Trip Advisor has become so critical that no hotel PR program can do without management of this vital social media channel. At our boutique PR firm, we offer the service of managing this for our hotel and travel clients. Since the search engines often rank Trip Advisor before the property site, potential travelers put enormous value on it when searching for where to stay.
I recently spent some time in Miami at a Leading Hotels of the World property. Operations were critically off the mark, and I brought it to the attention of the front desk. I had read all 690 of the comments before booking there and noted the complaints. No one from the hotel responded to say “We will look into that, and hope you will visit us soon again.” That post should come from the hotel general manager immediately to correct negative reputation markers.
Personal Service and Rapport
Running a hotel or travel entity of any kind comes down to personal service and relationship to the guest. If that is not fundamentally there, the fulcrum is missing. I spoke with the General Manager of this particular property and advised him of our services in reputation management but told him I would not post my comments, as they were all operational glitches he said they would seek to rectify.
Since I have been in the travel industry for over 35 years, it is second nature for me to notice when services are off. It makes it very hard when staying in a five star hotel for pleasure, as you can imagine. The tendency is for small boutique properties to get it right more consistently, and as the hotels get bigger, say over 75 rooms, there is more room for error.
Early in my career I represented Four Seasons Hotels, and the service mentality was the gold standard, and to this day I measure properties against that. This filtered down from the founder to the General Managers and down through the department heads.
As a hotel public relations specialist, I advocate strongly that properties take a proactive stance on Trip Advisor, and am happy to help with this service. It’s a modest cost for such an influential platform.