Downhill Beach House, Northern Ireland – by © B.E.S.
I am asked questions about all types of things – from travel-related questions to photography (of course, as these are most relative to the blog here), as well as personal and quirky questions. And besides the typical “Where should I go?” or “How do I do this or book that?”... One of the more common questions I receive are based on authenticity. People are curious about travel and want to do more of it, but a lot of people are afraid – they’re afraid for their safety, scared of bad things happening, as well as making bad decisions that could jeopardize the quality of their trip. For a lot of folks out there, their chances to travel are based on the amount of time they can take off work, which more often than not is so minuscule (like a week or two, a year) that it would be truly awful for them to have a negative experience while traveling – which is totally understandable.
Speaking of questions and authenticity, one of the more common queries I receive is if hotels abroad and hostel reviews on booking websites can be trusted or not. I can only speak from my own experience, with mostly my own opinion here, but I thought it would be nice to talk a little on the subject for a few moments. Whenever I’m asked this, I immediately think back to when I worked for a hostel booking company in Europe. Although I only worked in their office for two months and less than a year all together, I recognized some interesting things that crop up in that line of business.
First off, YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE some of the insane, whimsical and obscene comments that people post. So, yes, you must have someone monitoring the content that’s submitted to these types of websites. Some of the most amazing and ridiculous comments were passed around the office as a joke, right before they were denied and deleted from the website. However, there was never a usage of propaganda or anything – if a hostel had an honest bad review, then it stuck and the hostel had to deal with its consequences... But when a customer complains about the silliest things or something that’s a one time in a million chance of ever happening, then you must use your better judgement as to what’s fair to the customer AND the facility.
Now, I must say that not all reviews are creditable and not all positive/negative rates are fair – and like most things in life, you must use your best judgement. Decide on what your needs and wants are and choose based on the information available, and yes, the reviews as well – because as old as the sales industry is, so is the need for testimonials. But do keep in mind that, YES it’s possible to have a (rare) bad experience at a place that has an 80%+ positivity rate, but the vice versa can be true too – but some of the fun of travel is the spontaneity and the randomness of it, for without that, travel is just another day in a not-so-familiar place.
First off, YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE some of the insane, whimsical and obscene comments that people post. So, yes, you must have someone monitoring the content that’s submitted to these types of websites. Some of the most amazing and ridiculous comments were passed around the office as a joke, right before they were denied and deleted from the website. However, there was never a usage of propaganda or anything – if a hostel had an honest bad review, then it stuck and the hostel had to deal with its consequences... But when a customer complains about the silliest things or something that’s a one time in a million chance of ever happening, then you must use your better judgement as to what’s fair to the customer AND the facility.
Now, I must say that not all reviews are creditable and not all positive/negative rates are fair – and like most things in life, you must use your best judgement. Decide on what your needs and wants are and choose based on the information available, and yes, the reviews as well – because as old as the sales industry is, so is the need for testimonials. But do keep in mind that, YES it’s possible to have a (rare) bad experience at a place that has an 80%+ positivity rate, but the vice versa can be true too – but some of the fun of travel is the spontaneity and the randomness of it, for without that, travel is just another day in a not-so-familiar place.
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