Online reviews that are 100 per cent positive can be damaging to a hotel’s reputation, as potential guests perceive them as ‘too good to be true’.
Granger: 'Consumers distrust hotels with perfect reviews'
That’s the message from Gilles Granger, founder of travel review site Vinivi.co.uk, who claims potential guests may suspect that hotels with a clean record are paying for good reviews or even posting them themselves.
He claims that the appearance of a few minor criticisms suggests transparency and believability. “Consumers expect to see varying opinions of a property and if all its reviews say that it is perfect in every respect… [they will] think that they are literally too good to be true,” he said.
Granger added that some customer dissatisfaction is inevitable. However, negative reviews can be an opportunity for other satisfied customers to speak out in the hotel’s defence. He suggests that a concerned reply posted by the hotel management in response to a negative review can be good publicity. Article source bighospitality.co.uk
