Wyndham to invite guests to review its hotels on TripAdvisor

In a bold move that underscores the importance of online consumer reviews, Wyndham Hotel Group today will announce that it's officially inviting guests to review its hotels on TripAdvisor.

Last week, Wyndham put in place software from TripAdvisor that automatically sends Wyndham's online customers across its 15 brands a link inviting them to review their hotel after they've completed their stay. The company's brands include Wyndham, Howard Johnson, Ramada, Days Inn and Super 8.

Wyndham Hotel Group CEO Eric Danziger tells Hotel Check-In that management decided it was time to embrace consumer reviews in a new way for three reasons: Travelers have an insatiable appetite for online reviews, reviews can influence hotels to correct problems, and Wyndham says providing easy access to reviews has already translated into greater bookings.

When Wyndham's websites added the familiar TripAdvisor logo, star rating and review link earlier this year, he says, bookings jumped by 30%.

Until now, the hotel brand was getting left out of the conversation between the consumer and the reviews, Danziger says.

"So we said, let's give the consumers information," he says.

Furthermore, the reviews that are published via this arrangement could hold greater credibility in the eyes of some hotel owners and travelers.

Once a Wyndham customer writes a review, TripAdvisor will publish it with the attribution, "Posted by a Wyndham traveler," providing verification that the guest stayed at the hotel they've just reviewed.

It also means that both good and critical reviews will be published.

"We all had debates about (online reviews) two years ago," Danziger says. "But like it or not, consumers love hearing from a third party."

Results seen in pilot program

In September, Wyndham began to test the TripAdvisor invitation process in a small number of its nearly 7,200 locations.

Wyndham isn't the first to try it. TripAdvisor already provides the service to Accor, the French hospitality giant that owns brands such as Sofitel and Novotel.

During the trial period, "4,000 reviews were added by consumers, so people were engaged," Danziger says.

It's an improvement over the number of reviews hotels typically get, says Flo Lugli, executive vice president of marketing of Wyndham Hotel Group. When reviews aren't solicited, their hotels typically get just one review a month or every couple of months, she says.

Trend: A year in the making

Wyndham's move comes about a year after hotel brands gradually began to toss their fears of negative reviews and look at them in a new light.

Well-known brands such as Starwood, Marriott, Four Seasons and Best Western have — to varying degrees — embraced independent consumer reviews. They've begun to tweak their websites to make it easy for travel shoppers to find reviews without ever clicking on to another site, increasing the odds that a shopper will stay on the hotel site and ultimately book a room.

Starwood, which runs the Sheraton, St. Regis and W brands, was the first to embrace reviews — and develop the concept in a unique way. It's letting verified guests publish reviews directly on its website instead of relying on TripAdvisor. Starwood's website now has more than 42,000 reviews on its site, Starwood executive Chris Holdren told Hotel Check-In last month.

Good cop, bad cop

What about the old concern of hoteliers that poor reviews — whether of noisy air conditioning, dirty bathroom floors or a rude front desk clerk — will discourage travelers from booking their place?

The interesting side benefit to publishing more reviews, Danziger says, is that the presence of potentially negative reviews could place pressure on hotels that have been reluctant to make improvements.

Wyndham owns economy brands such as Howard Johnson and Days Inn.

"If the brand writes up a hotel (and points out its flaws), often times, some owners and managers say, 'Here comes the big brand kicking sand in our face,'" Danziger says. "But if the consumer is directly saying they have a problem with the hotel, then there's no place to hide. They have to fix it, and the consumer is going to be the beneficiary."

More to follow Wyndham, Accor?

This is a "logical extension" for TripAdvisor, says Christine Petersen, president of TripAdvisor for Business, the company's division that focuses on tourism industry marketing.

"We're finding that more and more big brands have really embraced reviews," she says, citing independent research that shows 81% of travelers find user reviews important for determining which hotel to book.

She expects more hotel chains will adopt a similar system.

In Wyndham's case, the TripAdvisor system will replace another vendor that solicited guest feedback after their stays so it will also save Wyndham money, executives from both companies say.

Readers: If you're invited to review the hotel you just stayed at, do you think you'd be more likely to write one?