Partner Article

The Power of Accommodation Reviewing Sites

The concept of word of mouth and its power has long been recognised; one negative comment from one friend to another about their stay in a hotel or serviced apartment and the trail of negativity begins. The establishment’s reputation, even if unjustified, may be tarnished instantly. However, a positive comment could result in a life-long return guest, and new customers in the form of their friends and family.

I’m sure if we were all honest we would collectively agree we are more likely to shout about the failings and complain than actually praise. With this in mind it is interesting to look at how the digital age has taken the reviewing power to an unparalleled level. Since the establishment of online reviewing sites the power of consumers has changed the way accommodation providers operate and are perceived. Every guest now has the power to bolster or damage the reputation of an accommodation establishment at the touch of a button.

A high majority of people will have experienced the same scenario - you are sat searching for accommodation on a booking site or search engine; everything looks great, the price is perfect, the hotel pictures show the rooms to be clean and modern, there are plenty of facilities, etc. A couple of seconds before pressing the booking confirmation button you open up a second internet window tab; one negative review later and you close the first window. According to Lightspeed Research 67% of consumers said they don’t buy after reading only one to two negative reviews.

Reviewing sites have rightly encouraged accommodation providers to up their game and put customer satisfaction at the heart of their business strategies.

The visibility of reviews from guests from a consumer standpoint has certainly been welcomed but as the power of such sites has become apparent the corruption of them has also increased. The credibility of reviews has become a major talking point; is the reviewer really a former guests writing a glowing account of their stay or criticising the experience? The answer is there is really no way of knowing for sure. According to research the number of fake reviews is unmeasureable at present. Fictional reviews may have been created by marketing teams and accommodation providers to project a rose tinted account of their establishments whilst disgruntled former staff or even competitors may have set out to damage their reputation by creating negative reviews.

So what can we believe and who do we trust? It is imperative the accommodation industry embraces reviewing sites but the monitoring and detection of fake accounts needs to be improved and ultimately stamped out. In the meantime it is important to trust the recommendations of key industry inspector bodies, such as Quality in Tourism, which make it their priority to independently review accommodation and allocate star rating status dependent on quality and experience.

Accommodation providers also need to embrace their brand advocates to create reviews – good, bad and ugly – to ensure potential future guests have a full and open account of the establishment. According to Zuberance 50% of guests are more than happy to recommend accommodation but simply don’t get round to it. It is therefore essential to ask guests on their departure when checking out to fill out a simply customer survey or write a short testimonial. Using the old fashioned approach of asking for testimonials is actually the most affective. This is especially true within the serviced accommodation industry; as the majority of guests are from commercial companies the credibility of reviews is easily recognised and respected.

It is impossible for the accommodation provider not to expect or be surprised by a negative review; it is the nature of the beast. However dealing with such reviews, resolving issues and making improvements to avoid situations again will stand them in good light. The rule of thumb is that while unhappy customers talk to five people, formerly unhappy customers you win back talk to ten.

At Elite Serviced Apartments we continually ask every single guest to review their experience with us not only so that we can provide potential future guests with a full and transparent account of our accommodation and service, but also so that we are persistently improving our offering to guests. Through our Freetobook service online we also offer guests the opportunity to review their stay and ensure it published to the digital world. Our four and five star rating from Quality and Tourism and brand ambassadors have ensured we are the number one serviced apartment provider’s in the North East for service, accommodation and honesty.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katrina Rosser .