Can we really trust online review sites?

Many of us now use famous review sites when making our decision to book or not to book a hotel. Review sites are now a huge part of the online spectrum, however - take some of what you read with a 'pinch' of salt! We agree, it is great to get constructive feedback in order to make things better for our guests, otherwise we would have no way of knowing how we can improve or where we could be going wrong! We encourage guests to speak to us before departure so that we can deal with the issues immediately. With most review sites, the poster is anonymous, which results in the hotel not being able to pin point the date, time or if it actually happened or not. Unfortunately for hoteliers and other businesses affected by review sites, some people are using these sites to 'blackmail' in order to gain financially. What they possibly don't realise is that this is a criminal offence and all review sites will take this type of fraud very seriously. It is great that the review sites have now acknowledged that people would attempt this type of fraud and have successfully put measures in place that allows hoteliers to report this and avoid any defamatory comments being made about their property because they did not agree to the financial request of the guest. It is very encouraging when a previous guest takes time out of their busy day to write a genuine review on their stay. As with all hotel's and products, everyone has different opinions and tastes so it is almost impossible to exceed everyone’s expectations on every level but we do try! Now, can I ask, how many reviews have you wrote yourself? I know that I always intend on writing a positive review after I've had a lovely stay, however, I am guilty of always intending but never actually sitting down and doing it! What we have found from experience is that the majority of the time, it is usually disgruntled customers who make the effort more than the customers who enjoyed their experience! Personally, our tip to you, is read the reviews and read a selection, from the selection you will get a fair picture.