Hotel Reviews, Are They Always Fair?

Recently it was brought to my attention that a client removed a hotel from their short list for a 2014 annual meeting location due to numerous negative comments posted regarding that property on Trip Advisor.  It’s my impression Trip Advisor is a tool used more often by leisure and transient travelers, than by Meeting Executives who make decisions regarding selection of group meeting facilities five years down the road, or more.

It makes sense that planners would consider any resource available to evaluate hotels, but are these reviews really relevant to decisions on properties far into the future?  How does an individual’s hotel experience relate to an organization’s need for group meeting space?

It’s clear these days Event Professionals strongly rely upon recommendations of peers and colleagues to influence buying decisions.  Soliciting feedback through sites like Trip Advisor, PlanetFeedback.com, TravelPost.com and epinions.com is commonplace.  Hotels featured there work especially hard to monitor what’s being said about their property or destination.  The sites themselves are addressing some of these self policing issues by creating features like epinions “Web of Trust.”

• Friendships still play an important role in influencing consumers. 83% of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74% are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place. (Manage Smarter, September 2009)

• Users put great trust in their social networks. One-half of Beresford respondents said they considered information shared on their networks when making a decision—and the percentage was higher among users ages 18 to 24, at 65%. (eMarketer, October 2009)

When you combine a poor review with high prices it’s motivating for consumers to look elsewhere for an alternative hotel.  It’s all about “cheap” rates and high value for buyers these days.  The power of the written and spoken word can turn a “thumbs up” to a “thumbs down” very quickly.

Those individuals posting negative hotel reviews should be aware most review sites have “terms of use” containing extensive legal jargon warning reviewers are responsible for backing up their comments. These terms clearly disclose that hotels have the ability to litigate against a false review which impacts their business.  The property should have every right to protect their image and at the same time travelers need to be aware they could be required by law to provide photos or videos to support a poor review.

It may be just as difficult to substantiate a positive review, so why then are positive reviews never challenged?  Simple logic would answer that question, but are our expectations set too high when everyone is saying a particular hotel is the “best.”

A one-time “less than positive” experience by a guest at a supposedly “stellar” hotel can result in harsh criticism by an evaluator. It’s also disturbing reviews can be posted (5) years after the experience… hard for me to remember what happened yesterday!

Is all this really fair …to the hotels or the guests considering staying at them?  Plenty for us to think about before we write that scathing review.

In my experience most challenges at a hotel can be resolved with the property’s leadership. Many reviewers never make that effort.  Instead, they exercise the supposed “everlasting free speech” the internet provides rather than picking up the phone and speaking with the property’s General Manager.

Reviewers need to take their role seriously and remain accountable, writing factual constructive reviews which will instill confidence in these very powerful tools.  Readers should view reviews objectively and consider reaching out to a property to discuss negative feedback and its real impact on that future group booking.

If you represent a hotel seeking to develop a plan addressing negative reviews you should review this great article entitled, “Beating Negative Hotel Reviews: An Action Plan for Proactive Reputation Management” by Josiah Mackenzie on June 15, 2009.

Let’s all work together to ensure the most accurate and useful hotel reviews are being published.  Remember — “Keep your words short and sweet, you never know which ones you’ll eat.”