In an article originally published in the Seattle Time about online sites letting hotel guests share reviews, the Spokesman Review reports that Kimpton Hotels asks its managers to monitor Internet postings. According to the article, news of favorable reviews appears in Kimpton's company newsletter or on employee bulletin boards.
"If it's unfavorable, we deal with it as best we can," said Kimpton Vice President Andrew Freeman, quoted in the article. "We may not be able to get to the guest who wrote it, but sometimes there might be a trend, so it's important to review that."
Positive or negative reviews can have an effect on bookings, Freeman said.
"We have not seen a trend in lost business from the sites, but that's an immeasurable thing," he said. "How do you know?"
Kimpton will sometimes ask that a review be removed if the problem has been resolved. Often the sites comply.
I'm very happy that Kimpton reads the various online sites for customer comments, especially if the company is making improvements based on customer feedback. That says very positive things about Kimpton.
