Bed bugs, bad service begone

Thanks to online reviews, problems that used to bug guests at hotels before might just disappear.

BED bugs, bad service and terrible food used to be inevitable risks when travelling, but a host of Online review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor are helping savvy consumers pick the best hotels and eat like locals.

The power of good reviews quickly shows up in the cash register, producing a virtuous circle in which business owners bend over backwards to keep them coming. But bad write-ups can take a big bite out of a business – and give frustrated customers a taste of revenge served cold.

Small businesses who cannot afford advertising seem to be the biggest beneficiaries as review sites allow them to compete with well-known, and well-funded, brands.

”It is absolutely phenomenal how it has worked for us,” said Adele Gutman, vice president of sales and marketing for the Library Hotel Collection, which runs four boutique hotels in New York.

Gutman first noticed the impact of positive reviews in 2004, when one of the hotels got ranked seventh among those in the Big Apple on TripAdvisor and bookings jumped through the roof.

”We decided this is going to be our primary focus – we’re going to sparkle sunshine on all our guests, find out what pleases them, and look in our reviews for any problems and fix them,” Gutman said.

The chain’s most recent reviews are peppered with praise for the friendly staff and free amenities such as breakfast, cheese and wine happy hours, snacks and WiFi.

All four of their hotels are currently ranked among the top eight in New York, and the Casablanca – which is consistently in the top spot – gets between 100,000 and 180,000 views a month on TripAdvisor.