As I mentioned earlier, before I book accommodation for any location – I always, always, always trawl through the hundreds of reviews on sites like tripadvisor.com first.
When I travelled through Europe last year – the one hotel that I ended up leaving before the end of my stay – was the one that had some very mixed reviews, and as I checked out the pieces all fell into place with what I had read from customer’s previous experiences… and it was a lesson learned!
Last week Andy Sernovitz brought to my attention on his blog, Tripadvisor’s latest addition to their site – “2009 Dirtiest Hotels”.
The New York hotel that had secured itself the coveted top position of ‘Dirtiest Hotel’ in New York had a multitude of scathing reviews, one customer warning “Dirty AND VERY UNSAFE FOR WOMAN!!!! THE NYPD call it THE HOTEL SHINNING -after stephen kings book”, while another reminisced – “Body found, stoned doorman…YAY welcome to NYC”
Although amusing for me, and unfortunate for the people who had to endure any time at these “hotels” – it is through their experiences – that future travellers can be prevented from suffering the same fate.
No longer do travellers have to rely on hotels websites, that seem to look nothing like the real thing when you finally arrive, and no longer do you have to rely on brochure recommendations, where the hotel has paid for the inclusion.
No accommodation – from the most ritzy to even the most budget and obscure – can hide from being reviewed somewhere on-line. While one can hope that this will hopefully ensure that most hotels lift their game, you can be guaranteed if they choose to ignore what’s being said – will end up on a list similar to Tripadvisor’s.
But this is a warning to all brands, not just those in the hospitality industry – you can run but you can’t hide…
Community Girl 
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