What Is With People Complaining About Hotel Reviews? Enough Already
This mini rant has been brewing for a a little while now. And it is something I just don’t get. Maybe it is people’s frustrations of a tough year boiling over into keyboard warrior syndrome or maybe they are just unhappy. I am not sure, but it boggles my mind why people feel the need to rush to the comments to complain about hotel reviews. Especially when issues arise, how dare you complain about your “free” hotel room! A little secret here, using points isn’t free…the hotel still gets paid so that doesn’t hold water. Also points have value so when you use them you are giving up that value for a room.
I’ll let you in on another secret, writing reviews sucks. They take forever to do and you have to edit a ton of pictures etc. Many of them are not the most popular posts but writers will do them because they think they provide value to the reader. They give a first hand account of what it was like to stay there. But if people continue to complain every time one is written then eventually people will just say screw that. You know who that hurts, you. Because you won’t have a review to check out before you go somewhere.
Examples
Here are some recent examples of what I am talking about:
Atlantis Disaster
Shawn had a disaster of a trip to the Atlantis in early 2020. I mean his room flooded…it doesn’t get much worse than that on a “trip to paradise”. But here is a comment from just the other day about how he was being over the top because the room was “free” from the Caesars Rewards partnership. Guess what, that partnership was entered in by Atlantis in order to get gamblers on site to lose money at their casino. They entered it willingly, no one forced them. So thinking someone should just accept a flooded room with a smile because it was offered to them…doesn’t hold water (see what I did there).
Hyatt Ziva Cancun
Bethany at Bougie Miles shared her experience trying to add friends to her room to hang out for the day at Hyatt Ziva Cancun (I shared the article in Around the Web). She paid $440 to get them on property for some watered down drinks for a few hours and after she paid the hotel wouldn’t let her guests on property. Then the head of security took an aggressive stance towards her and she felt uncomfortable because of it. It was a horrible experience, one that had her forfeit the last night, which she paid $600 for, and didn’t ask for anything from the hotel. Yet, people still complained that she was being an entitled princess or a “Karen”.
Also people should know, when you change your comment name and post multiple times on the same article trying to prop up your hate or to prolong your trolling attempt…we know that. So you just come off as a foolish psycho.
Park Hyatt Zanzibar
Ryan just posted his review of the Park Hyatt Zanzibar and his experience didn’t live up to the Park Hyatt name. This is the most prestigious brand in the Hyatt portfolio so you expect things to go off without a hitch. Well he had several, as in 9, issues during his stay that ate up hours of his time each day. He asked for a refund of his certificates because of this and the fact that some of the issues were never corrected their entire stay. The hotel staff more than understood this request and obliged as well as removing any room charges. So the hotel understood they failed and were willing to compensate him but for some reason commenters think he was being over the top?
Rio Las Vegas
Shawn stayed at the Rio for their reopening night so he could review it for the YouTube channel. He was given a switcheroo and downgrade to a different tower than what he booked. They did not inform him of this at check in and just tried to pull a fast one. When he brought it to their attention they said they decided not to open the tower he booked into a few days before opening. That is fine, but why not alert people to that ahead of time and try to make it right. Not only that but they continued to sell the room after he checked in…knowing they didn’t actually have the rooms available. That is shady. People took offense to the fact that he was upset by this deception and said he shouldn’t care since the price he paid was cheap.
Even Good Reviews Get Complaints
The funny thing is it doesn’t stop with people complaining about compensation when things go wrong. They think we must get paid to write a positive review. You can not make this stuff up. Here is a comment from Ryan’s Andaz Mayakoba Resort Review, a resort he really enjoyed and said it had that WOW factor.
Final Thoughts
I guess I don’t get it and maybe some of these commenters can help me understand it. People are writing about their experience on their trip. It doesn’t mean your trip will be the same or that you will encounter the same things. Usually hotels are great if you don’t have issues but many fail when issues arise. I think that is worthwhile to know. And one person can have an amazing time at a horrible hotel and vice versa. All we can do is share our experiences.
But no matter if we enjoy the stay or have issues there is something to complain about. I guess you would rather have no reviews? That is the way it is going. I know that I am not taking the time to write them up very much any more…hopefully for you guys others don’t follow suite.
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Please keep writing your reviews, and I encourage others to do the same..
Points aren’t free, and they werent given to people to be later treated differently than people who are paying cash. It’s all the same as cash.
Hopefully, negative reviews make for better hotels. Good hotels read reviews, and make corrections. Very important.
As far as the complainers of the people who make the bad reviews, they have serious issues. When I read their comments, they generally bear little weight in my mind. I generally think THEY are the complainers, the whiners, the problems themselves. So dont worry, we dont pay attention to them anyway. Sometimes, they have valid points, so they are allowed to say what they want, and it’s also good when they throw in their good comments about a location, as I like that too, but if they say anything like you get what you pay for because you are using points, they are way off based and generally just make me angry or annoyed with them. I almost always complain whether using points or cash, to benefit EVERYONE including the hotel. Stick with your great work.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Frank.
I love hotel reviews and find them extremely valuable. Things may happen once or there may be a pattern, you see this when you read reviews. Some people complain about things that I could care less about, but sometimes the complaints are something that would really bug me if I had the same experience. I was rather shocked at the tone of some of the comments on Bethany’s review. I get that the review title was considered extreme by many, however, “bait and switch” is a really stupid thing to comment. As a female who often travels without my husband, I understand that the intimidation she felt is a concern. I don’t read every review but always have the option to stop reading if I think they are crazy. No one has a gun forcing them to read the review but to be nasty to the person writing it, says more about the readers lives. I actually felt the Rio review was pretty positive, I am surprised there was not more issues…it was the Rio. The hotel actually gave some compensation which was surprising.
People need to lighten up!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hopefully in 2021 we can all lighten up some for sure! 🙂
Mike: I have not read the other ones, but Boogie’s Ziva thing was ridiculous. The headlines was obvious click bait since this had nothing to do with safety at the resort, if anything it showed that they have very aware security. And her claiming that people stare at her because she is beautiful but then complaining that they stare at her. Please princes…
Having stayed at that hotel, it was very obvious that she was trying to pull a fast one on them and they caught on. How can someone who writes a points and miles column not even be aware of how all inclusive hotel charges work or what hotel room occupancy is?
So yeah, we, the regular travelers are calling you guys out when you whine.
DITTO! That’s exactly are my thoughts it’s so sad to see you guys defending that Karen. Plz stop already I like you guys.
I am not sure if I am Mike or you are trying to respond to other commenter named Mike and it just didn’t line up? I will just respond as it was for me 🙂
I feel like many people are fixating on one post when this is about a trend I have noticed on multiple posts. So I think it is important to realize that and that was the greater point I was trying to make.
As far as pulling a fast one I have heard a few people say this and I guess I don’t get it. She talked to them before going and they said she would be able to do a day pass for the guests…great. Then they said they weren’t doing them anymore when she got there and offered to add them to her room for $440. This is $240 more than the day passes were supposed to be. And after she paid and they got their money they refused one of the guests entry and made a big deal. I would say if anyone was trying to pull a fast one it was the hotel.
A couple of thoughts on what is happening with the comments to these reviews. First, it is never appropriate to attack a reviewer personally. Name calling and labeling them does nothing but shame the commentator. We do need to realize, however, that travelling right now is an extreme privilege that most people can not partake in. I can appreciate people’s frustration with those who are traveling and complaining about it (despite how legit the complaints might be). I can easily imagine someone thinking, “At least they got to go.. I’d love to be able to go on a beach vacation- even with some significant glitches.” Let’s also be clear about what is a review and attempt to be balanced (e.g. PH Zanzibar” vs a personal and misleading essay regarding the “safety” of a resort. An essay that doesn’t really address safety issues, and doesn’t win people over by complaining about unwanted attention due to their “beauty”.
I do think that plays into it right now for sure, the idea of at least you are somewhere quit complaining. When really this helps show a picture of what travel is like right now etc. for anyone that may be in the same area soon. I do get the frustration though for sure.
You can probably guess the tone of my comment.
Commenters, in my mind, are guests in you “home,” meaning the blog. Gratitude and politeness, as you know, are important in every sphere of our lives. The anonymity of the internet embolden some to say things they would never have the courage to tell in a face to face situation.
There is sometimes too much self importance on both sides of blogs, but MTM amazes me by the way all of you manage to be gracious even at some really nasty, unwarranted sniping.
As a reader, I am always grateful for the sometimes invaluable pearls bloggers share. And, indeed, nothing is free.
The best, as always Doc 🙂
I’m a huge fan of hotel reviews. When trying to pick a good vacation sleeping spot, I find this community’s reviews much more valuable than Tripadvisor or others relative to my specific tastes. I’ll admit, I posted an annoyed/amused comment on Bethany’s review. Her subtitle regarding safety was misleading (IMO) – so that was the annoyed part. I was incredibly amused by Bethany’s self described beauty…I kept looking for a 😉 but she was serious. Sorry, but I found that entirely too ridiculous to let pass.
I think people getting annoyed by the subtitle is understandable but I think the experience was still worth hearing / reading. I can tell you the beauty part was in jest but she should have added the emoji to make that clear
Thanks for the clarification Mark!
So I read through 35 messages of complainers about complainers (most of them). I like the hotel reviews and am interested in compensation when a property makes egregious errors. During Covid, I stayed at a Marriott hotel property where the front desk lady was not wearing a mask. I took her picture, and she threatened to call the police. I then talked with one of the managers the next morning who scolded me for taking it. I did not ask for compensation but now wish I had done so or at least filed a complaint with Marriott Customer Service. I later got Covid myself though my guess is not from her. Yes there are bad guests, bad employees, and bad rooms. I like to hear about places to avoid. Thanks for informing us. Over and out.
Thanks for the comment Tom – glad to hear you recovered from Covid.
One side of a story is rarely the whole story. Phone (cameras) are perhaps one of the most commonly mistaken devices for firearms; proceed with such practices at your own risk.
I really appreciate the effort and really appreciate especially the negative reviews. I gave Shawn C. props for calling out Rio on their sorry service. I think every data point adds to the community, whether negative or positive – if you see multiple bad reviews on the same property during the same time, that is something to watch out for. Each person can decide how likely something is to happen again. If I have had positive experience at the property I may comment on that but certainly doesn’t take away from the negative experience in the sense that both are valuable to know. I am one that would like to continue to see hotel reviews and video content on MTM and Youtube, and it is unfortunate that you are discouraged!
Thanks JL. The Rio situation was pretty bizarre for a grand reopening 🙂
During my 10 years of employment at a San Antonio, Tx Hyatt, we “red-flagged” every customer who had a problem during their stay and every effort was made to ensure that the rest of their time at our hotel was perfect. This is a Hyatt standard. Personally, after the stress of travel I always feel at home when I check into a Hyatt, knowing what goes into the level of service I am about to receive.
Sounds like an awesome system Terry.
I’ll admit I got nervous from the name “red flag” and thought you were going to say the hotel tried to get people to never stay there again, etc. The ending surprised me!
Not sure I see the value in general of most hotel reviews anyway. They are really just relating one person’s experience on one night in one room with one particular set of hotel staff. So your room flooded on the night you stayed. How often is that going to happen? It’s like telling everyone a restaurant is bad because you didn’t like the ONE thing you ordered from their menu on that one night, or one of their waiters happened to be slow or rude. So dumb. And how often do you see a “best stay ever!” review followed immediately by a “worst stay ever!” review at the same place? And we all know it’s only human nature to be generally more inclined to voice your complaints than your compliments.
If you’re a hotel snob, sure, pay attention to every detail. As for me, all I want is a clean room, comfortable bed and for the staff to leave me alone after they give me the key. Life’s way too short to be obsessed with what bathroom amenities they offer and whether or not the person who checked me in showed proper respect for the Gold-Plated-Platinum-Tungsten-level of loyalty member I am.
And for all you complaining about not enough towels or shady brands of shampoo or unsmiling staff members, at least be aware enough that you are among the upper .01% in the world fortunate to have to “struggle” with these ultra-First World problems. And then grow up.
I agree with that – I think you need to look over several reviews to get a vibe for a place and see if there are reoccurring issues or not. One review in it of itself is a small snapshot for sure.
Mark, here is a question, (possibly two) Does it feel or seem worthwhile/fun/interesting to even write a detailed review like that for one place by one person?
Would it be easier/better/more efficient to simply link to a Google or Yelp Pageful of reviews?
I think there is value in it since it is normally much more detailed than a Yelp or Google review. There are also usually more / better pictures. Whenever I write a review I tend to link to the TripAdvisor reviews as well for people to check out. I think looking at multiple is the best way to get an idea for the hotel.
Your reviews are much better than Yelp or Trip Advisor. I really appreciate the detail and especially the pictures. Your experience in Zanzibar was just awful and a significant waste of your vacation time (dealing with the issues) as well as adding stress. I want everything in a room to work properly when I arrive-that’s what I’m paying for. To have soooo many problems is ridiculous and shabby. I’ve had too many experiences like this in hotels and this I research carefully now. However it doesn’t seem to matter which brand-there is cost cutting everywhere which seems to negatively impact the cleaning, maintenance etc.
I do think there is a lot more depth and better pictures for sure compared to TA etc. TA is good for getting an overall feel but lacks the details some people want.
Not writing the review means no opportunity for the tax write off or the ability to plug whatever credit card fits that particular article. Content doesn’t create itself. That probably comes across harsher than I mean it to be, but these blogs are businesses not charity (nothing wrong with that).
Tone can also be difficult to judge via the written word. For example, sarcasm generally doesn’t translate well unless you’re a decent writer or the audience is familiar with your body of work. Little comments the author sprinkles in for flavor might be subject to misinterpretation (Bethany’s article has a bit of this, if you read it straight then you’re not hearing the voice she’s trying to use, in my opinion anyway).
Overall I find hotel reviews to be sort of meh. I’ll read about a particular property if I’ll be staying there, but I tend to look at reviews in aggregate (which has it’s own set of issues, no system will be perfect).
I can’t comment on Ryan’s article as I haven’t read it & don’t plan to. In Shawn’s case with the Atlantis I think I remember reading the article, but the retelling on the podcast was infinitely more entertaining. Again, what some people might interpret as whining tone, when written, comes across as more genuine (and comical) when you actually hear the story told out loud.
That is true – it is so much easier to get the story over a podcast etc. versus trying to get the tone from written word.
Mark this happens in all aspects of journalism. When you write a article or in this case a review, and the headline draws you in…and you find that the title has very little to do with what you just spent 3 to 5 minutes of your life reading…of course you’re going to be pissed off and write hate in the comment section. You feel as though you fell prey to click bait and now you want the author of the review to know exactly how you feel for wasting their time.
I like Bethany and I think she brings a lot to this space but even I thought that the heading/title didn’t match the content. I didn’t bash it in the comment section as that would waste just as much time as it took to read the review. I just dismissed it and moved on.
Folks are going to always have an opinion…especially if they feel you’ve wasted their time. Look at any blog in this space and it’s no different. Heck I’d even argue that such exist anywhere you find a comment section.
If one wants to write a review and enjoy how awesome they are and how valid their point is, then become TPG and turn the comment section off.
Good point Heavy…I guess I am surprised people get so upset either way about a review. I get the headline thing but that wasn’t an issue for most of what I shared above. It is a part of the internet and writing for sure but a review is so subjective I just would think people would be less triggered by them. I think most people can share their thoughts on the property, whether they liked it or not etc.
But to get upset that someone asks for compensation for an exploaded pipe in their room etc. I guess I just don’t see it…anyone that had that happened would be upset. I think people just detach from really looking at how they would feel in that situation and judge without considering it.
Some of the complainers may be hotel shills? Trying to discredit negative reviews of their properties, since I’m sure it doesn’t help to have negative info on the web. Some hotels definitely attack negative online info. I’m recalling a story recently I think from Thailand where they actually jailed the reviewer for a negative review.
I totally agree. I think they are either hotel staff or paid shills to attack the negative reviews. When I read the posts critizing Bougie’s hotel review it sounded like they were written by somebody employed by the hotel, either a staff member or PR firm hired by them.
If not from the hotel side, they are just losers/trolls who enjoy attacking/belittling others. Very sad and patehtic people.
I have no problems with hotel reviews as long as it’s fair and truthful. The lady who wrote about Hyatt Ziva made an inflammatory click-bait worthy subtitle questioning the safety of the property (literally asked if the property was safe). By and large, her safety was not truly an issue, she didn’t like her treatment there but it was not a safety issue. She spent quite a bit of blog real estate complaining of her problems, but barely any effort other than a couple of sentences describing the actual moment that she would attribute to her “safety” concerns.
So if you prefer commentators to not make an issue, then having realistic/accurate statements would go a long way.
I didn’t comment on Bethany’s post directly, and while maybe her title was slightly misleading, as a female I am not at all surprised that the whole thing made her uncomfortable and made her feel unsafe. I don’t think that was contrived for clickbait. Since it seems like about 80% of this hobby is male-oriented I truly think a lot of commenters just cannot relate at all. When you’ve traveled solo a lot as a female you learn to be wary.
I read her review and it was pretty clear to me that she was questioning the safety because of how poorly trained the security staff was and how the one dude was trying to intimidate her. Then they followed her to pool/beach area and were watching them and talking on their radios, like they were on a stake out to make sure the pregnant lady wasn’t up to something. Sorry, but there is no basis for that when we are talking about guests who paid over $400 to be there, so it really seems to me just like a power trip/bully thing.
That thought has crossed my mind and I am sure that plays a part in some of it.
I very rarely comment on any blog posts but this post has prompted to respond. This post is a good example of a whiny post IMO. You blog to bring readers to your site and gain revenue. Why such thin skin “I know that I am not taking the time to write them up very much any more” when people are interacting with your blog? Yes, some people (just like in RL) want to complain about the reviews and some are legitimate points and some aren’t but that’s the whole point of blogs where you ask for comments. Your attitude that people “owe” the writer of a travel review on your blog a more positive comment is unrealistic and turns me off reading this blog TBH.
As far as the PH Zanzibar post, I also think that the author was extra in their asks and expectations. I’m unclear on if he asked for another room choice when the room he was offered to change to was unacceptable but honestly, if the room he had was “cursed”, wouldn’t you jump at the option to go to a room that was not cursed? He already had free lunches, free spa, etc. so I think he was unreasonable in asking for room reimbursement as well. I’m also very comfortable complaining to a hotel when I’m not happy with something but it feels like the hotel was making quite the effort and assuming that this occurred during our current COVID pandemic, I think giving hotels and their staff the benefit of the doubt is the bare minimum if you are still traveling for leisure right now.
So please, don’t wrote any more travel reviews, don’t do us any favors and show us who is boss. Continue with that attitude and you won’t have to worry about writing travel reviews for very long in the future.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Glenn. Trust me we all deal with quite a bit of this stuff so it isn’t thin skin. It was more of a PSA that I think more and more people will come to the conclusion that reviews just aren’t really worth the effort which I think would be a shame for people that enjoy them / value them. That is what I was trying to get across. Sorry if I didn’t accomplish that.
I should also point out that none of these were about my articles so I can tell you my skin wasn’t harmed in the making of this post haha. Just a trend I don’t understand
Glenn – since it’s about my review, I’ll respond. Since you said you’re comfortable telling a hotel when you’re unhappy, would you be happy with the stay I had in Zanzibar? Is the hotel “wanting” to fix an issue sufficient, even if the issues are not fixed and other problems are created along the way? And would you be happy giving up 1-2 hours of your day, every day, dealing with problems during your holiday? For me, the answer is “no, I’m not happy”, and my wife and I felt we didn’t get what we paid for, so we asked for our points back. We were more than gracious and polite with the hotel, and they have actually thanked us multiple times for being nice and never rude despite all that happened.
Ryan – That’s a fair question and I would not be happy with having to spend 1-2 hours every day to resolve the issues. I guess my question is, why did you not room change and resolve the main issue you had, which is the “cursed” room issue? You mentioned that it was a downgrade but what, besides no balcony, was the downgrade? Was there no other room you could move to? On any day? If there were no other rooms you could move to, then I agree that you were right to get free night compensation. However, if there were other options and you chose not to accept them, then you were accepting that the room was messed up and you still deserve some compensation for that, which you received with free meals and spa, but not a free stay on top of that.
Being gracious and nice with the hotel is staff, even with having multiple issues, is very important so kudos for that. I just feel that you stuck with the room day after day and continued to complain. If there were no rooms you could be moved to during your stay, then I apologize and misjudged your review.
I have not read the other ones, but Boogie’s Ziva thing was ridiculous. The headlines was obvious click bait since this had nothing to do with safety at the resort, if anything it showed that they have very aware security. And her claiming that people stare at her because she is beautiful but then complaining that they stare at her. Please princes…
Having stayed at that hotel, it was very obvious that she was trying to pull a fast one on them and they caught on. How can someone who writes a points and miles column not even be aware of how all inclusive hotel charges work or what hotel room occupancy is?
So yeah, we, the regular travelers are calling you guys out when you whine.
I will say she had cleared it with them before she went that they could get day passes. Then when she got there they said they weren’t doing it and they worked out she could pay to add them to the room instead. So she paid and then they refused the guests after they had her money. How is that pulling a fast one exactly? Paying $440 is pulling a fast one? I guess I don’t get that.
Retired after 40+ years with ~500s career-long business trips, and probably 200 personal vacation hotel stays, I doubt that we ran into a problem worthy of complaint more than 10 times, and worthy of a refund or meaningful compensation maybe 3 times. Business travel is not resort travel, I get that the expectations are higher, and we’ve stayed at all levels. I have to agree with the observation, “You guys are several standard deviations over on the bell curve when it comes to number of times issues come up…” Makes folks wonder.
I think the negative reviews just stand out more to people (remembered more which sways perception). If you search reviews on the site the majority don’t have issues. We also don’t write about stays at Hampton Inns or Hyatt Place hotels etc. so that sways the amount of stays we really have to ones we write about. You have to remember that we are a team of 7 travelers so we are going to have a lot more issues come up than a single traveler as well.
Understood, and not reviewing all stays absolutely would slant the outside observed data. If we consider all things being equal, i.e., problems and compensation worthy issues should run at about equal rates across all travelers and all hotel lines, my overall complaint rate is about 1.4% of stays and my compensation worth rate is 0.40%. If you guys are running in that range, even twice that range, say 3 compensations for every 100 stays, whether your wrote a review or not, then you are correct. Maybe it would be worthy to track the data and footnote all reviews with what would be really relevant data; in fact, it can assist you to normalize your objectivity across 7 travelers.
Most of us do have 75-100 stays a year and have a handful of negative reviews (less that end in compensation) in a year so those numbers would be very similar to yours.
I have not stayed in hotels as many nights as you, nor do envy what that kind of travel would have cost me in my personal life. But I have run into much more than a 1.4% complaint rate with issues such as: empty room next door has an alarm clock going off at 4:30am; toilet/bathtub/sink is leaking; TV won’t stay on; AC is not working; room not made upon arrival; theft/missing items…. Hotels miss the mark and your experiences are 1 data point among billions of travelers. I think your comment comes off as “I know better than you because I’ve stayed THIS many nights of my life in a hotel” and it is unnecessarily dismissive and self-righteous. I appreciate when people share their experiences – good or bad – the methods employed to remedy an imperfect situation, and the response/actions from the service provider. As a blog author myself (not travel related), I believe that most readers don’t realize the thought and effort that goes into producing content. I can empathize with the frustrating things brought up by this post, and I hope that readers like you who benefit from free content become more thoughtful and grateful for it, instead of unduly critical. Given your many decades of travel experience, I’m sure there are some worthwhile things for you to write on your own blog or to include in comments that would actually be helpful…perhaps then you will understand disheartening it is when people attack your labor of love.
@JSmelo, at best your response is a poor read and understanding of my post, and at worse with your recommendation that I write my own blog is outright intentionally rude. I posted a data and fact-based experience, and you claim that’s being “dismissive and self-righteous?” Unduly critical? Offering data that puts doubt towards claims, how is that critical? And what’s with your thinking that I am getting something for free by reading a blog? Right now within my view there SEVEN adds – H&R Block; WeeBull; BestBuy; SoFi; Stash; Public; and MooMoo. You call that free? And my reading time isn’t free to me; time is money to me. I fully understand what can be “disheartening,” get used to it, my post began mentioning that I put in 40 years of work/travel – my labor of love to pay my bills and feed my family – why you don’t know that all work has frequent “disheartening” events, most commonly in the form of feedback from fellow workers, is beyond me, not a week went by that something wasn’t “disheartening” to me or others. Few, probably no one, lives in the utopia you want; it’s just how we handle it that separates us, and you clearly wrote a response implying that you have a long way to go to learn what the world is like – and not for unfair reasons. You wrote about thought and content? Well, I had not read any of the stories that folks pointed out as being criticized, but did read them after I posted, and before your response; I had not wanted to pile on, but hey, you brought this on. I read the resort review by Boogie Ziva, and I’m completely in agreement that she was out of line. First – Mexico. Second – Cancun. Third – Young women, without families, in a resort, wanting to get “in for the day” and willing to pay outrageous price to get in? I would want security all over that. I don’t see it as click bait, I see it as grossly poor judgment that no travel blogger should have, and to make it the central point of the resort review showed that the author is not well grounded in what running a safe, quality, and accountable resort involves.
-A flooded room, flooded floor, obstinate hotel staff – That was fair and honest.
-Pouting because I cannot get my friends into the Ziva, was just plain bratty. If I am the hotel, I do not want other people bringing people in.
– The Zanzibar post was just plain immature.
– Rio story was fair and honest.
You guys make money writing these blogs. However, there seems to be no standard and the bar seems to be getting lower and lower.
The Ziva post was not on our site but the hotel collected the $440 and then refused to let them on site after being paid. Would you not be upset about that?
And should someone not be upset about having multiple electrical issues during their stay, some that were never corrected? I guess I don’t understand that.
I have only read the Park Hyatt Zanzibar review, because I had stayed there once and found it to be an incredible hotel in every respect. I was a Globalist at the time and used a suite upgrade and received free breakfast every day, which certainly contributed positively to the stay. That was many years ago and things surely have changed since that time, some negatively, like some of the electrical issues pointed out by the reviewer. It is a luxury resort, but it’s also located on the beach on an island in an economically challenged country and his stay was during the pandemic – I can envision having some electrical issues and them not being fixed immediately or satisfactorily. Still, asking for some compensation due to those issues seems entirely reasonable to me, but asking to have the entire stay comped did not. The hotel offered to switch rooms, but he declined twice because he didn’t want to pack up or be “downgraded” (I put that in quotes because he didn’t mention using a club or suite upgrade or getting an upgraded room, so I presumed the room size, configuration were the same, but for the balcony)? So the room was good enough to prefer it over one a couple floors down with no balcony, it was good enough that he would rather stay than be (slightly?) inconvenienced by putting their clothes and toiletries back in their bags, but it was so bad that all certificates should be refunded? That does seem egregious to me. I didn’t feel the need to comment then, but now that you’ve “asked” with this post, I thought I’d chime in 🙂
I get what you are saying MFK and I see where you are coming from.
Why, because it sure seems like you guys continually end up with compensation, whether it’s at hotels or your Amazon shipping coming 1 day late and requesting compensation. You guys are several standard deviations over on the bell curve when it comes to number of times issues come up…it just seems like so many of your posts end in compensation. To me, and I’m obviously not alone, it seems like you guys actively hope to defray your trips with compensation.
Pretty much all of us in the miles/points game try to get the best deals we can. But compared to every other bloggers on Boardingarea you guys seem to take it to another level. I’ve lurked on your private Facebook pages for years as well…the theme is not receive a fair service, pay a fair price. The theme is “let’s see how much benefit we can extract from companies for as cheaply as we can”. It’s one thing to get a good deal. I just feel you guys continually take it too far.
Please show me a time where standard service was met and we asked for compensation.
https://milestomemories.com/get-compensation-when-your-target-order-is-late/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
“I have talked in the past about getting compensation for late Walmart and Amazon deliveries. I have been able to rack up hundreds of dollars because of late, delayed or missing shipments by following those guides” HUNDREDS of dollars when free shipping is a day or two late?!?! Comm’on man. By your definition of standard service any time anything goes wrong standard service has not been met….ergo compensation is due.
In no way am I saying people should not complain if something in their trip goes wrong, or a company does not live up to their side of the transaction. But I just searched “compensation” on your blog’s search and there’s 15+ PAGES w/ 10 articles per page of results. Lucky has 20 going back to 2008. I think you guys set the bar WAY lower than the average traveler.
Yup hideous articles like
Airlines Are Holding Billions in Refunds Owed to Customers
Air Passenger Rights Comparison: USA vs EU Travel Protections
Spirit Airlines Fined for Bumping Passengers Involuntarily
5 Awesome Tips On How To Get Spirit Airlines Flights Even Cheaper
TD Bank Settles for $75M Over Debit Card Overdraft Fees
come up when you search compensation…I think you are taking it a little far here.
Shaun – since you’re including me in this, I’ll jump in. You simply can’t tell me any cash-paying customer with my experience at Park Hyatt Zanzibar would’ve been remotely as nice as my wife and I were. You and I know people would be creating a scene in the lobby. On the flip side, I have never asked for my money back at a hotel ever, but you are saying that is every review. It’s not only laughable on its face for its untruth, it makes me wonder how you’ve supposedly 1) read so many of our reviews, 2) hated them so much, 3) stuck around anyway, and 4) still could be so wrong. If people travel a lot (hello!), they will run into problems. Unfortunately, you will hate us for being honest or hate us for being too rosy in our reviews. Luckily, I don’t write my reviews worrying about pleasing people. I’m honest, and you should’ve figured that out by now.
With readers like Shaun, I really applaud your ability to shrug him off and keep writing. i remember a post that Gilbert at GSTP wrote a while back where he said he was just tired of all the unnecessary negativity that people bring to his blog comments. It has never really made sense to me why people feel that it’s OK to be such jerks. I can only chalk it up to them being broken in some way that they will not be introspective enough to figure out…then I just feel a lot of sympathy for them. I turned off comments on my blog and lost a lot of readers, but figured that those who appreciate the comments will still show up, and those who just want to be nasty will find some other outlet, hopefully a healthier one.
@JSmelo, turning off comments is like declaring that you simply are closed minded and unable to consider others’ views, the number one way to potentially learn and grow. And looking at negative comments to be from “jerks” and “broken” people, wow, just wow.
I have never commented on the Hotel reviews, but not for any of the reasons above. They are almost always WAY WAY too long and too many pics, thus loading up time to see everything. Much more than needed. So, usually I bail partway through because being so long they are kinda boring or I get tired of waiting and seeing more ads pop up.
I would like a lot more on Points and Miles, maybe re-selling, etc, but the Hotel reviews, nah. Plus you guys post way more about Las Vegas than I ever needed or wanted to know. There must be more places to talk about than that as it seems like almost every day there is more about that city. At least mention the Atomic Bomb museum as that is about the only cool thing there that isn’t trying to suck $$ out of one’s pockets.
So maybe this is negative, or just me, or whatever, but since you brought it all up, them’s my thoughts.
Shawn lives in Vegas and it has been a very popular topic on YouTube and on the site. It only equates to 3-4 posts per week out of 40-50 posts so it really isn’t that much. But thanks for sharing your thoughts Carl.
Carl… why would you complain about reading a topic that does not interest you? I love reading long detailed reviews with tons of photos. For me, the more the merrier because it is easier to get a more accurate picture about something with more data and photos rather than less. MtoM please keep doing them and ignore the complainers.
Um, I led off with how I have never complained about the hotel reviews. But Mark opened the subject, and since there IS a comment section, I then offered my opinions, as I stated.
Not sure how this is complaining as much as it was me chiming in on something I had not said before but wished to comment on now that the subject was broached.
Mark and Shawn and whoever can post as they wish. Their blog. I can read, or wade through all the stuff or not. My choice.
Someone (basically) asks for comments/opinions? I’ll give them.
You like the long detailed reviews? Have at them.
(Oh, and why did I reply? Because you called me out by name. That’ll happen.)
Carl…”They are almost always WAY WAY too long and too many pics, thus loading up time to see everything. Much more than needed.”
I read this as a complaint because you were not happy and that is why you wrote that you thought the reviews were too long and had too many pics – resulting in you not finishing the article. If someone tells me they are not happy about something, I assume it is a complaint.
I’m glad you posted this and want you to know that I live for hotel reviews and love that you all post them! I am an over-researcher so finding out the good and the bad is how I make our travel decisions?
Thanks Amy – glad you enjoy them.
I agree with almost all you say. These reviews need to address fail otherwise it comes off as an advertorial.
But I think some of Bethany’s shtick is coming off as a high end travel princess, her blog is titled Bougie miles for christ sake. Read her response to one of the comments, is like “if you like the hyatt inclusives I bet you like cruises too”, basically telling the commenter they are low class for enjoying AIs or cruises. I do enjoy her appearances on the podcasts though.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Tom.