Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008 - (Page 55)

www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition HotelMotel.com | H&MM November 3, 2008 Special Report AN INDUSTRY CONNECTED LeGrand, VP of operations at Luxe. Luxe recently contracted with Avalon Report, a provider of Web monitoring tools, to receive weekly updates on comments and reviews posted online about its two properties. After using those as testing ground, Luxe plans to offer its members the option to join with Avalon Report this fall. See Reviews | page 56 55 Online guest reviews Continued from page 29 One of the offerings is a program called SearchView, which allows hotels to see how their properties are being viewed on the Internet from the consumer’s standpoint. Reports produced by SearchView show the results found when using a search engine to ﬁnd a hotel, where that property falls in returns on queries through online travel agents, whether ratings differ from site to site and how competitors are faring. While vendors like TravelClick are available to provide monitoring services, some brands, like The Lexington Collection by Vantage Hospitality, do the majority of such work in-house. John Burkard, VP of information technology at Vantage, said the brand tracks each mention of its hotels on everything from travel sites to blogs so it can be clued in early when comments hit the Internet. “That’s not to say we’re going out to every site … but where we have the ability to get automatic e-mails saying there’s new information on this hotel you’re looking at, we’ll set up those alerts so they come to us automatically,” Burkard said. Consumer-generated reviews also are compiled each month into a report that looks at travel sites like TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Orbitz and Expedia, among others, to see what has been posted. Those results, along with properties’ individual standings at a given time, are then put into an electronic package that is delivered to all Lexington properties. Luxe Worldwide Hotels is an independent owner of two hotels in Los Angeles and a management company of 200 boutique hotels. It, too, has realized staying competitive means bulking up Luxe’s online presence. “As far as being a top initiative, it is deﬁnitely,” said Eve Stop using your vacuum cleaner as CHANGES YOUR VACUUM FROM A BATTERING RAM Visit us at the IH/M&R Show. Booth # 1027. a battering ram that dents furniture, scratches baseboards, bangs up doors and walls. And leads to bruising repair bills. Instead, tame the beast with a Soft Vac Protective Vacuum Cover. • Ends vacuum damage forever • Installs in seconds with Velcro tabs • Soft, durable cordoura fabric outside • High-density foam rubber inside • Eliminates costly repair bills • Extends vacuum cleaner life • Increases housekeeping productivity • There’s a Soft Vac model to fit any vacuum To learn more, contact your distributor, or call us at or visit How to ﬁght back Avalon Report, a provider of web monitoring tools, offers some tips on how hotels are able to respond to negative reviews and improve what’s posted online: Respond to comments where possible. Today, TripAdvisor has this feature, and others may follow suit. Use comments to improve service delivery. The best way to combat bad comments is to prevent them from happening. That means your staff needs to support internal discussion of customer concerns in order to avoid those concerns being aired on the Internet later. Encourage guests to post on sites. Hotels who encourage guests to participate in posting reviews will ﬁnd the positive will outweigh the negative. Don’t allow stagnant content. Having old content makes a hotel look far less dynamic. On sites where you are permitted, post new photos, encourage comments and support travelers’ photos to keep a fresh look. Source: Avalon Report INTO A GENTLE LAMB softvac.com. 800-866-7001, CIRCLE NO. 153 © 2006 SOFT VAC CORPORATION http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.Hotels.com http://www.softvac.com http://www.softvac.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008 Contents The Rate Debate Accor Defines Motel 6 Prototype Rollout Holiday Inn Eyes Upscale, Timeshare Perspective Economy Sets Tone at The Lodging Conference Mellow Vibe Meets Bold Design at HD Boutique Expo IH/M&RS to Focus on Going Green Legally Speaking Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Cornell Insights Franchise Law HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Energy Star Update Energy Star Update An Industry Connected People on The Move Annual GM Survey Point-of-Sale Systems IH/M&RS Product Preview Outdoor Lighting Refrigeration Marketplace Ad/Editorial Index Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - November 3, 2008

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