Well, that’s not entirely true. Hoteliers with happy customers are reaping the benefits of increasingly visible recommendations. But not every hotel has happy customers…

• The popular hotel review resource TripAdvisor.com is facing lawsuits from hotels claiming the site is bad for their businesses.
• Anyone can post an anonymous review of a hotel on the site. TripAdvisor argues that this makes for the most honest reviews, but opponents say it creates a protected space for libel and defamation. Sites like TripAdvisor are usually exempt from these accusations because they just publish reviews – they don’t write or edit them.
• TripAdvisor typically doesn’t remove old or inflammatory reviews, but it does allow hotel owners to post responses to negative reviews. In response to the popularity and influence of these review sites, consulting firms have sprung up promising to monitor and control online customer feedback.

Facts & Figures

• There are 35 million hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
• TripAdvisor was sued in 2009 over a review that claimed the owner of a hotel restaurant was seen buying drinks for a prostitute.
• Revinate, a San Francisco image protection firm, charges hotels hundreds of dollars a month to track online reviews.

Best Quote

“We have pretty happy customers, so something like TripAdvisor works in our favor.” – Niki Leondakis, President and CEO of Klimpton Hotels

Tags: customer service, defamation, hotels, lawsuits, libel, Travel, TripAdvisor