Expedia overhauls its hotel reviews

Expedia.ca has overhauled its hotel reviews feature, incorporating new improvements that will make its collection of verified hotel reviews more accessible and relevant to prospective travellers. As part of that overhaul, Expedia.ca will incorporate all the verified reviews from its sister company, Hotels.com, into its collection which will bring the total number of verified reviews available to Expedia.ca customers to more than 7.5 million. All Expedia.ca reviews are vetted and verified, meaning multiple steps are taken to ensure the validity of customer reviews, including ensuring that the reviews are posted by travellers who have paid for and stayed in a room in the hotel they are reviewing. A key change to its reviews program is in its relevancy. Customers can now write reviews for a particular type of traveller by selecting their intended audience from amongst a list including families, business travellers, couples, students and ‘other.’ Expedia.ca is now also allowing reviewers to include their own photos in their review, in addition to the photos provided by the hotels that already appear on the site. Sean Shannon, vice-president and managing director of Expedia Canada, commented: “Travellers will now be able to view user photos along with reviews written for travellers that share their same interests or needs. This is just another way we aim to provide Canadian travellers with the information they need to make the best travel decisions.” And because it has such a sizable collection of reviews — some hotels have thousands — Expedia.ca has created a rich, interactive way for customers to filter and sort reviews. Travellers can now find relevant content quickly and can share that content with their travelling companions, friends and relatives. They can also sort reviews by rating, date submitted, language, traveller type and photos and share reviews — both their own and others’ — via Facebook and Twitter. As well, Expedia.ca has implemented a ‘thank the reviewer’ feature so readers can express their appreciation to the reviewer if that review has been helpful. The process of submitting reviews has also been streamlined and simplified. Go to http://www.expedia.ca for more.