TripAdvisor

Selling the indefensible

The world’s largest public relations company, Edelman, has been hired by TripAdvisor (TA ) to represent its interests in Britain. After months of bad publicity culminating in an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority, TA understandably feels the need to patch up its reputation. The travel review website has changed its slogan from 'reviews you can trust' to 'reviews from our community' which is at least marginally more honest..

The problem that it faces, which no amount of soft-soaping public relations will resolve, is its business model. TA relies on anonymous, unsubstantiated reviews to fill its website. A majority of these are genuine but as many as one in five (ten million reviews), are collusive or malicious. That is of concern because the website is awash with serious allegations ranging from food poisoning (21,625) and bed bugs (57,837) to theft (24,213) and assault (3694). “There is a real risk of getting raped here,” wrote one reviewer; another review wrote: “The woman that runs this bar is a racist.” Such is the power of TripAdvisor that several hoteliers have told me that the threat of a bad review is being used by some guests to secure a discount or an upgrade.

TA says that it uses sophisticated defences including algorithms to make sure that the reviews it publishes are genuine. But newspaper investigations all over the word have shown that this claim is nonsense. I posted a totally over-the-top report praising a truly terrible hotel, using a false name, false email, and postal address. The review was put up within 24 hours unchanged. TA admits that it has no idea whether its reviewers have even stayed at the establishment they are attacking. In reply to a hotel’s complaint that a critical report was planted by a competitor, it wrote: "Since reviews are posted by members on an open forum, and we do not verify the information posted in this, we are unable to provide you with proof that this member . . . actually visited [your] hotel."

This is shameful, and no amount of expensive PR is going to help. Edelman should at least understand the problem because it has form in this area. Contributors to the trade magazine PR Week pointed out that Edelman's employees in the USA had created a fake online blog to boost one of its retail clients. In reality, the only thing that will restore TA's reputation is if it starts conducting proper checks on the reviews posted on its website. At the very least, it should ensure that the email addresses of the reviewers are genuine, and that they have stayed at the hotels under review.

Adam Raphael

Special offers

Xmas pud

Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat. Don't leave it too late to make your escape.

THE WHITE SWAN at Pickering, a traditional Yorkshire coaching inn in a market town, is offering "a relaxed festive stay where you can do as much or as little as you like." One-night breaks from £145 per person, dinner, room and breakfast, all on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors.

THE ARCH, LONDON, is perfectly placed for a spot of Christmas shopping being only two blocks from Oxford Street and an easy ten-minute walk from the boutiques of Marylebone High  Street. It is offering three nights for  the price of two, a special offer which includes a welcome gift, de luxe bedroom, and full English breakfast each morning.

LA SABLONNERIE on the tiny car-free island of Sark has gift vouchers which make a perfect Christmas present. Any monetary value can be purchased, to be spend on anything from a delicious lunch, an overnight stay or a champagne celebration with canapés.

THE CROWN AND CASTLE at Orford, owned by Ruth Watson, the TV presenter, has a two, or three-night dinner, bed and breakfast mid-week deal in November and December which offers savings up to £176.  The offer includes a two-course a la carte dinner on each evening and full English breakfast each morning.

More special offers are below, and there are many more are on our Special Offers page.

Hotels, inns and B&Bs with a special offer (click and see)

Send us a Review

Win a free night!

This month's prize is a free night's bed and breakfast for two at the HORSE AND GROOM which won a César award this year as the "Best Pub with Rooms of the Year". A Georgian building in a honey-stone Cotswold village, it was praised by the Guide’s inspector for its pleasantly informal feel, excellent food and hands-on owner/managers.

All you have to do to win this prize is submit a review which catches the eye of our editorial team. We welcome reports on hotels that have never been in the Guide or have been dropped as well as those that have a current entry. The winner of last month's prize: a free night and breakfast for two at PENBONTBREN in Wales is Simon Rodway. This old farmhouse has been turned into a luxury B&B by Richard Morgan-Price and Huw Thomas. It stands in extensive grounds near National Trust beaches and won a César this year as "Newcomer of the Year."

GHG's post bag

Annoying the punters

From RW
To GHG

 "I would have appreciated your saying in the Apple iTunes store description, prior to my purchase, that the GHG iPhone app is an abridged version of the book. Instead I do not get this information until after purchase on the "buy the book" page. I think that is an underhand sales methodology. Why go out of your way to annoy your customers?"

From GHG
To RW

"You make a fair point. We will amend. We will also refund the £2.99 that you spent on the GHG app if you would send us your address. In fact the app is not an "abridged" version. It contains all the hotels that appear on the GHG website. That is virtually all the hotels that have a full list entry in the printed Guide, and most but not all of the Shortlist hotels. The reason that a minority of hotels are not on the website (and not on the GHG app) is that they have decided not to pay for a web entry. An entry in the printed guide is free, but hotels pay for a web entry. Only those hotels that have a free entry in the printed guide are eligible to be on the GHG website (and GHG app). I hope this helps."

From RW
To GHG

"Thank you for your reply and the information you provide. I am very happy to read what you write and very happy to pay the £2.99. The subscription fee was not the issue for me, rather the text on the page I mentioned made it appear that I was getting less than the initial description made out. I appreciate now that I am not and can see how easy it is to create a misunderstanding. I think amending the misleading text on the buy the book page would be a great idea. Thank you once again."

BUY tHE gUIDE

The 2012 Guide

The 2012 print edition of the Good Hotel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland is now available. It makes a great Christmas present. Discount vouchers worth a total of £150 are included in each copy. They enable a 25% saving off the normal B&B price at participating hotels. A copy of the Guide costs £18 (including £3 p&p), compared to a retail price of £20. If you wish to buy it, CLICK HEREor write to: The Good Hotel Guide, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP.

A Good Hotel Guide gift voucher makes an ideal birthday or wedding present. You can give a gift certificate of any monetary value from £50-£500. For more details, email: editor@goodhotelguide.com.

The GHG iPhone app is available from Apple's iTune store. It costs £2.99 ($4.99). An E-book version of the Guide is available on Kindle priced at £8 ($13).

The Good Hotel Guide, founded 34 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, no hospitality and no advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed edition. Hotels pay to be on the GHG website, but only those hotels which have an entry in the printed Guide are eligible. Selected hotels are recommended by readers, backed where necessary by an anonymous inspection. The British edition of the Guide is published each autumn. Adam and Caroline Raphael, who edit the Guide, are award-winning journalists. Caroline, a former BBC researcher and a travel writer, is editor-in-chief. She has worked on the Guide for more than 33 years. Adam, who previously worked for the Guardian, the Observer, the BBC and the Economist, is the Guide's marketing director. Desmond Balmer, formerly travel editor of the Observer, is editor of the British/Irish guide. The Guide specialises in small owner-managed hotels, inns and B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and Ireland. It includes budget B&Bs, good-value hotels as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price range.