You are glowing; ecstatic; enamored. Why? You just dropped several grand on an immaculate new hotel website and cannot wait to hit the ground running. This new website is going to generate millions for your property and is a massive upgrade from the old version. However, does your hotel website accurately portray the experience a guest could expect on property? There is a definite line between showcasing your hotel or resort property in the absolute best light possible and misrepresenting your property.
The big deal is, if your website and the online shopping experience do not match the on-site experience, your guests are not going to be happy. By setting unrealistic expectations, you are setting yourself up for failure from day one.
This is the typical timeline of what happens when a hotel property gets too aggressive with “perfecting” their website:
- New website launches, does not match the on-site experience
- Property guests book via the new website
- Guests arrive at property, only to be disappointed with the on-site experience
- Guests leave negative reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc. and share photos and stories that showcase the hotel in a negative light
- Online reputation diminishes, eroding at the ADR that hotel can demand, resulting in lower profits and fewer bookings over time
Expectation vs Reality
Are you concerned about the state of your hotel rooms? Fix it. Are you worried that the true images of your property will not put heads in beds? Fix it. Are you nervous that the online reviews of your property might actually scare away future guests? Fix it.
Altering the appearance of your property or including false information on your website is simply a band-aid, not a long-term solution. And, it is a band-aid that will do more harm than good in the long run.
Furthermore, this concept of consistency is not limited to the design of your website. Does the address provided via your website match what is listed on Google? How frustrating would it be for someone to use Google Maps to find your property, only to be navigated to the wrong hotel? Do the reviews provided on your website match the reviews that are provided via TripAdvisor and other aggregator sites? How misleading would it be to have shining, 5-star reviews all over your website when your TripAdvisor page shows an average rating of only 2.5?
Tips For Ensuring A Consistent Online & Offline Hotel Experience
Here are 6 fast and easy website elements you can audit to ensure that you are providing the most relevant online and offline experience possible.
