to think the owners replies to tripadvisor views are a bit ott?

[thelifeofamber]

Just to quote a couple

"I hope reviewers can see this review for what it is which is nothing more than vindictive and nasty with no foundation or value other than to brag about the fact that these guests have nice cars."

"We as a hotel have the unique and rewarding pleasure of looking after some amazing guests as shown by our recent TripAdvisors and get great joy out of making their trips memorable. There are times however, when we get guests who are far less welcome or amazing."

"On checkout when we presented them with the bill, they started arguing between themselves about who owed what money etc etc. Very embarrsing!"

"So dissapointing to receive a review like this after a wonderfully successfuly wedding which would have gone without any hitches without this aggressive and bullish guests behaviour."

... I get that you want to defend your business but these replies seem a little agressive

Depends on what the review said and what actually happened.

Why shouldn't the owner/manager exercise their right to reply?

without knowing what the reviews were how can we comment?

I think their response is fantastic.

It shows them up far more than your original review does! I don't think any potential future customers will think to highly of a company that criticises it's guests publicly.

Now I am all too experienced in dealing with shitty customers, but I am not sure what could warrant that particular response.

I love it when the owners reply. It gives a much better picture of whether the complaint is reasonable or not and it's good to know how a business deals with those complaints. I've ignored a bad review in the past if the owners reply was a professional one.

I too would love to know what the review said. The reply is worthless without it.

I don't think some of the owners realise that their responses are very indicative of whether or not the guests have grounds for complaint!

Wow, read through the responses on that hotel and there are some really nasty unprofessional ones.

They seem to stop in about 2013 so I suspect the manager was given their marching orders.

Someone complained about a pub's shabbiness, and the owner/manager responded, "money don't [sic] grow on trees - send me 20k and I'll redecorate for you".

It must be galling though if you run a great hotel and the guests complain about something you can't do anything about.
I rather enjoy reading management responses.

If they're getting that many negative reviews, they need to address a few things.

It's the The Old Vicarage Boutique Hotel, Southwell, Newark on Trent.

Always be wary what you read on trip adviser.
The restaurant I work in got a bad review, criticising the "male waiter" for being rude etc. Only one male was in that day and he got it in the neck. Almost lost tips. Until i pointed out that he customer had mentioned something which made it obvious they were not taking about our restaurant but our sister restaurant in the next town. If they hadn't mentioned the thing that they did, we would never have realised. Don't take everything on trip adviser as gospel!

"They rudely took complete control of the whole venue, waking us all up at 6:30am with visitors going up and down the stairs all day. They even started moving furniture around for their unauthorised 'photo shoot' and damaged the fire shutters worth thousands of pounds by hanging from them."

Was it you?

I read a review (think it was linked from this site) where the customer complained the restaurant was dark (it was a cave in Bristol, I think) and that the food wasn't cooked properly. The manager replied saying that the customers had actually eaten all their meal without complaining - I thought that was a good point - who would finish a meal that wasn't cooked properly?

I've met some really obnoxious guests in very good hotels who make offensive remarks about the place. I sometimes wonder if they are setting the scene to demand a discount on the bill. No doubt they would put bad reviews on line.

Of course the hotel has an equal right to post a reply in equally strong terms.

The reviews you quoted are all from years ago, why bring them up now? Who knows if the same people are even working there 3-6 years later and who knows the truth of what happened at the time. I looked through and some of the other reviews do seem strange. If the replies are accurate then someone claimed to be have visited on a groupon when the hotel hadn't offered one for years and someone complained about staff crashing around at 6am when no one has started work then, which casts doubt on the accuracy of their reviews. Another negative review was apparently revenge after they were charged for causing damage. The hotel does seem to have had some suspect reviews and some bad luck with reviews. The manager does seem to have got frustrated and taken some reviews personally when they might have done better to take a step back but I'm sure it feels personal when it's your livelihood on the line.

There's a small cafe and sandwich bar in my town that's quite nice. However, their actions on TripAdvisor have completely put me off ever going again. Anyone who dares give them less than 5 stars gets a long response about how they're a family business and a dying breed, and that it's not their fault they're understaffed because they're an independent cafe and not a chain. They usually end with a passive aggressive comment about how they have plenty of business anyway so don't bother coming back. While it's ok to put certain things straight on TA, I feel that trying to win an internet argument makes the owners just look like dicks.

I generally feel that you can tell from the way something is written what the person is like. If the original review is 100% negative and about something that seems petty it's usually obvious that the reviewer is a bit of a winger (I often see if the usually complain on their other reviews too, they usually do!). If it's a well worded one off grumble with some positive points I'd take it more seriously.

If the company being badly reviewed try to explain why the situation happened and seem to take it as something to learn from, I'd be fine with them. Some places seem to get sarcastic and offended over very little, and in those cases I would avoid like the plague!

I've posted this before, but feel it never loses its wtf appeal!

Have a look at these responses.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g504051-d1953034-Reviews-Pinnacles_Restaurant-Seahouses_Northumberland_England.html

I like this reply to a guest's complaint.
Amongst the 'cons' she's included the fact that families are allowed in the (family friendly) hotel!

*Budget hotel for European families. Terrible food. They offer an all inclusive option for $15 per person. Wine, beer, coffee, juice, and well drinks are included, (the soda tasted weird and the wine is from a soda dispenser, alcohol is watered down), but the food is so horrible it's not worth it. It is worse than cafeteria food, they served what looks like canned meat, and barely any of it was edible. The hotel and rooms itself was ok, but I would not go back. Friendly but semi unhelpful staff. When we went there were so many families with younger children. Hotel is in a small town (need to take 2 buses 1hr 1/2 from the air port). There is a small beach 15 mins away, but I would have preferred to stay in agios Nicolas, the bigger town 20 min away, although if you rent a car, which I suggest you do, it doesn't really matter how small the town you stay in is. Nice bungalow vibe, the actual hotel and it's public areas are nice, but due to the clientele and the staff and the terrible food it gave us a weird 80's summer camp for adults vibe.

Con:
Terrible food!!!!!!
Family clientele, kids everywhere
Unhelpful but friendlyish service (couldn't even help us with bus schedule or booking a ferry).
Wifi only works near reception - just barely, so many people log on it rarely worked.
No blow dryer
Tiny tiny shower,
outdated room

Pro:
Small village with an ok beach 15 min walk away (or free shuttle offered from hotel)
Bus stop is right in front
$45 car rental- best idea to drive east for 2 hrs to vai beach, scenic coast drive with cute towns and sights.
Restaurant down the road to the left served good food.
Public areas and hotel have an ok bungalow feel.
Public areas and some balconies have a beautiful view of the water and mountains!

MANAGEMENT RESPONSE:
Manos R, Owner at Elpida Hotel & Apartments, responded to this review
25 Aug 2014
Dear Ms. Lara,
yes we are a budget hotel, and mostly for European families. And yes families often include kids. I don't know how to reply to someone who has a problem with that and considers a Con the fact that there are kids.
Having experience of food in NY (including "cafeteria food") all I can say it that I am very sorry you feel like that. Canned meat might be the norm over there but we have nothing like that here. All the ingredients are of top quality, including vegetables and meat. I could show you if you asked. Not liking the taste is one thing but insulting and accusing us like that (and everybody else who enjoys it) is another.
I don't understand how the staff was unhelpful and if indeed something happened and they did not help I apologize. However, I am certain they can help with buses and booking a ferry.
WiFi works in all public spaces and the two FREE wifi hotspots can handle more than 100 simultaneous connections. We rarely have a problem, and whenever we do it is sorted in minutes.
Blow dryers are available for free, all you had to do is ask.
The tiny shower is 80cmX80cm, the typical European shower size. So, let's not exaggerate.
And, by the way, alcohol is not watered down (feel free to take a sample for analysis!). The drinks offered have the amount of alcohol they should. For example OUZO is 35%. Wine is not from a soda dispenser (!!!) - it is similar to a beer tap, because wine goes through a cooler. I had no idea this is a bad thing.
Thank you for the few nice things you say, and I wish you all the best. We are constantly trying to improve and I will take into consideration all your comments.
Kind regards.*

That's what I mean about seeing both the original complaint and the reply and then making a judgement. The complainer sounds ridiculous and the reply is excellent. I would definitely stay at that hotel if the other reviews were ok.

I love most of the replies tbh, I see some utterly ridiculous complaints on Tripadvisor.