We continue a theme from a previous post due to reader comments and e-mails. As a former hotelier, it was not uncommon for some media companies to actively solicit written reviews about our hotel on various travel web and review sites. At the time, it was described as “reputation management”. Packages typically came in number of reviews per month (i.e. 30 reviews a month would cost $150). A small price to pay for those who desired to drive reservations to their hotel via higher consumer rankings on the website. This may come as shocking news for some people.

Individuals expressed concern to the professional review writers that multiple reviews from one IP address (its like a computer phone number) would be detected by the review site, but managed review writing is now so advanced that every post can be written by the same author with a different IP address. 

I always declined such offers due to ethical reasons, and often can spot anomalies when I personally review hotel ratings on some sites.

The UK Times Online recently exposed a similar practice in the hospitality industry (read here) putting into question the reliability of some consumer review sites.

As technology junkies, one of our favorite technology review sites is CNET. This site not only provides consumer reviews, but is balanced by a professional and independent review from CNET itself (see it here). As a technology consumer, we always look at the professional review first (given their purported independent level of knowledge and expertise), and then look at the consumer reviews for possible other nuggets of information.

As a result, we think it is credible for review sites in the vacation home industry to have an independent knowledgeable review / opinion first, and unbiased vacation reviews as a follow-up. This could be applied to reviews of Orlando, Clermont, Kissimmee and Davenport Fl vacation homes. Let us know if you have any comments.

Vacation Home Reviews