I just won a round with Trip Advisor!
I got a google alert that brought me to a forum discussion on TA. The OP was asking for help because they were interested in staying with us and thought it would be a perfect fit for them but they couldn't quite figure out our region and where we were located. There were the normal discussions in the forum thread, then there was a post by a "TA Destination Expert", although they were not an expert for my region. In their post they said how they had driven past our place in the winter time and were unimpressed. It looked like an old farm house. They also mentioned that we got great TA reviews, but they didn't know why and suggested they stay at a different hotel. Oh yeah, this guy and said they loved b&bs. This same guy had posted virtually the same type of post a couple years ago and I just let it go by. Oh, by the way, in the 47 lodging reviews, this guy had only been to 1 b&b!!!
This time I "fought" back. How dare someone say negative things about us without first hand experience? I crafted this response:
I just wanted to comment on your post about us. You're right, we look like an old farm house from the road. That's because we are. Our farm house is a historical landmark which was built out of 3x12 timbers salvaged from a shipwreck in 1890 at the nearby beach and hauled to our location to build the original homestead finished in 1894. Our charm happens not from what you see from the road, but what you see and experience once you are inside our historic house, our forested back acreage and our pampering service.
I know you say you love b&bs, so I would love for you to stop by when you're in the area so we may show you why our reviews are so wonderful. Trip Advisor is a powerful medium, so your words on here can affect a small b&b like ours negatively and for years to come. I am only commenting on this thread because it's the second time over the past couple of years you've made the same comment. I'm very sincere about our invitation, stop by for a cup of coffee or tea sometime!
To answer the original posters question, I can totally understand why you can't figure out if we're north or central coast. It even confuses us! We are south on the north coast, bordering on the central coast.XXXX City is only a 30 minute drive, XXXX is 1 1/4 hours, XXXX is 1 1/4 hours and XXXX is 1 3/4 hours with normal drive times (not holiday traffic).
Later that day (yesterday), my post was removed as "inappropriate". I'm sure the destination experts flagged it. How dare I challenge them?
I wrote TA back asking why it had been removed and I had not broken any of their guidlines and requested that it be reposted.
They agreed!!! The post was returned this morning. Score one for the little guy!!.