Image via Union Street Guest House
1.
Sometimes the key to getting a good review is simply the old-fashioned way: delivering good service. Don't tell this hotel that.
Union Street Guest House in Hudson, NY, went full on mobster (you never go full mobster) when they put up a rule on their website that told wedding guests that if they left a negative review of them anywhere on the Internet, the party would be charged $500 per negative review. From their website, according to Business Insider:
2.
If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH, there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any Internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event. If you stay here to attend a wedding anywhere in the area and leave us a negative review on any Internet site, you agree to a $500 fine for each negative review.
3.
After reading this, does it strike you as a joke? Well, that's how the hotel tried to cover it up, by saying it was a "tongue-in-cheek response" to a wedding years ago. But the damage was done, and the hotel was flooded with negative reviews:
4.
Fortunately for the hotel, Yelp says that they delete reviews that aren't from first-hand experience, and it seems many of these reviews are from people who heard about their $500 fine policy and decided to handle things the Internet way. "How is that review policy working out for you guys now?" one review asked.