Online hotel reviews are riddled with fraud and fiction, and legitimately negative reviews are often prompted by issues that could have been resolved easily if the guest had connected with the hotel management during their stay. With more than 90% of travelers changing their hotel choice because of an online reviews, this space is as valuable as it is confused. Hotels are desperate for a better way to collect -- and respond to -- feedback while their guests are still onsite.
The idea behind GuestComment is that reviews can be more useful for both travelers and hoteliers.
GuestComment plans to change the entire landscape of hotel reviews by connecting hotel management and guests at a much earlier stage. By placing GuestComment's iPad powered kiosks in a prime location, a hotel could encourage and capture real time feedback. Hotel guests could provide a review, rate various hotel revenue departments and answer the golden question (How likely are you to recommend our hotel to others?) all while they're still staying at the hotel.
GuestComment's patent-pending technology would then send the hotel management email or SMS alerts while compiling all the reviews in private hotel review dashboard. Immediate feedback would allow staff to resolve issues immediately, praise the right people and keep apprised of customer concerns.
The guest feels like they are heard, the hotel management receives the real time feedback it craves and the tone of any subsequent Tripadvisor or Yelp review becomes less needlessly adversarial.
Today, that idea comes to fruition with the public launch of GuestComment. Our solution doesn't aim to replace online reviews, but augment them. While plenty of reputation management firms promise to help hotels to better manage their online reputation, none have been bold enough to invest in an onsite system that uses a digital kiosk to collect a hotel guest's review, before they return home to their own computer.
So, the next time you have feedback to share with a hotel's management, take a stroll through the lobby and look for a GuestComment kiosk. Share your opinions!