As many of the social media outlets have pointed to today, the Union Guest House in Hudson, NY jokingly posted a blurb on their website explaining how they would charge $500 for any complaints posted online about their hotel. Unfortunately, the posts were taken seriously, and it’s sparked quite an outrage in the hotel and travel industry today.
According to pagesix.com:
A hotel in tony Hudson, NY, has found a novel way to keep negative reviews off Yelp and other sites — fine any grousing guests.
The Union Street Guest House, near Catskills estates built by the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, charges couples who book weddings at the venue $500 for every bad review posted online by their guests.
“Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our inn, your friends and families may not,” reads an online policy. “If you have booked the inn for a wedding or other type of event . . . and given us a deposit of any kind . . . there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review . . . placed on any internet site by anyone in your party.”
If you take down the nasty review, you’ll get your money back.
For any bad reviews that do make it online, the innkeepers aggressively post “mean spirited nonsense,” and “she made all of this up.”
In response to a review complaining of rude treatment over a bucket of ice, the proprietors shot back: “I know you guys wanted to hang out and get drunk for 2 days and that is fine. I was really really sorry that you showed up in the summer when it was 105 degrees . . . I was so so so sorry that our ice maker and fridge were not working and not accessible.”
Oddly, the hotel didn’t respond to a request for comment.
If I were to ever encounter a hotel like this, I would flat out refuse to stay there. I certainly wouldn’t want to have a carrot hanging over my head, just so the hotel could mess up at it’s pleasure, and me not have any recourse. As much as the hotel thinks this was a joke, I know much of the hotel and travel industry doesn’t think it is. This hotel may be joking themselves to bankruptcy…
What do you think? Would you stay in such a hotel with a similar policy?
Jamie Larounis is an avid traveler, blogger and miles/points educator. Traveling well over 100,000 miles a year and staying in hotels for over 100 nights, he leverages miles, points and other deals to fly in first class cabins, and stay in 5-star hotels. The Forward Cabin shares his experiences, musings, reviews, tips, tricks, resources and industry news with you, the fellow traveler.
I would not stay at a hotel like this. They sound kind of snobby.