Move aside TripAdvisor – how about GuestAdvisor for a change?
Australia’s funky Art Series Hotel Group made reviews a two-way street when it recently launched Reverse Reviews, letting staff have their say about guests and publishing their reviews on its website.
But, far from a “hit-back-at-you” motive, the program was a fun marketing ploy and a social experiment to increase engagement between staff and guests. Underlying this, however, was some seriousness in getting guests to give some thought about the pervasiveness of hotel reviews today, and how not all of them are always telling the truth.
“Over a six-week period (April 17 to May 31, 2015), we invited any guest staying with us to play along with Reverse Reviews, opting in at check-in. If they wished to play along, they were under review from that moment through until departure,” explained Group Director of Marketing Ryan Tuckerman. “All team members across all departments – our porters, housekeeping, front office and even admin teams – were able to make note of the interactions with the guests and, upon check-out, a personalized review was generated.”
The reviews were published on the group’s website and personally sent to all guests involved, who were then able to share their experience throughout their own social networks.
Each guest was awarded a star rating. Those who achieved a 5-star rating received a free gift voucher to return and stay at any Art Series Hotel within 12 months. The group operates boutique hotels and residences, which are inspired and dedicated to Australian contemporary artists, in Melbourne, Bendigo and Adelaide.
“Reverse Reviews was a way for Art Series Hotel Group to continue to push the boundaries with relevant and hot topics surrounding the tourism industry,” Tuckerman said. “Our main aims were to engage guests in a way no one else has done before, highlighting the fact that we are totally fine with guests reviewing our products and, of course, ensuring a high level of staff morale for all of our teams through the fun participation.”
A total of 750 reviews were generated, well above the expected 100 reviews per week. Of the 750 reviews, 215 received a 5-star rating.
Tuckerman said guests really went above and beyond to ensure they were a 5-star guest. Here are just a few examples how guests ‘bribed’ some staff members during the campaign:
- Bought pairs of socks for some of them
- Bought the entire evening staff at one hotel pizza’s for dinner
- Helped themselves to a vacuum from housekeeping and cleaned their own room
- Mailed chocolates and cards after their stay with bespoke messaging
- Left 10 boxes of Lindt chocolates for the front office team
Asked if staff could be totally open about a guest at the risk of losing the client, Tuckerman claimed, “We ensured we were very honest with every review. In fact, some of our best reviews were generated from guests scoring a low star rating due to things like sleeping through the alarm, forgetting to claim the chocolates used in the mini bar or losing their room keys.
“Because the reviews were light-hearted, everyone seemed to enjoy them and share their experience.”
Tuckerman said the group would roll out Reverse Reviews again. One improvement it would like to establish was for guests to opt in at the time of reservation, online, so that the hotel knew even before checking in that the guests were playing along.