When we yesterday covered the inappropriate TripAdvisor review reply that a GM of a Flemings Mayfair had left (read more here), I noted that you always need to stay professional even when you might be fuming,
A LoyaltyLobby reader sent me an excellent example of a TripAdvisor reply that a Holiday Inn hotel in Canada had left. The reply showed that the hotel cared and straightened out what the guest had left out of their review.
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Here’s a good example of a typical critical review on TripAdvisor:
You are not exactly sure what happened; beyond that, they didn’t have the correct number of guests in the reservation, and they had to pay double what their “app” initially told them.
Obviously, this review is light on details, as these often are, but the response from the property clarifies the issues that the reviewer complained about:
1. Priceline
Booking through an OTA is easy, and Booking.com, which owns Priceline, is a reputable shop. I use them several times a year, most recently in Greece this past summer. Their platform has many independent properties and clear room/suite descriptions.
2. Number of guests
What the reviewer had left out, however, was the fact that 7 guests showed up. The reviewer referred to an infant, and I assumed there would be a total of 3 people in the room, but this party was significantly larger.
3. Cannot accommodate 7
You don’t always need to disclose the exact number of guests you are taking in your room, especially in countries where you don’t need to record each individual, but booking for 2 and then showing up with 7 is truly stretching it.
4. Professional reply
The reply from the property is professional and done in the correct style.
Flemings Mayfair Case:
Conclusion
When we published the Flemings Mayfair case yesterday, I said I only did the piece because the GM’s reply was unprofessional.
Hotel GMs have seen it all and are usually very nice people to chat with, as they tend to have worked at multiple properties in several countries (GMs at full-service/luxury properties).
They don’t, however, usually personally reply to online reviews, but someone else at the property level does it for them, as is the case with this Holiday Inn one.
If I look at online reviews of any specific property, whether on Google Maps or TripAdvisor, I tend to filter and look at the 1 to 3-star reviews to see if there is something consistently challenging at the property level and how they are responding to these reviews.
When a review response is inappropriate, like with the Flemings Mayfair (now all their review responses have suddenly vanished), it indicates that you should probably stay somewhere else.
If the response is like the one the Holiday Inn provided here, both professional and revealing some information the guest intentionally left out, I am almost more inclined to give them my business.
