There’s a small problem going on at TripAdvisor.com, where users post their own reviews of hotels they have visited and stayed in. A Palm Springs hotel apparently sent legal notices to TripAdvisor users who posted negative reviews of the hotel in question. The issue came to light early last month on the Flyertalk forums, where a thread was posted outlining what the hotel was doing.

Last year, a Flyertalker posted a review of a Palm Springs hotel that many people stayed at as part of a DO. The hotel had been recently purchased and needless to say, there were a few things wrong. Almost a year later, the owner of the hotel (who also is a member of Flyertalk) sent any email to the Flyertalker saying he should remove his negative post because it was costing him business. We have since found out that he sent this to other authors of negative reviews.

Then today the Flyertalker received a letter from the owner’s lawyer that said the following: “Therefore, please be advised that if the review is not removed with(in) 14 days of your receiving this notice, Mr. ******* will commence legal procedings against you for libel and for causing substantial financial damage to his business.”The review was 100% correct. Many of us personally witnessed everything that was written in the review.Thread posted by olafman, Flyertalk Forums, April 7th 2008

Now, the same issue has come up again, in the LA Times’ Travel section. Catherine Hamm, Los Angeles Times staff writer, answers a question from one Rob Wilcox regarding TripAdvisor’s responsibilty in this matter. Mr. Wilcox says he was one of the recepients of the letters sent by the Palm Springs hotel’s attorney, which threatened to sue him for libel if he didn’t take down his negative review of the hotel. Ms. Hamm, for her part, contacted Brooke Ferencsik, senior manager of media relations for TripAdvisor, who replied back that under such circumstances, TripAdvisor would contact the hotel owner and warn them about trying to ’subvert the system’. You can read the full piece here - Hotel tries to muzzle TripAdvisor reviewer, Travel - LA Times by Catherine Hamm, Los Angeles times staff writer, May 6th 2008.

Now I’m sure you’re all interested in knowing the identity of this mysterious hotel. Well, I did a little digging around, read both the links mentioned above more carefully, along with some study of all the major Palm Springs hotels, and finally managed to find out which Palm Springs hotel was doing this. Sad to say, but my dastardly editor is suppressing my free speech here, and I can’t reveal any more information. (Update: You might want to read this and this)

This whole thing may sound a bit overhyped here, but the truth is that a whole lot of people decide whether or not to select a hotel after reading TripAdvisor’s user reviews. If the integrity of these reviews becomes questionable, that could mean a siesmic shift in the future of travel planning websites and tools. More importantly, there’s the issue of free speech. If a person can’t post his first-hand experience about something as mundane as a hotel, on a website specificaly meant to allow users to post their honest opinions and first-hand experiences at a specific hotel, well… Then we have a problem.

Questions that remain unanswered include whether this hotel will be punished for its highhanded approach, and whether this is an isolated case, or are there many more hotels trying to rig TripAdvisor reviews?

Posted on May 8th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News