Comments on: The TripAdvisor Review Widget on the Hotel Website: a Good or Bad Move? http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/ Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:23:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Salvatore http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-89359 Salvatore Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:54:16 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-89359 Hoteliers who want to keep visitors on their own website shouldn't link to competing websites - agreed - but vetting reviews and avoiding publishing anything negative on your own website is absurd - as almost all the comments above have already pointed out. Allow the guests to post their reviews on the hotel website, and do not edit or vet them. Respond to both positive and negative reviews to demonstrate that you are listening to your guests, and try your best to resolve their complaints. Refunding a guest who has posted a negative review, or offering them a complementary booking, can turn a negative review back into a positive one, and shows prospective guests that the hotelier is fair, open and honest. Hiding the negative reviews and hoping that that they are not found elsewhere is just daft - people who are complaining that are ignored on the hotels website will go elsewhere to share their opinion, and it will only be more vitriolic if they feel the hotel tried to dupe them into "sharing" an opinion that was then censored or deleted. Remember that people with a complaint are ten times more likely to make their opinions heard than satisfied customers. Don't pour fuel on the flames by gagging them. Hoteliers who want to keep visitors on their own website shouldn’t link to competing websites – agreed – but vetting reviews and avoiding publishing anything negative on your own website is absurd – as almost all the comments above have already pointed out.

Allow the guests to post their reviews on the hotel website, and do not edit or vet them. Respond to both positive and negative reviews to demonstrate that you are listening to your guests, and try your best to resolve their complaints. Refunding a guest who has posted a negative review, or offering them a complementary booking, can turn a negative review back into a positive one, and shows prospective guests that the hotelier is fair, open and honest. Hiding the negative reviews and hoping that that they are not found elsewhere is just daft – people who are complaining that are ignored on the hotels website will go elsewhere to share their opinion, and it will only be more vitriolic if they feel the hotel tried to dupe them into “sharing” an opinion that was then censored or deleted.

Remember that people with a complaint are ten times more likely to make their opinions heard than satisfied customers. Don’t pour fuel on the flames by gagging them.

]]> By: Mark http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-28837 Mark Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:06:51 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-28837 "No hotel will ever publish a negative customer review on its website" Only the foolish would refuse to post negative reviews. This is basic psychology! Look at Amazon for the proof. If you have a product with 100 reviews and all of them are positive and you have another with 100 reviews and 95 are positive, which do you buy? The answer is the one with 95 positive reviews, because it is believable. It only takes one negative review to solidify the validity of all the positive reviews. Mark “No hotel will ever publish a negative customer review on its website”

Only the foolish would refuse to post negative reviews. This is basic psychology! Look at Amazon for the proof. If you have a product with 100 reviews and all of them are positive and you have another with 100 reviews and 95 are positive, which do you buy? The answer is the one with 95 positive reviews, because it is believable.

It only takes one negative review to solidify the validity of all the positive reviews.

Mark

]]> By: Mark http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-28835 Mark Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:00:19 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-28835 Having read this article, I must say I'm rather confused. While the example of the tripadvisor widget might be likened to advertising your competitors hotel on your own site, some of the principles and reasons seem dated to me. No longer can a hotel launch an expensive website telling people how good they are. People are no longer fooled by the marketing BS of yesteryear. Nearly all people booking hotels these days will do a search on tripadvisor or other social site to get the truth from others, so burying your head in the sand and hoping that this social media malarkey will blow over is only being naive Having read this article, I must say I’m rather confused. While the example of the tripadvisor widget might be likened to advertising your competitors hotel on your own site, some of the principles and reasons seem dated to me.

No longer can a hotel launch an expensive website telling people how good they are. People are no longer fooled by the marketing BS of yesteryear. Nearly all people booking hotels these days will do a search on tripadvisor or other social site to get the truth from others, so burying your head in the sand and hoping that this social media malarkey will blow over is only being naive

]]> By: Website Builder http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-12920 Website Builder Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:55:05 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-12920 The web is like an archive of information. Whether it’s a corporate website or merely a blog, a search box is essential. The visitor might be looking for something that is hidden within the website, with the search box, chances are, visitors will get what they want. The web is like an archive of information. Whether it’s a corporate website or merely a blog, a search box is essential. The visitor might be looking for something that is hidden within the website, with the search box, chances are, visitors will get what they want.

]]> By: Jerome http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-5496 Jerome Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:09:01 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-5496 Right now potential customers will give you credit for being open and honest with them. In the not too distant future if a business is not seen to be open and honest it will reflect badly on them. Many businesses seem to be self-destructively attached to the illusion of absolute control over information about the business, their marketing message. Embrace change or become a casualty of it. Right now potential customers will give you credit for being open and honest with them. In the not too distant future if a business is not seen to be open and honest it will reflect badly on them. Many businesses seem to be self-destructively attached to the illusion of absolute control over information about the business, their marketing message. Embrace change or become a casualty of it.

]]> By: jd webb http://www.hebsdigital.com/blog/the-tripadvisor-review-widget-on-the-hotel-website-a-good-or-bad-move/comment-page-1/#comment-2494 jd webb Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:11:55 +0000 http://www.hospitalityebusiness.com/blog/?p=525#comment-2494 Hey, thanks for this! Hey, thanks for this!

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