Comments on: Are All Hotel Marketers Liars? http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/ Where small luxury hotels go for hospitality marketing advice on how to acquire and retain profitable customers. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:55:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Hospitality Marketing Blog » Blog Archive » No Pearl In This Oyster http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/comment-page-1/#comment-109 Hospitality Marketing Blog » Blog Archive » No Pearl In This Oyster Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:36:46 +0000 http://www.MadiganPratt.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/#comment-109 [...] July I posted an article entitled, “Are All Hotel Marketers Liars?”  It talked about the launch of a new and different hotel review site called [...] [...] July I posted an article entitled, “Are All Hotel Marketers Liars?”  It talked about the launch of a new and different hotel review site called [...]

]]> By: Rafik http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/comment-page-1/#comment-88 Rafik Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:15:22 +0000 http://www.MadiganPratt.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/#comment-88 Madigan, Enjoyed reading your analysis and I agree with you. I am not going to voice my opinion on oyster due to the fact that they are a competitor to my start up (raveable.com) which launched last May without much fanfare (we don’t have 6 million dollars, nor we like to create unfounded controversy). We have a different take on the guest reviews space. We think that the problem is the overwhelming number of reviews that are scattered across the web. Travelers feel obligated to skim through many reviews before they make a decision. They get frustrated due to the inconsistency of recommendations from one reviewer to another. The process just takes too much time. With raveable.com we attempted to solve this problem and save travelers time. I’d love to get your feedback and thoughts on raveable.com as an expert in the hospitality space. Thanks! Rafik – Raveable.com CTO Madigan,

Enjoyed reading your analysis and I agree with you.

I am not going to voice my opinion on oyster due to the fact that they are a competitor to my start up (raveable.com) which launched last May without much fanfare (we don’t have 6 million dollars, nor we like to create unfounded controversy).

We have a different take on the guest reviews space. We think that the problem is the overwhelming number of reviews that are scattered across the web. Travelers feel obligated to skim through many reviews before they make a decision. They get frustrated due to the inconsistency of recommendations from one reviewer to another. The process just takes too much time. With raveable.com we attempted to solve this problem and save travelers time. I’d love to get your feedback and thoughts on raveable.com as an expert in the hospitality space.

Thanks!
Rafik – Raveable.com CTO

]]> By: D. Richmond http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/comment-page-1/#comment-91 D. Richmond Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:48:58 +0000 http://www.MadiganPratt.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/#comment-91 Professionals? How is someone who went to journalism school professionally capable in reviewing hotels? Only hotel professionals know what to really look for - or what just may be a case of a bad day as previously mentioned. Do the reviews actually require a degree in english, and does taking a picture of mold require a degree in photography? What's wrong with experience and, of course, common sense. Professionals? How is someone who went to journalism school professionally capable in reviewing hotels? Only hotel professionals know what to really look for – or what just may be a case of a bad day as previously mentioned. Do the reviews actually require a degree in english, and does taking a picture of mold require a degree in photography? What’s wrong with experience and, of course, common sense.

]]> By: Madigan Pratt http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/comment-page-1/#comment-90 Madigan Pratt Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:19:27 +0000 http://www.MadiganPratt.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/#comment-90 Thanks Jeffrey, It will be interesting to watch Oyster evolve - or dissolve - as the case may be. Seems to be a strange business model given today's web 2.0 environment and the economy. Got to hand it to them though, they have generated quite a bit of buzz - but it takes more than buzz to make today. Regards, Madigan Thanks Jeffrey,
It will be interesting to watch Oyster evolve – or dissolve – as the case may be. Seems to be a strange business model given today’s web 2.0 environment and the economy.
Got to hand it to them though, they have generated quite a bit of buzz – but it takes more than buzz to make today.
Regards,
Madigan

]]> By: Jeffrey Frankel http://hospitalitymarketingblog.com/2009/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/comment-page-1/#comment-89 Jeffrey Frankel Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:11:07 +0000 http://www.MadiganPratt.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/07/are-all-hotel-marketers-liars/#comment-89 Madigan, I enjoyed your article about Oyster.com and absolutely agree with your analysis. While I find user generated reviews to be somewhat problematic, Oyster's approach is unlikely to succeed. Several years ago, while working at an online travel agency, I wanted to add reviews to our website. I considered starting a division to create professional reviews similar to Oyster’s model. However, it was not financially feasible. As you mentioned in your article, the number of hotels that could be covered in a year is limited. Furthermore, those reviews become stale after a few months during which time numerous changes can take place at a property (especially the hurricane prone Caribbean). Finally, even the finest hotels can have a bad day where things just don’t go right. Since these hotels are being rated on one visit by one person, it lacks the balance of multiple reviews. Regardless, dethroning TripAdvisor is unlikely. Their SEO is unmatched and they were the 800 pound gorilla even before Expedia’s umbrella. Madigan,
I enjoyed your article about Oyster.com and absolutely agree with your analysis. While I find user generated reviews to be somewhat problematic, Oyster’s approach is unlikely to succeed. Several years ago, while working at an online travel agency, I wanted to add reviews to our website. I considered starting a division to create professional reviews similar to Oyster’s model. However, it was not financially feasible. As you mentioned in your article, the number of hotels that could be covered in a year is limited. Furthermore, those reviews become stale after a few months during which time numerous changes can take place at a property (especially the hurricane prone Caribbean). Finally, even the finest hotels can have a bad day where things just don’t go right. Since these hotels are being rated on one visit by one person, it lacks the balance of multiple reviews.

Regardless, dethroning TripAdvisor is unlikely. Their SEO is unmatched and they were the 800 pound gorilla even before Expedia’s umbrella.

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