Does George Clooney believe terrible TripAdvisor reviews have merit?

As business owners and managers here in our LinkedIN group ‘TripAdvisor for Business Profits’ we are, at times, engrossed by our good/great or poor/terrible ratings on review sites like TripAdvisor. Will a grossly negative review prevent guests from coming to our establishment? Will it put an immediate halt to the types of high-quality guest we want frequenting our business?

The answer is: not necessarily. Especially if you address the issue with a properly written and appropriately timed Management Response.

Here’s a case in point – which has, at least on the fringe, found its way into current international news.

As you likely know by now, wedding bells are ringing for perennial bachelor George Clooney and his betrothed, Amal Alamudden, who are rumored to be tying the knot this weekend in Venice, Italy. No doubt the ceremony has already taken place by the time you read this but at the moment of my writing mums the word in the media at the moment.

Here’s a look at the two venues (both TripAdvisor rated hotels of course) deemed to be most likely to host the extravagant event.

The Aman Canal Grande Venice Resort, located on the Grand Canal, just a five-minute walk from the famous Rialto Bridge. The quaint resort has only has 24 rooms, so if the wedding is here it will be a cozy affair. According to the resort’s website, it was built in 1550 and is as grand as its name suggests.

And the second possible locale for ole’ Georgie-boy and the gorgeous Amal to be tying the knot is: the Belmond Hotel Cipriani, set on the tip of Giudecca Island, according to a press release from TripAdvisor, and has 24-hour boat service to transport guests to and from Piazzetta San Marco. A guest even said in a recent review that s/he has spotted George Clooney at the hotel twice. If the event takes place here, expect to see some swimsuit pictures–the hotel has the only swimming pool in central Venice, according to its website, and it is filled with filtered seawater.

However for the purposes of our LinkedIN group, let’s look at one of the most recent review: "Faded Glory: Reputation is better than reality." – OUCH! (the full review link is at the bottom of this post – its like driving by a bad accident you’ll not be able to help yourself – although a word of caution – it is WAAAY long)

A few observations before asking the question of our group…

First thing I noticed is the Reviewer; ‘FizzyBlonde’ is classified by TripAdvisor as a "Senior Reviewer" with 10 Review to her credit – 7 of which are hotels. She has only left one "Terrible" one star review since 2005, when she arrived on the T/A scene.

The fact that she is a somewhat frequent contributor on T/A (25 Contributions, 43 Helpful votes, 9 Cities visited) means her reviews will hold more "weight" than let’s say someone who just joined TripAdvisor. While I will not claiming to know the exact algorithm T/A uses I am a veracious student of the world’s largest travel community. From my own investigations and years of study into T/A I’ve concluded that the more senior or active a reviewer the more his/her review will help or harm.

And it’s a sad fact that negative reviews, like most of the situations of the ‘bad news sells’ world in which we live, gain more attention than does good reviews – i.e.: good news.

In our example FizzyBlonde’s ‘terrible’ TripAdvisor review of the Belmond Hotel Cipriani has gathered 27 "review helpful" votes. Oops, I just went back and checked again… make that 28 now. WHAT? All the other reviews around Fizzy’s are ‘5-Star Excellent’ and ‘4-Star Very Good’ and have no where near the number of ‘helpful’ votes. Make the point now doesn’t it?!!

Granted there has yet to be a Management Response to this note-worthy review but then again - I image if Batman and his beloved picked the Belmond Hotel Cipriani as the spot for their nuptials the hotel staff and management are probably quite busy right about now. Or TripAdvisor management has not yet reviewed the review and approved it for publication. As we all know, sometimes that takes a while.

Conclusion and the lesson: I suspect, based upon what I’m seeing with this reviewer and the review left for what appears to be a fine establishmen, that Fizzy saw an opportunity to worm her way onto the Clooney bandwagon in her own little insignificant way and will now have

something to tell her grandkids. Perhaps I’m wrong and I’d like it is I were. However when viewing the whole picture, things doesn’t look legit with her review and the timing. Attn: FizzyBlonde - if your review was sincere, you have my apologies.

The lesson here: there are many however I believe it’s a simple but spotlighted example of paying close attention to your overall reputation and profile on TripAdvisor. You never know one my creep in or when someone may have their own agenda, regardless of the circumstances.

So onto our question: Simple: What do you think? Are reviews like this legitimate and if so what’s the best course of action? What would you do if you were in management at a famed establishment like the Belmond Hotel Cipriani and you had a major guest with entourage coming?

Oh, and here’s that review link:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187870-d194297-Reviews-Belmond_Hotel_Cipriani-Venice_Veneto.html

Get more information about http://linkd.in/1vpwOBJ

Looking forward to hearing what the group has to say…

Rich Sadler

TripAdvisor for Business Profits

Administrator

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