Hotel reviews are based on two totally different categories. The first type is the professional review done by large travel companies and the second type of hotel review is an actual traveler review. Both types of reviews have their advantages and disadvantages. This is what makes understanding hotel reviews a very tricky thing.
First we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of professional reviews. The advantages are that they are trained hotel reviewers. They have a form that is loaded with questions regarding the quality of service, room types, cleanliness, beds, pillows, restaurants (if applicable) and a whole list of other questions. The disadvantages are that most of these reviewers have not actually stayed in the property. The other disadvantage is that these reviewers see hundreds of hotels and sometimes lose their objectivity or become impossible to please, therefore giving the hotels a better or worse score than the property actually deserves.
Next, we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of traveler reviews. The advantage is obvious; they have actually stayed in the room and experienced the good and the bad. They have went through the check in and out experience and have slept in the bed and used the pillows. They have used the shower or bath and know if the water was hot or the water pressure was high or low. They also know about the hidden costs of many hotels and motels such as phone charges, parking and extra hidden taxes. The disadvantages are that a few people (we all know these people) will pick a property apart and if one thing goes wrong they will mark a four star property down to a one star. The other disadvantage is that they are not trained and do not know a lot of the questions needed to give a good fair review. Also, people’s expectations are different. People who are frequent travelers usually rate hotels lower than less frequent travelers because of their comparisons between properties.
In a previous job, I had a client sailing on a Holland America Europe cruise and when she returned, called very upset and demanded a full refund (the cruise cost over $5000.00). I asked her what happened and she very seriously said that her cruise was ruined because the butter in the dining room was too soft and she was afraid that it had spoiled (I am not exaggerating). I asked her if she had complained to her waiter and she said no. I then asked her what other problems she experienced and her answer was that the rest of the cruise was “fantastic”. After explaining to her that the cruise line would not give her any refund for soft butter, she furiously said she would never use Holland America or me again and slammed the phone down. This is a major disadvantage of a traveler review.
I use a general rule of thumb when using hotel reviews. If there are more that 10 traveler reviews and the response if favorable by a great majority, I will always use the traveler review. If there is less than 10 traveler reviews, I will always compare the traveler to the professional reviews, relying more on the professional reviews.
