Doubletree & TripAdvisor How-to’s and Guidelines October, 2009

WHY IS TRIPADVISOR SO IMPORTANT FOR ALL OUR HOTELS?

83% HotelMarketing.com of travel planning in the US is done online

DO YOU “OWN” YOUR HOTEL LISTING ON TRIPADVISOR.COM?

If the answer is yes…congratulations! For those of you who do NOT own your listing just yet, please follow the next steps: –Visit –Search for your hotel by name (not just by city), i.e. Doubletree Memphis, Doubletree Seattle Airport, etc. –Once you arrive at your hotel page, make a note of your ranking amongst the hotels in your city and then scroll to the bottom of the page to find the owner’s center

Take advantage of the owner’s center! TripAdvisor offers some great tools for you to truly manage your listing and lead the way in your market: –Get notified of new guest reviews –Update property details –Add photos, videos and descriptions –Reply to reviews –Track your performance against your competitors –And much more!

TRIPADVISOR GUIDELINES

Positive Reviews It is not necessary to respond to every positive review. Just pick a few and respond. It is important that other TripAdvisor visitors see you are having a conversation with your guests who have taken the time to review your hotel. –Be timely: make sure to post a response within a few days (1 week maximum) of the guest’s post. This shows that you are reading responses and care about what people are saying. –Be gracious: thank the guest for taking the time to post a review about your hotel. He or she took time out to tell the world about a nice experience at your hotel. Make sure to say thank you! –Be specific: if a guest mentions something specific they liked about your hotel (i.e. the front desk service), be specific and comment on that particular statement. –Be hospitable: invite guests back to your hotel. Show that you really do value their business and enjoy having them stay with you. –Be transparent: make sure you identify yourself as a hotel representative. –Be conscientious: before you post your response, make sure you read it thoroughly. Be sure to check for typos and misspellings. It’s okay to craft a casual response, but just make sure it’s still professional.

Negative Reviews Only 4% of negative reviews receive a reply on Trip Advisor, so you can see how a hotel management response will stand out to those who are reading the reviews. It is imperative that you respond to negative reviews about your hotel. Research shows that visitors are likely to read the negative hotel reviews first. Responding to those reviews shows that you are an active part of the conversation and that you have taken the time to try and right the wrong. Remember, you don’t have to address every complaint within the same posting, but you should at least address one specifically. See next slide for guidelines

Negative Review Response Guidelines (Part 1) Be timely: make sure to post a response within a few days (2 weeks maximum) of the guest’s post. This shows you are reading responses and you really do care what people are saying. Be gracious: thank the guest for taking the time to post a review about your hotel. Remember, he or she took the time to post their feedback. Make sure to say thank you. Be specific: if a guest mentions a specific complaint about the stay, refer to the complaint specifically and tell the guest how you’ve fixed the problem. (for example, if a guest complains that your pool heater was broken and you have have now had it replaced, let the guest know. ) And of course, now that you know about a problem, you have an opportunity to prevent it from happening again. Make sure this guest is the LAST GUEST to experience this issue. Be hospitable: invite the guest back to your hotel. Show that you really do value the business and are eager to have another opportunity to provide a good stay experience. Be transparent: make sure you identify yourself as a hotel representative.

Negative Review Response Guidelines (Part 2) Be available: encourage guests to bring up problems to you or your staff during their stay so that you can rectify the problem while the guest is still at your hotel. It is so important to show guests that our teams are open to hearing about problems and want to fix them in a timely and CAREing manner. Be conscientious: before you post your response, make sure you read it thoroughly. Be sure to check for typos and misspellings, and be certain that nothing in your response seems to make light of the problem or sounds defensive. Don’t get in an argument: if you are angry about a post, WALK AWAY! Wait to respond until you’ve cooled down, and don’t post something you will regret later. Remember, anything you post on the Internet can travel around the world in a matter of hours. Don’t post to a review about a competitor: while it may be tempting, you should never post a response to a negative review about a competitor. It’s unprofessional, and it’s not proper “netiquette.”

Negative Review Response Guidelines (Part 3) Don’t blame other guests: while it may be that your elevator problems were due to three big groups in your hotel last weekend, don’t blame them for a problem another guest experienced. Simply apologize, acknowledge the issue and tell the guest how you’ve addressed it. Take it offline: For one-on-one service recovery, try to follow-up on a complaint from a guest who has left the hotel by contacting the guest using the information you have collected during the stay. Guests who are passionate enough about a problem they’ve experienced to write about it online will typically post a review with 48 hours of their stay. Find a phone number, give the guest a call and try to save the customer relationship! And finally: DON’T POST ANYTHING YOU WOULDN’T WANT YOUR MOTHER—OR YOUR BOSS—TO READ!

Things to remember… Millions of people are visiting TripAdvisor.com every day, stay engaged and represent your hotel in the best possible manner! Always ensure the information about your hotel is accurate, if you are a conversion hotel, this is even more important Follow the guidelines to respond to reviews And when in doubt, reach out to your Director of Brand Performance or the Brand Marketing team

Questions? Diana Plazas Director, Online Marketing