Spiteful Reviews: Chronicle of a Review Foretold
In modern hospitality, a spiteful guest review can do more damage than a slow season. This article explores, with irony and clarity, how some guests turn digital frustration into a reputational weapon—and how hotels can respond with grace, humour and strategy.
There are people who should come with a warning label, like certain foods: “may contain traces of frustration, wounded pride and a desire for revenge”. There are not many of them, but when one walks through a hotel’s door, Google’s algorithm trembles. Because there is nothing more dangerous than a person burdened with insecurities, armed with a mobile phone and an internet connection.
They are not looking for rest, beauty or an experience. They are looking for poetic justice for something no one has done to them. And if they cannot find it, they invent it.
In the old days, an unhappy guest would ask to speak to the General Manager. Today, they write on TripAdvisor as though they were Cervantes, and sit in judgement as the supreme court of Booking.com. They compose their review with epic grandeur: “Never in my life have I slept worse. Breakfast was a culinary atrocity. And the receptionist… the receptionist breathed far too loudly.” Five lines, one star, and a reputation in tatters.
The damage is done; revenge has been served.
You have reached your free article limit
Subscribe to continue reading without limits, or unlock this article individually when available.