Value

A prospective guest recently asked me to confirm that the prices on our web site were for two people for two nights. As I informed him that the rates were in fact for two people but only one night, his disbelief was palpable. Days later, an eventual guest asked me to verify that the posted prices were for one person for one night. When I shared the good news, his delight was commensurate with the disappointment of the earlier caller. This dichotomy in value perception is as common as it is confounding. That our web site clearly explains what our rates encompass is grist for another blog, so more on that later.
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Assigning a dollar figure to an inimitable experience, as opposed to a commoditized one, is a confounding assignment indeed. When a guest reserves a room at Evins Mill, the outlay is for more than square footage - and a good thing too as our rooms do not command much space. But how do you quantify drifting to sleep to the sound of a babbling creek, the aroma of a real wood burning fireplace, the taste of a freshly prepared meal, the singular ambiance of a lodge built of hand hewn logs and poplar floors, or the natural wonder of a cascading waterfall?
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At another level, how do you monetize the exacting attention to detail that only an owner-operated enterprise can muster, the knowledge that said enterprise is the unexampled creation of a locally owned and operated business rather than the formulaic progeny of a remote corporation, or the genuine manner with which a staff member welcomes a guest – an authenticity spawned by a sense of ownership only an owner-operated venture can fully nurture? Such attributes are priceless for some and trifling to others. As the market appropriates fluctuating values on all these inputs and many more, the spectrum of value perception is perplexingly broad.
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While we anchor our rates to reality, tethering them to cost and competition alike, our prices in the end reflect not only the value which the market assigns to the Evins Mill experience, but also the value we assign to it. Here’s to the hope that our values continue to resonate in the marketplace.