It has now been 8 years since we rented our first room at Banana Azul. Having built the place from the ground up, without having any experience whatsover in building or hospitality management, in a foreign developing country where they speak a different language has been (putting it mildly) quite an education.
One thing however, I did learn fast very early on was the power of TripAdvisor and the impact it would play in my success or failure. I tried to explain this to other accomodation places in the area and they somehow felt because of their location and smal place, that these types of things dont apply to them. I knew that not only did it apply at that time (2006) that they can not even begin to imagine what is coming down the pipe with review sites. The future was very clear to me.
The reason I decided to write about this review is because many clients always tell me they read the bad reviews first and then they read some of the good ones. So, while I was bored in Thailand one day at the Fat Farm between colemics, I was reading my bad reviews.
In hindsight some of them are quite funny. However at the time when you are dealing with a very upset customer, I can assure you it is anything but fun. And now adays its standard protocol for hotel guests to say "Give me what I want, or I will write a bad review on TripAdvisor."
This threat used to make me tremble. But I realized they will do it anyway and if I had the choice, I dont want them back and if they have any friends, I am sure I would not like them as guests either. So I just tell them to do whatever it is they feel they need to do if I can not succeed at trying to accomodate them.
This review, is one I remember vividly. It happened in 2008 and and then it took her 1 year to write the review.
If interested; read the review and then read my response. What readers dont know... is What is the real story as there are so many things that we as an InnKeeper are not allowed to say. So, a client can say that I broke into her safe, but all I can do is deny it. But I can not say that she was drunk the whole stay and fighting with her new husband on their honeymoon. Apparently that is a personal attack ???
Now, the real story is the poor guy that just tied the knot looked like he wanted to commit suicide, but we only had a 2 story building. Personally, I would have leaned toward homicide versus suicide.
So why a year later? I asked a girl friend of mine and she said that she was most likely thrown out of a moving vehicle and never saw her husband again. Then a year later after 2 rehab centers, she is drunk blogging and looking for people to blame and take down.
What are your thoughts? You might note her user name...
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