Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The worst of human behavior...

I have been fascinated with hotel reviews and the sites providing that outlet since the beginning. It is interesting how people give the comments posted in hotel reviews such credibility when they have no idea who wrote them or if the likes and dislikes of the reviewer are the same as one's own. It is important that the readers/users of the reviews understand that.

As I read reviews of San Francisco hotels, people write that their particular hotel was in a great location and other things about it that I think... Not in my opinion! There are many other hotels I think are in a better location. I read all sorts of stories and statements about hotels I am familiar with in San Francisco that I surely do not agree with. It may be true for the reviewer, but not for me. Keep that in mind when you read reviews from strangers. A good old fashioned friend or family referral is much more reliable than what you read from a stranger.

One of the worst things someone can do in my opinion is use the internet hotel review sites as a tool to "get even" when they do not like the rule or policy they agreed to being enforced on them. Here is what was posted by a disgruntled guest that signed the no smoking policy, yet smoked in their room anyways and was charged the fee. The hotel was fully booked and had to refund the following guests charges that stayed in the room because it was so bad they could still smell the odor of smoke for days afterwards. People doing this really hurts the integrity of anonymous reviews and the value they are supposed to provide to the public.

TripAdvisor:

This hotel sucks and smells like old weed and nasty cigarettes.No appliances work ! Its hot as hell in the room and it smells like the worst weed or dead skunk smell ever !Never stay here for a whopping 250 a night.They will tack on extra charges and [--] you off and worst of all it stinks like crap in there !

TravelPost:

I have stayed at this hotel in the past. This time they came up with all these really horrible extra charges like 21.76 a night for internet.
Plus the whole room stunk like cigarettes and was very dirty. Plus wierd characters knocked on my door late at night.
Very wierd place. I do not like it one bit.

Horrible Hotel. Had a bad odor and was very unclean. The bathroom could not of been cleaned. I found pubic hair in the toilet, sink, and shower.
Fowl odors came from the toilet. Smelled like a stink bomb or a sewage system.
Overall a stinky horrible rip off.

AOL:

This hotel was rude to my child ! They would not let him walk around the grounds. He was scared of the front desk and said one fo the girls hit grabbed him.I WOULD NOT STAY HERE IF YOU HAVE KIDS !

This hotel in short tried to charge me an extra $89 internet charge for 4 days.Also tried to tack on a whole slew of extra BS charges. Stay away from these shady characters. They play nice but are desperate for your money and will try hard to take it.

I did not enjoy my stay. The place smelled like marijuana and cigars. A wierd spanish drunk started knocking on my door late at night. Very unsafe. The place also smelled horrible and nothing worked. Do not stay here.

I was robbed. I came back to my room and everything was gone !VERY UNSAFE ! They will not help you when you loose your luggage money, credit cards and everything !Plus the place smelled like weed ! I bet they sell drugs from this hotel ! Very sketchy !


It is one thing to be dissatisfied and go on the review sites and tell your story, but it is another thing to out and out lie. What this person did is outrageous and wrong! In my opinion, people will see right through this, but unfortunately, this person has checked the one dot rating for each review which actually hurts the rating of the hotel. I believe in Karma and this type of behavior will be rewarded. What goes around, comes around. I just wish I could be around to see it when they get theirs.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We feel your pain. As fellow hotel operators, we have been the victim of the exact same behavior: people who feel that the policies of our hotel are meant for other people and then become angry and even vindictive when we require them to follow the rules the've already agreed to.

Interestingly enough, our experience has been that it is usually professional people of high education who somehow feel the rules shouldn't apply to them. We once had a professor from MIT take umbrage with our cancellation policy (the same policy that had been posted on our website, confirmed in email, and confirmed again on the reservation form she signed). Her response was to post an ever-changing but continuing series of attacks on us on a review forum. And of course there are others. The stories could go on and on.

What we have discovered from talking to our guests is that the occasional outrageous vindictive review is seen in that light by most people. We have also been greatly encouraged by people who have applauded our management responses when whatever forum the review is posted on allows such response.

In the end, we believe and hope that the quality of our service and facility will shine past the petty people's lies. And we are certain that is true for the Chancellor. We are repeat visitors to the Chancellor. We wouldn't consider staying anywhere else when we visit San Francisco, which we do several times a year. The quality, service and ambiance of the Chancellor not only makes us happy to be back in San Francisco, but it inspires us in our operation.

Hang in there, and don't let the idiots get you. We're going to be at the Chancellor starting this week and are really looking forward to it. Hope we have the chance to meet you.


Tony & Cheri
Luna Blue Hotel & Garden
Playa del Carmen, Mexico