RE: Rethinking Ratings - What's a 'Star' Mean Anyway?
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Glenn,
You aren’t crazy. Actually I think you’re pretty astute. The rating game has gone crazy over the last several years. I work with vacation rental properties, which is even more disorganized due to the thousands of owners and uniqueness of properties.
There’s no doubt that with ratings, the staff and guest are often limited by their own tastes and perceptions and often limited travel experience. Not being truthful with prospective guests will always cause problems. Fortunately with the ability to see online photos and property tours it’s more difficult to hide flaws.
Organizations such as AAA are hopelessly behind the times for the reasons you mentioned. Services are simple to explain to guests. Quality of furnishings can be much more subjective.
I wish that there was a simple answer. Ultimately I suppose the public keeps the industry honest as the Internet has given them a megaphone to talk about their experience.
Thanks for your interesting articles.
Liza Hogan
President
Resort Rating Specialists, Inc.
Read Liza’s Blog at http://www.resortrating.com/blog.html
Posted by: Liza Hogan
8/13/2010
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RE: Rethinking Ratings - What's a 'Star' Mean Anyway?
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Off your rocker, I don't think so Mr. Haussman. I really don't think 99% of us really understand the Star... I mean Diamond... I mean Tire rating system, and I'm in that system.
But it will never change in my lifetime, to much politics, to much money involved, to many egos.
How does that little B & B in the Santa Ynez Valley, CA get a rating? It is continuously booked throughout the year, has rave reviews, the owners care about their guests and offers the best service around and has nice firm beds and great amenities.
The system is all about money... The system is all about egos, but of course what do I know, I've only worked in that system for 25 years.
Thank you for your time.
Posted by: Mr. David Jones
Email: ibd14u@earthlink.net
8/13/2010
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RE: Rethinking Ratings - What's a 'Star' Mean Anyway?
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I definitely think there is time for something else to happen; I like you mentioning this educated mind "There needs to be better guidance in place for people to vote with a more educated mind." of course people's opinion is different, but there should be some guidelines to follow for a decent, unbias review!
Posted by: carolina c dursina
8/12/2010
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RE: Rethinking Ratings - What's a 'Star' Mean Anyway?
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As the VP of Marketing at Revinate, a business intelligence platform that helps hotels learn about their properties and their comp set by focusing on online reviews and social media, I read a lot of reviews. I have seen reviews that rate all subcategories (eg rooms, cleanliness, value) a 5 and then give the hotel 3 stars. It can be frustrating for hotels who have come to depend on reviews to drive business but in the end, given the quantity of reviews out there, I do think that reviews are a great indication of what a hotel is like - - it's certainly better than a hotel's Web site. And, the reviews and stars provide the hotels with information that they need to improve their operations and strengthen relationships with customers. Many review sites now allow users to provide details about their trip, such as traveling on business on a budget so you can read the review through different lenses.
Posted by: Ms. michelle wohl
Email: michelle@revinate.com
8/12/2010
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RE: Gulf Girds for $22.7 Billion Tourism loss
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It’s heartbreaking to hear that the region could take such a stunning hit like this. We agree wholeheartedly that education for prospective travelers would be the first step towards limiting this damage, but word of mouth about the conditions down there must also be considered. The entire industry must do their best to make the area inviting and enjoyable despite the effects of this disaster. More genuine feedback about progress from those not on BP’s payroll will be the most important pieces in the tourism effort in the Gulf Coast.
Posted by: The Refinishing Touch
Email: therefinishingtouch@prompt-communications.com
7/27/2010
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RE: Pineapple Hospitality's new line of ERP guest amenities are independently tested and proven to be truly biodegradable
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Biodegradability sounds nice in concept but isn't this still an "oil-based" plastic bottle that is now being biodegraded into the soil? It seems like this is an out of sight out of mind approach and not a "true" solution. I'd very much like to hear someone address this point.
6/29/2010
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RE: Are You PCI Compliant?
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Glenn,
You are absolutely correct about the importance of PCI compliance and the downside of not being compliant. However, the central "facts" of this article are incorrect and misleading. The general mandate for merchants to be compliant with PCI Data Security Standards was 2 or 3 years ago. The July 1, 2010 deadline is a VISA requirement for merchants and service provders to be using payment applications that are validated as compliant with PA-DSS. Payment applications include PMS, POS, Spa, Golf, Parking -- any program or system that processes credit card payments, as well as the middleware and gateway applications that sit between merchant systems and credit card processors. Running a currently-validated PA-DSS-compliant version of these systems is actually not listed as a requirement in the PCI DSS, which is one reason VISA issued this specific rule with a July 1, 2010 deadline.
You further perpetuate a common misconception when you state "Being PCI compliant essentially means you have taken the appropriate steps to make sure that any credit card data that you receive is safe and secure in your system. If your system is up to snuff, then you’ve met what’s called the Payment Card Industry’s Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS)". Running PA-DSS compliant applications is an important part of overall PCI DSS compliance, but it only covers a few of the 247 individual requirments of PCI DSS. Your readers can find more detailed information at www.pcisecuritystandards.org. A good (but slightly dated) reference to compliance due dates from the various card issuing companies can be found at http://blog.elementps.com/element_payment_solutions/2009/05/pci-compliance-deadlines.html
Posted by: Ron Hardin - CHTP
6/25/2010
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RE: Mad About Mobile
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You might note that Mandarin Oriental has taken their mobile presence beyond just a mobile site, and next month will be launching a smartphone app that's been developed by TripCraft LLC that provides direct connectivity to their CRS for real-time reservations and more. See more at: http://www.tripcraft.com/pressreleases.htm
Posted by: Karin Wacaser
6/25/2010
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RE: Lodging Industry Targeted By Dept. of Labor Urge Your Members of Congress to Demand End to Assault
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Here is a draft letter that anyone can use to write their government representatives...
(DATE)
The Honorable (NAME)
United States Senate or U.S. House of Representatives
(STREET)
(CITY, STATE, ZIP)
RE: DOL Wage & Hour Division targeting the lodging sector without merit
Dear Senator or Representative (NAME),
I am writing to express my concern with an initiative of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to target every hotel, motel and resort in the United States for invasive audits by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.
It is important that every business abide by all our labor laws starting with prescribed wages/hours. The hotel company that I work for pays every associate better than the minimum standards and follows the provisions that overtime work is paid overtime wages without exception. It is unclear therefore how the DOL came up with its determination that the lodging industry is a “high-risk industry.”
The disruption to regular operations posed by invasive DOL audits is of particular concern. The lodging sector has been hit particularly hard during this recession. Because business volumes are suppressed, room prices have been declining for months. The combination of lower occupancy and discounted pricing has led to the largest decline in revenue in the history of our industry. The languishing revenue ripples though the economy affecting our communities as they suffer decreased sales and bed taxes.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is the pre-eminent organization representing the interest of the lodging sector with a respectable reputation for advocating on behalf of its members. Without success, the AH&LA has sought more information from DOL on why the audit actions are being taken.
Prior to imparting still further pain on my industry, I respectfully request that the invasive audits by the Department of Labor be stopped. Instead of invasive audits, the AH&LA can work constructively with the DOL to provide information on the wages and hours of its membership and inform the department about the true nature of the lodging industry and its practices.
Sincerely,
(SIGN)
Posted by: Mr. Greg J. Miller - CHA
Email: gmiller@pmhs.com
6/22/2010
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RE: Leaders Say They're Sensing the Comeback
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This brand leaders are in there for themselves and are going to say which benefits them and them only. The hotel owners needs to be warned to make a wise and educated decision on this matter as a lot of them are feeding the property to meet the expenses and to do so they are draining their savings thinking there is a light at the end of the tunnel because the industry leaders are saying so. There are going to wipe out their savings and still going to lose their property to the bank if things do not get better. Lot of the economists are predicting the second half to be the worst and even the Fed Chairman said there may be double dip in the economy. There is nothing wrong to be positive but not to a point to lose everything waiting for the things to get better. I request you to withhold my name from being disclosed but I am also the victim of this down turn in the economy and lost my properties to the lenders. I refused to put a penny to meet my bills and thought it wise to walk away from them with a heavy heart.
There are some management companies out there who are encouraging the lenders to foreclose on the properties for their benefit otherwise some lenders are ready to have a work out on the loan.
Also the same banks who benefited from the government assistant are foreclosing like crazy and holding it as government is allowing them to carry the bad loan to get more than the loan amount when things get better.
6/22/2010
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