIEBE/review
Longcroft Cuffley https://g.page/r/CfD15gX51NPUEBE/review
Longcroft Flitwick https://g.page/r/CS9SX6k2XN2_EBE/review
Longcroft Fulwood https://g.page/r/CSZbHiWK9agDEBE/review
Longcroft Fontwell https://g.page/r/Cc2WhsmnjArBEBE/review
Longcroft Four Marks https://g.page/r/CUe-sKh0SRY3EBE/review
Longcroft Kenley https://g.page/r/CXUj7sMPSZHpEBE/review
Longcroft Letchworth https://g.page/r/CRunihC02SeNEBE/review
Longcroft Liphook https://g.page/r/CciiOr076Wp_EBE/review
Longcroft Luton https://g.page/r/CQsjOCZOaPxFEBE/review
Longcroft Four Marks https://g.page/r/CUe-sKh0SRY3EBE/review
Longcroft Margate https://g.page/r/Cbf4RFxS6asnEBE/review
Longcroft Norbury https://g.page/r/CT6XZIf0AA2yEBE/review
Longcroft Orpington https://g.page/r/CRdRXob123FWEBE/review
Longcroft Romsey https://g.page/r/CVydp2qwxMaUEBE/review
Longcroft Southport https://g.page/r/CVwYKrQYvEMZEBE/review
Longcroft Tring https://g.page/r/CXGbJEprgFfwEBE/review
Longcroft Winchmore Hill https://g.page/r/CZQ47ZsZrgQREBE/review
