3 Steps to Better Online Reviews

Let's face the facts. Most things in life that initially sound wonderful often have a catch. "That new restaurant has an incredible menu!" (But the servers are rude.) "This new ice cream shop has the best flavors!" (But contains little nutritional value.) "I have the perfect guy for you!" (But he has commitment issues.) Unfortunately for the consumer, not all advertisements come with a quick talking voice at the end who rattles off disclaimers. Luckily we have online reviews to turn to. As a business this can cause problems if you have been toting the "we're amazing" model of advertising without ensuring that you don't have that "but" factor.

In the hospitality industry, reviews from sites like TripAdvisor and Oyster.com can make or break a property. What is the biggest "but" of the hospitality industry? Poor Internet quality.

Here is a sample of review titles from TripAdvisor over the past month:

"Good, Chic hotel, patchy wifi"
- August '14

"Perfect for business trip but poor wifi"
- Scots_on_holiday_09 in August '14

"Nice hotel but no free wifi"
- Hilary P in August '14

"Great staff. Expensive breakfast and wifi"
-RomaPHILE33 in September '14

"Good hotel but poor wifi"
- Daniel L in September '14

With the average traveler bringing 2.68 Wi-Fi connected devices to do things like download files and stream movies, it is a tall order for hotels to keep up with the high demand for bandwidth. As the number of devices continues to multiply, it is increasingly important that hotels upgrade their systems and find out what works best for their brand and customer base. How can you minimize your hotel's "but" and ensure high performance of your guest Internet?

• Usage Monitoring: keep track of high bandwidth consumption periods throughout certain hours, days and months. With this knowledge, you can ensure your hotel never has too much or too little bandwidth available to guests.
• Tiered Internet Plans: connection speeds are not one-size-fits-all; by allowing guests to choose their amount of bandwidth your Internet pipe will be fairly and consistently distributed, reducing your risk of slowdowns.
• Bandwidth Prioritization: setup your network to ensure lucrative conferences and groups receive the bandwidth levels they need. Reliable Wi-Fi will surely lead to increased satisfaction and loyalty.

ElevenOS can provide you with the tools to easily scale your Internet and track performance, usage, and revenue for the best return on Internet for both the hotel and guests. By taking a more proactive role in managing your hotel's bandwidth, there is an opportunity to deliver a more consistent experience without continually upgrading infrastructure. Take control over your supply of bandwidth so you can give guests something to rave about!

How do your hotel's reviews compare?