The power of travel reviews to hurt the small guys

By Yeoh Siew Hoon

I have been thinking about the power of travel reviews – especially as it relates to small, independently run businesses.
Travelling in New Zealand last week, I did what I normally don’t – read reviews before making a decision where to stay.

I did it just once because I was going to a place I hadn’t been before and I hadn’t bothered to ask anybody about it – one of those last minute things.

I honestly find the whole review exercise tiring because you have to plough through so much rubbish.

Usually what I do is ask a friend to recommend something – for example, in Berlin, this weekend, I was recommended the Hotel Luise by a local tour operator friend because I wanted to try something different in the German city. Been so many times and always stayed in same old branded properties – thought it was time to check out another scene.

On this New Zealand trip, I was headed for Russell in the Bay of Islands. Sometime before 5pm, I stopped at an Internet café – $3 for 15 minutes access – and I googled “Russell Bay of Islands boutique hotels”. (Things shut early in this part of the world so you usually have to do everything before 5pm)

I clicked on the fourth link down (it had the word boutique in it) – and it was for the Arcadia Lodge. It had a “Bravo” rating by TripAdvisor and the 31 reviews were all glowing. Can’t go wrong, right?

So we called them, asked for availability and directions and showed up just as the sun was setting. While I wouldn’t go as far as most of the reviewers to say it was “fabulous” and “best”, it was a charming little place.

A bit twee and colonial but you can see why it would be a favourite among Western, particularly British, clients.

I asked the proprietors if they got any customers from Asia and they said, few and far between.

At Mangonui, I knew where I wanted to stay because I wanted to catch up with an old friend who’s running the place.

Now if I had checked TripAdvisor, I might have given it a miss – it had one review, three stars. And if I had checked Google Places, worse – one review which was bad but to which proprietor Rich Myer had responded well.

Yet I preferred Mangonui Motel to the Arcadia Lodge. Beyond its views which are stunning, it is an unpretentious place run by a husband-and-wife who’ve put their heart into the business which is their life.

It’s got six self-contained units with own kitchen and own driveway – so you are fully independent to come and go as you like.

No need to tiptoe in the middle of the night if you are jetlagged and try not to wake everybody up when you’re staying in a place with a common lounge.

I liked the informality of the place, no need to make small talk with your hosts if you don’t wish to, which some of us from Asia are rather shy about.

On my return, I decided to help Mangonui Motel out and write a review for it in Google Places – which by the way is becoming quite a force in SEO,

But talk about difficult – I tried a few times to “rate and review” but the system just wouldn’t allow me to publish my comments. I logged in through my Google account (as you’re supposed to do) and did all the right things I was prompted to do.

Now I’m not the world’s most IT-literate gal but surely, it should be easy to post a review.

I have to say after this experience I feel for small, independent hoteliers everywhere who do not have the clout or the resource to fight back a giant like Google that’s spreading its tentacles into every aspect of the travel business.

No wonder some hoteliers are banding together to threaten legal action against TripAdvisor but for independent operators like
Rich in a remote but beautiful part of the world, what can he do?
It’s like those beautiful dolphins swimming in the Bay of Islands – you’ve got to go there to experience it.

Don’t believe all you read.

Just what you see.

Yeoh Siew Hoon is Editor At Large
Web In Travel/The Transit Café