A survey released today by LateRooms.com, the UK’s leading accommodation specialist, reveals that 40% of consumers would not book a hotel without reading guest reviews first. The survey of 1,366 consumers discovered that demand for reviews is soaring, with almost half of travellers now browsing the Internet before booking in order to read the views of previous guests.
Consumers ‘filter’ online content
Despite the increasing numbers of fake reviews across internet review websites such as TripAdvisor, 45% of respondents did not realise the extent of the problem, believing everything they read. However 28% of people surveyed disregarded reviews as fake when extremely negative or gushingly positive language was present, meaning genuine customer reviews could be getting dismissed as consumers feel they have to filter the content they find online.
The survey was commissioned by LateRooms.com to celebrate the number of genuine customer reviews on the website reaching the 1.4 million mark. All LateRooms.com reviews are left by customers who have completed their hotel stay.
Lynda Matthews, LateRooms.com’s Offline Marketing Manager commented:
“Customers are after the truth when it comes to getting the inside view on a hotel from its guests, but the presence of fake reviews is greater than ever. We are trying to combat this at LateRooms.com by ensuring that customers can only log in and leave a review once they have completed their stay, meaning guests that want to check out a property before they check in know they can trust every word.”
‘Dirty’ and ‘noisy’ the big turn offs
Reviews branding hotels as ‘dirty’ were the biggest turn off for consumers with 90% saying this would put them off booking a room at a particular property. Insights into volume levels were also important, with almost half of respondents saying they would not book with a hotel if it was described within reviews as being noisy.
Importance of customer service
But it’s not all bad news for hoteliers, 70% of respondents said they would be prompted to leave a positive review if hotel staff were friendly and helpful. However 50% said they would leave a scathing review if they were encountered poor customer service during their stay.
About LateRooms.com
LateRooms.com is part of TUI Travel PLC’s Accommodation and Destination Sector. It is the UK’s leading online accommodation site offering fantastic deals in over 65,000 properties worldwide, ranging from bed and breakfasts to five star luxury hotels.
LateRooms.com offers customers a saving of up to 70% off the normal room rate for a variety of independent and branded hotels. Customers can book online or by phone 24/7.
LateRooms.com arms customers with information to help them choose the right hotel: users can read from over 1.4 million true hotel reviews, by customers who have booked through LateRooms.com and actually stayed at the hotel.
LateRooms.com is the first online site to use VisitBritain’s official national classification system to rate its hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses. This ensures customers know the standards of quality they can expect when making a reservation.
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