How three B&B hotels made transparency their strongest reason to book

Pierre Albietz has worked in the hotel trade since the age of 15 and has been running his own businesses for more than 20 years. He took over his first hotel in 2004, a former Villages Hôtel that became a B&B, a second in 2011, then a third in 2024, a former B&B Budget rebranded as B&B. Together his three hotels now have nearly 200 rooms in Châteauroux.

The three hotels are close to one another but offer different experiences and prices, which lets regular guests vary their stays. Guests still needed to be able to compare them without having seen them, and then book direct. That was the whole question. How do you choose between three hotels of the same brand in the same town?

Pierre’s brief came down to four clear expectations: immersive navigation through the rooms, information points on the equipment, a clear showcase of each hotel’s services and complete transparency about the real condition of the rooms. After a listening phase, the rooms, bathrooms, breakfast room and shared areas were captured. The tour becomes a single way in, immersive and informative, that complements the website.

The figures relate to the tour of the B&B Hotel Châteauroux Déols. The information points guests liked most are ‘Your host for 20 years’, ‘Exceptional heritage right on your doorstep’ and ‘Open access 24/7’. Guests are looking for a story and reassurance as much as a room.

Take the three obstacles one by one and each has found its answer. Where the website lacked information, the tour now shows the size of the rooms, the bedding and their real condition, with fewer negative reviews caused by a gap between photos and reality. The platforms were capturing guests, so the tour was placed on direct channels, which have sent 14 enquiries. Finally, each of the three hotels, until then hard to compare, now has its own tour.