Reputation Revelation: “When you’re in the hospitality business with a unique footprint you can expect your reviews to be either off the charts off their rockers!”
Sitting on the beach in Newport Oregon is the Sylvia Beach Hotel. If you live within 200 miles and have never been here then you’re missing out and that’s an understatement and unfortunately I am not a skilled enough of a writer to give the proper perspective to my claims. Let’s just say that the Harry Potter themed guest room one floor below the reading room overlooking the ocean is something you would have to drag your kids out of and maybe yourself as well.
Needless to say this is not a typical lodging environment. When I see all the cars parked at the hotels around the area it makes me laugh as if I was in a movie where only the guests could see the Sylvia Beach Hotel and everyone else thought it was a barn. It really is a “The Joke’s On Them” feeling.
Talking to Dick who knows his way around the industry and Newport, he made an interesting observation. Reviews for the Hotel come from either raving fans that recognize the value or serial complainers that just happen to land in the right place at the wrong time. In other words they are either incredibly positive or incredibly off base (forgive my bias wording). It reminds me of an important lesson, which is to say that it doesn’t matter how popular your hotel is as there is always room for increased profits and wheel barrels full of lost opportunity all around us.
Why do so many public business profiles in the hospitality industry have little to no middle ground?
One simple answer: “Motivation”
When left to their own devices 3rd party review sites typically attract only the most motivated reviewers. You either have to be extremely pleased or extremely peeved to partake, which means that the overall tone on review site typically does not communicate the reality of the average experience. Review sites are designed to help us make an educated guess as to how other people’s experiences might apply to us as a segway to making a decision to spend our hard earned money. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the digital truth.
I’ve personally looked at the reviews for the Sylvia Beach Hotel and there are plenty to be read that certainly reflect reality and plenty that I can tell you without reservation are written by authors that couldn’t be talking about the same establishment. Luckily I’ve been here enough times to know the difference but there will be thousands that will miss the opportunity that otherwise would have been raving fans (we’ll see about that).
Oh and next time you’re thinking of heading to the beach in the Newport Oregon area call ahead and book at the Sylvia Beach Hotel. You’ll be glad you did.
The Team @ Reputation Accelerator