This week, I spoke with the charming and insightful Isabelle Lozano, owner of Paris’ Apostrophe Hotel. Below is an excerpt from our conversation, and her seven secrets to boutique hotel success.

#1 – Treat your hotel like a pastry

Josiah: Can you tell me about the Apostrophe Hotel and your current role there?

Isabella: It’s a boutique hotel with 16 rooms. Each room is themed differently and has a unique decoration. This concept hotel — we prefer to say “Poem hotel” — is based on two major ideas: comfort and escape. Comfort is having something equal or better than what you can get at home. I’ve been working a long time in the hotel business, and I’ve seen hotels in Paris, at least, changing quite a lot. There was a time when you had a mini bar in your room; it was like Christmas-time! But now, when you go to your room, you really need something else…

Josiah: How did you decide on the amenities you offer?

Isabella: Of course I’ve been listening to customers in other hotels that we’ve run but we also just did it quite simply; what would I like to have in my room? Of course, a comfortable bed (these are not so common in Parisian hotels), to be able to watch a DVD or hear a CD, internet connectivity like at home, good showers and jacuzzi baths — that’s the part that is a bit more than what you can have at home. I believe the best way to personalize is to think about, “what would I do?”

Josiah: I think when you’re designing for yourself – instead of spending alot of time doing market research – the result is something alot more personal.

Isabella: Yes, and people feel that it’s “home made”. You know? It’s like a pastry. If you go to an industrial bakery, or if you ask your grandma to do it, the taste will be different. In our branch, I think it is exactly the same.

#2 Offer guests a unique experience, every time.

Josiah: You and your father wanted to create a hotel that was unique, and the way you did that was to create very different themes for each room.

Isabella: Yes, I think in Paris, we’re the only hotel that has a unique decoration in each of our 16 rooms. There are some new hotels that are very nice, but they usually have 4 or 5 types of rooms. Each one very different, but only 4 or 5. It pleases us, I must say, and it’s good for business. We have alot of people coming back, because they know that their next room experience will be different from the last. We’ve also created some packages that amplify the spirit of our hotel. We try a lot of different things and listen to our clients to see what matches. We call these packages “nuits de rêves” (dreaming nights).

Josiah: It seems like creating 16 different themes would take a lot of work and thought…

Isabella: Yes it did! (laughs)

Josiah: How did you come up with 16 unique room themes?

Isabella: Since we rebuilt the old building, we had to deal with the technical parts first. Then, in each room, we chose different materials, photos, tissues… The space may be the same, but the way we changed each design gives a totally different impression. For instance, in some rooms, we did something special on the ceiling. In the library room, we have a book on the ceiling. In the music room: sheet music.

Josiah: Did you and your father come up with each of the different designs, or were there other people involved?

Isabella: Obviously, the fact that we work with family is a great support. I would never have done this alone. We also had to work with an architect and a young designer, Sabrina Alouf, who’s Belgian. So yes, we had help. That’s good. We couldn’t have made it without them… (laughter)

Josiah: What feedback have you received? Do guests like the different room styles?

Isabella: The French people are absolutely keen on the hotel. They really love it and are very enthusiastic about it which is funny because French people aren’t always enthusiastic types of people, you know? It’s fun to see that. We’ve also get very good reports from Italians, Belgians and the English. Some Americans are reluctant because the bathrooms are an open part of the room, so they’re a bit shy about that.

#3 – Create online content for individuals. Stay flexible, and respond to customer feedback.

Josiah: Do you encourage your guests to talk about their experience online?

Isabella: We use our website blog sometimes, and, of course, you can’t avoid TripAdvisor; it’s really the number one website there for this sort of thing. We send our guests emails at the end of their stay, asking if they would be nice enough to leave us a review on TripAdvisor. We’re also working with Tablet hotels, because it also encourages comments.

Josiah: Do you find a lot of people follow through with your request and leave a review?

Isabella: There may be like 10% of French people doing this, because they really don’t like having to subscribe to all these things. Americans are much more helpful; I would say it’s like 80% of the Americans do it.

Josiah: Really? Those numbers seem high. I talk with hotels who get, maybe, 1%-2% of guests leaving a review, because like you say, it’s a little bit of a hassle if they don’t have an account…

Isabella: Well, if it’s someone we already know, like a businessman who’s staying with us a second time, we won’t bother them. I’m talking about tourism, mostly.

Josiah: Ah, okay. Interesting you’d make that distinction. I’d like to talk about your website for a moment, because it seems more like an online magazine instead of just a brochure. You’re posting alot of interesting content. How did you come up with the idea for your hotel website?

Isabella: There are more or less 3 big companies that are doing websites for hotels in Paris, and I feel like they all look the same. If you’re claiming to be unique, you can’t have a website that looks like the others. We worked with a company named Hoosta, and talking with them, we decided to do a kind of magazine. Keeping in mind that we normally have customers that know and have been to Paris, we’d like to offer them more of an agenda for Paris, not just say where the Eiffel tower is.

Josiah: Who would you say is your typical guest, who wants to know more about events in Paris? What’s the target audience for your website?

Isabella: We noticed that there’s a slight difference between the English part of the website and the French part. The French part has more articles and talks more about things that are less-known than in the English part. We’ve realized that the French customers were really reading alot of our posts. After arriving at the hotel, after their booking, they would say, “I’m going to go see this exhibition that I saw on the website.” The English part follows the same idea, but talks more about the hotel itself, because that’s what English clients want to learn about, we’ve realized.

Josiah: So you do more than just translate content: you’re creating unique content for each type of  visitor

Isabella: Yes, at first we were just translating, but we asked customers what they thought, and we found out that our English and French customers wanted different things. English and Americans were saying, “That’s too much information; we just want to learn more about the hotel.” I’m not working only for my own pleasure; my main aim is to please customers, so I keep asking them what they think. We did the same thing with our breakfast; we started with something very simple, and then we made changes according to what customers wanted.

#4 – Stay organized and cohesive by linking events and seasons to your web content.

Josiah: Who publishes new articles, new content to your website?

Isabella: I got help with the technical aspects of the website, but usually write the posts myself, or an employee will say, “Oh, I’ve noticed something about Paris; we should do a post.” It’s all a work of the hotel.

Josiah: And because your website it based out of WordPress, it’s very easy to update. You don’t need a web-master or a technical person…

Isabella: We have a web-master for other things, but not for the blog. It is a very big job, writing two articles a week. With the research, collecting images… I spend a good hour or two per post, but we prefer not to pay someone for that.

Josiah: I know it can take me 3… 5… 8 hours to write a post. Do you have a process that makes writing easier and faster?

Isabella: Well, each month we have a theme. For instance, February is the romantic month and March is the sporty month; we keep these themes in mind when creating two articles for each week, focusing either on the neighborhood or on the hotel and our themes. This makes the research much easier, because you know what you’re searching for, and you can link the month’s theme to promotions for the hotel; for instance, for July/August, we have a “picnic package”, and the main post for July will be about picnic spaces in Paris. That way it is very cohesive.

#5 – Attract readers with rich media and quality content; reward loyal customers with insider deals.

Josiah: I notice you have a lot of nice photos and videos, alot of rich media on the site. Do you take those photographs? How do you find them?

Isabella: Some are taken by us, and some… we find on the internet. The internet is magic (laughs). As for the videos, Hoosta shoots them for us. At the beginning, I wanted to make long articles, but that was silly. I don’t think people read as much on the internet; it’s not a newspaper. Usually, I write 5-10 lines, and spend more time finding a really good photo.

Josiah: What tactics have you found are the best for generating website traffic?

Isabella: We have people that come from other websites, and we’ve created a “fidelity club” (loyalty program), and give members the best available rate, the best parking, champagne at a restaurant we’re working with… guests work directly with us because they know they will get a bit more. That’s the main thing, and then, of course, we have alot of articles on different things in Paris, which helps people find our website more easily.

#6 – Keep your focus. “I’m not here to talk about Sarcozy politics.”

Josiah: I think once you adopt the mindset of a publisher and start putting alot of interesting content out there, it’s easier for people to find you through Google. You’re probably getting alot of organic, natural, free traffic from those searches.

Isabella: Yes, we just have to keep in mind that the posts we make should be related to the hotel business. I’m not here to talk about Sarcozy politics. That’s not my… you see what I mean. I’m going to talk about the fact that in Paris, for instance, there’s a very big exhibition on Monet that is starting in September. I’m creating a hotel package for that, and writing for people who are coming to Paris to see this exhibition and find a hotel. I’m not talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Josiah: You mentioned that Facebook is working well for you, but Twitter isn’t working as well. Do you know why?

Isabella: I think because I did not understand how Twitter works, at first. So we’re working on that with Hoosta. When we’re doing something special, we’ll send a quick Twitter message. I’m starting to understand a bit more, but it’s not my generation, Facebook and Twitter.

Josiah: I think some design hotels, like yourself, do a little bit better on Facebook because you have the opportunity to share rich media.

Isabella: That’s quite true. I’ve also become aware that TripAdvisor is going to become involved with Facebook.

Josiah: Yes, TripAdvisor is including Facebook networks on their review pages, so that people can ask their friends for advice when they’re visiting a city. I think it’s going to be very interesting to watch how that works out.

Isabella: Yes; it’s all in the same spirit…

#7 – Collaborate with passionate staff, but remember; “Nobody knows more about your hotel and your clients [than you]!”

Josiah: You told me that one of the biggest misconceptions small hotels have is that they can’t manage marketing themselves. I notice that social media works best when the communication is coming from the hotel. It’s hard to do that from a distance. How do you get your hotel team members involved in the publishing that you do?

Isabella: Well… I’m hiring young people! (laughs) It’s quite important that they’re familiar with those kinds of communications. Then… they have to really like the hotel. The people that work here have a lot of heart. They want to work with something special, not just any hotel. Though, speaking truthfully, I’m personally the most involved with posting. The team gives me ideas, and I decide which ones fit with the hotel. If there are too many different voices, you can feel that something is wrong, so it has to be one voice, I think. Maybe I’m wrong.

Josiah: No; I think one voice but with many ideas is good. It’s important that guests really understand the culture and vision behind the hotel, and because you’re the owner and have set everything up, I think you understand what you’re trying to accomplish online, so it helps for you to be that one voice.

Isabella: Yes, and I ask the team to read the website very frequently; they have to be perfectly aware of what is told to customers by the hotel. I think most of hoteliers in small hotels think they cannot manage marketing themselves. Of course you cannot do everything, but you should make decisions and give general direction. Nobody knows more about your hotel and your clients!

Josiah: Excellent. So closing off, I hear that you’re interested in starting a shop with your own products. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Isabella: It’s not made yet, but I’d like to make a selection of products so people can take home a little souvenir from Paris; we wouldn’t do the typical souvenir, of course. I have no intention of buying small lights and flowers, but I’m thinking of finding a few objects that fit with the hotel, and we could sell at the hotel and on the website. I think it’s an interesting project, and with only 16 rooms, it’s a way to make more of a production. It’s not easy, but I’ll manage, I’m sure.

Best of luck, Isabella; thank you!

Trying something a little new today: an audio interview. My conversation with William Cotter of Net Affinity (Dublin, Ireland) was originally going to be about social media in Europe, but we ended up covering a lot more.

You should listen to this call – regardless of where you live.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

1. How to select social media networks for your hotel
2. If Twitter reaches actual guests (or just other hotels and marketing people!)
3. Does direct, proactive selling work in social media?
4. How to track social media activity to sales
5. Tips for building an online fan base
6. Do contests really work?
7. How to balance personality and procedures for consistency
8. The challenge of managing social media off-property (and ways to get around this)
9. How to manage social media campaigns in multiple languages

Listen here:

William Cotter is managing director of Net Affinity, a Dublin-based agency serving the hotel industry. He also runs the website MarketingTimes.com

—

I think this audio format could be valuable, but I need to improve production quality. There were a few tech glitches on my side during this call, and I know my interview skills could use a lot of improvement. So please tell me: how can I make these better for you?

Josiah’s note: Although I was unable to be in Berlin this week to attend PhoCusWright@ITB 2010, Robert Cole of RockCheetah kindly agreed to share his top insights from the event in this guest post.

The PhoCusWright@ITB 2010 conference just concluded and, as always, provided a number of interesting points to consider within the travel industry marketing, distribution and technology landscape.

1)     PhoCusWright CEO Philip Wolf launched the conference with his keynote “Chaos Calls, Navigating the New” summarizing the disruptive forces at play that are complicating the travel industry landscape:

• Disparate Devices & Channels (new operating systems and platforms)
• Strains on Search (evolution of search changes search engine optimization)
• Tapping New Travelers (Look to the Asia Pacific region)
• See Me, Hear Me, Touch Me (new interfaces are predominantly visual)
• Significant Surprise (unexpected new player emerging)

2)     Gene Quinn, Chairman of PhoCusWright then hosted a group of analysts/investors to characterize the investment environment for travel technology companies:

• Investors are looking for recurring revenues, strong EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), company growth, long term contracts, differentiated product, and especially, strong management
• Travelport’s failure to float its initial public offering was not about travel, it was about debt – the company was severely overleveraged. Investors are suspicious of big debt.

3)     Krista Pappas of Microsoft’s Bing search engine provided five lessons for travel media:

• Be Authentic (Million dollar homepage worked only once)
• Relentless Measurement & Optimization (TripAdvisor set the standard)
• Be Social (Starbucks deepening already strong relationships with their community)
• Be Opportunistic & Responsive (Ashton Kutcher’s growth to 1 Million – now 4.5 Million – followers)
• Ads are Content (Burger King’s sacrifice a Facebook friend campaign)

4)     David Roche, President of Hotels.com and Venere.com provided a number of interesting points:

• From a financial perspective, Expedia is basically a hotel selling company
• When comparing the commission model to the merchant model, the company discovered it does not confuse the public when selling both models together.
• Roche was also very complimentary of Priceline’s Booking.com, especially how they used Google as a demand source & a method measuring performance.

Read more…

Megan Harrod is the director of marketing for Mosaic House. I’ve been watching them develop a new website for their soon-to-be-opened property for a while now. When they added Facebook Connect to the homepage, I knew we had to talk…

Josiah: What were some of your goals when redeveloping the website?

Megan: We wanted to focus on the things that makes Mosaic House, Mosaic House. For us, the biggest thing is the atmosphere created by all the communal areas in the building. For the website, we really wanted to show this element. We’re still building out the full website – it’s in progress right now.

Design is also important to us. We wanted that to come through in the imagery.

You mentioned one of the key selling points of your brand is the social aspect. How do you communicate this through design?

The biggest thing for us is the addition of the Facebook Connect feature. What I was talking to the designer in the planning stage, we decided to add this because it’s all about engagement. We haven’t even opened yet, but have nearly 800 fans on Facebook.

The Mosaic House is all about bringing people together. So adding Facebook Connect to the website enables us to bring people together online. We have further integration planned as we rollout the full version of the site. So when people land on the home page, they see a whole mosaic of faces…and then we can direct people to our Facebook page where we encourage further interaction.

I love how you’re integrating Facebook into the website – I don’t see a lot of hotels doing that. Very few hotels are able to reach 800 fans so quickly. Can you talk a little bit about how you promote your Facebook page? How did you get so many people signing up?

Read more…

Today we’re going to talk with Micheal Rosney, and discover how the Killeen House Hotel consistently receives excellent reviews from their guests online…and how they received the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice 2009 award.

Josiah: Tell us a little bit about your hotel.

Michael: The Killeen House is a 23 bedroom Country House style of Hotel, located just outside of the town of Killarney: Ireland’s premier Tourist destination. It has been owned and personally managed by Michael and Geraldine Rosney since 1992. Mainly targeted towards the upper end of the International Leisure Market, it is a uniquely Irish property, with the emphasis firmly placed on good friendship, good food and good water pressure in the showers! As much as 70 percent of all of our business is either direct repeat business or direct referral from past Guests. This is a major plus for us, because it means that our Guests know exactly what we can offer them, and we know exactly what it takes to meet – and hopefully exceed – their vacation expectations.

How have you achieved the success you have on TripAdvisor?

We became hyper conscious – to the extent of being almost paranoid -  of it! When we first became aware of TripAdvisor a couple of years back, we immediately identified it as a tool that had tremendous potential for us to get the message and the ethos of our property out into a Marketplace that we otherwise had no hope of reaching. We made all of the great people working with us aware if it, and explained to them that this was an opportunity that we felt would have very tangible and positive long term benefits for the Killeen House.

We have always operated our business on the basis of treating our Guests firstly as individuals to be welcomed and looked after in a personal and individual way, and secondly as new friends, who we want to show a great time to while they’re visiting with us. And anyone glancing through the reviews we have garnered on TripAdvisor will be clearly struck by the big number of them that specifically mention the PEOPLE rather than the PLACE. Its not within our power to make the bedrooms bigger, or to order up 80 degrees of sunshine, but it is very certainly within our power to ensure that all of our Guests receive a uniquely warm and Irish welcome from all of us here in the Killeen House…..

How are you encouraging guests at your hotel to talk about their stay online – and share their experience with others?

Given that we are a small operation, we have ample opportunity here in the Killeen House to meet most of our guests on a personal level, If we find our for example that they have heard of us via TripAdvisor, than that is a natural opportunity for us to ask them to keep on spreading the word!

Thankfully, we frequently receive notes and e-mails from our Guests after they have departed, telling us how much they have enjoyed their stay with us. Again, a great opportunity to ask them to post a TripAdvior review of their experience. We have found that after the initial first number of reviews, that it almost becomes a self-perpetuating thing

Read more…

Today’s successful hotel is much more than a place to rest for a few hours; it is an ambassador to a city. Whether guests are visiting the destination for the first time or returning to a favorite locale, a hotel builds loyalty by welcoming them as part of the community.

The Eurostars Hotels group is taking an innovative path to endear their Barcelona guests to the Catalan way of life. Many of their properties are lending guests MP3 players pre-programmed by Tourism Radio with a “Walking Tour” of over 100 of the city’s attractions. Armed with headsets and maps, visitors can listen in five different languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian and German) and trek around for 15 hours on one battery charge.

If sight-seeing by foot isn’t your thing, Hotel Miramar near Las Ramblas offers a guest package featuring the use of a “talking” Go Car. This banana-colored electric mini-mobile has no roof or doors (passengers must wear helmets) and provides GPS-guided audio tours based upon the car’s location in the city. Anyone over 21 with a driving license can rent one – but zooming along at 30mph tops means you’re safe and have time to absorb Barcelona’s sites and flavors. Or become part of the scenery yourself… Go Cars are also available in San Francisco, San Diego, Miami and Lisbon.

How can your hotel help guests explore your city? Are versions of these services available in your town – and could providing them give you a competitive edge?

Tuncel Toprak

In just one year, Tuncel Toprak has turned his new boutique hotel, Witt Istanbul Suites, into one of Istanbul’s most acclaimed hotels (currently #2 of 545 hotels in the city according to TripAdvisor). In the interest of full disclosure, Tuncel has hired Gradigio to enhance their digital media marketing campaign. But Tuncel has an fascinating story, and I think many of you would be interested in hearing how he did it. Let’s get started….

Josiah: Seth Godin talks a lot about product design being the foundation of marketing. You’ve focused on that from day one, studying design in New York, then hiring Autoban to design the hotel. Are you seeing a link from your emphasis on design to the press and referrals you’ve received?

Tuncel: Yes. When we were starting we didn’t have a set budget for different categories – we just wanted to create things we liked. So everything from the linens (commissioned from Denizli) to the bathroom fixtures (part of Ross Lovegrove’s Istanbul Collection) – are things I would want in my house. I would love to live in a house like my hotel. That was the concept of the design process.

Image courtesy of WittIstanbul.com

Nothing is ‘hotel furniture’. There is a whole industry of hotel furniture, and I hate it! All our furniture is designed for us and built for us by Autoban. When we were renovating the former Ogilvy & Mather offices, we could have installed 30 rooms. But we wanted the suites to be large, so we ended up creating 17 60-square-meter suites. Now we’re able to offer a spacious luxury suite for the same price as a standard 5-star hotel room.

People are sick of staying in chain hotels that are the same everywhere. For example if you’re staying in the Hilton Dubai you probably wouldn’t notice the difference from Hilton Tokyo – it’s the same concept. People like our large, home atmosphere with a unique design.

Image courtesy of WittIstanbul.com

We were the first hotel project for our architects. They are very young, but have won many awards from international magazines. There are a group of journalists that are following their work, and so when they did this project, they came to us to see what the result was. We didn’t pay these people…it was word of mouth buzz. One journalist would write a story about our hotel, then a few more would, and so on.

What other marketing tactics have performed well for you?

My aim has always been simple: try to get good online reviews. I know word of mouth is very important, so I never want a guest to leave unhappy. I don’t want to pressure our guests into writing a review, but I do try to talk with all our guests. If they say something positive, I try to refer them to TripAdvisor (or a similar site).

Image courtesy of WittIstanbul.com

So you’ve only focused on online reviews so far for your marketing?

Yes, we have a guestbook at our reception desk. If someone writes something in there, we encourage them to post a review to TripAdvisor or the online booking site they used to make their reservation.

It’s not easy for someone to write a review online. They have to go to the site, log in, and then write their thoughts. Typically people that have negative experiences at a hotel are far more likely to do this than people who have a good experience. This makes earning positive reviews harder.

Is there anything special you do for the Turkish market?

No, we actually don’t focus our marketing here. Some big local corporations find us online, and contact us after reading our online reviews. So they are coming to us, we don’t market to them.

I think we’re going to see more and more of that in the future. Improving ‘findability’ will give a better return on investment than outbound sales efforts. Having an impressive online presence pre-sells potential guests before they even contact you.

If they believe the reviews are authentic and true, and it contains a good third-party endorsement, then it’s more reliable information than self-puffery by the hotel.

We find our visitors are very informed when they arrive at our hotel…they even know the names of some of our staff. There are some reviews on TripAdvisor saying [name] was great, and so they arrive feeling like they know us a bit already.

What type of information do people want to find about (or from) you online?

Our guests don’t want to be tourists here in Istanbul. They want to know insider tips and information. So providing that to potential guests is a good way for us to help them. When I go to a new restaurant, I want to write my own review and take pictures so I can share that with my guests.

Do you know what method your guests want to access this information?

I believe blogs will be the platform of the future for hotel websites…continuously being updated with information. I don’t like the old, static web page format. It’s boring for the website visitor.

Finally, employees play an important role in any hospitality business, but your people are one of the biggest reasons people give you positive feedback. What’s your secret to finding and recruiting a great staff?

I look for people who love finding new things to do here in Istanbul, and can then share their first-hand findings with our guests. I want people on my staff that are travelers at heart, and can live the lifestyle that we try to provide for our guests.

Great! Thank you for your time, Tuncel. For more information, visit WittIstanbul.com or see their photos on Flickr.

Today at ad:tech Paris 2009 Chris Dobson of the BBC gave a keynote speech on how established companies can adapt to new media. Though this conference targets the broader advertising industry, many of the ideas have relevance in hospitality marketing. Here are a few notes from the speech:

• You don’t have to be new to be in new media. BBC is one of the oldest media companies, but is one of the world’s most advanced media companies. The brave new world favors the brave old one.
• There have been many new media changes over the years, so you must be adaptable. BBC started television broadcasting before World War 2, but the format only started gaining popularity after Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. Get your technology ready now, and you’ll be prepared with the growth surge comes.
• The multiple screen theory is no longer a theory. People are now using media on multiple devices more than ever.
• The brave new world requires great content. Content is needed to populate all media devices. User-generated content will always be important, but so will professionally produced content. Bigger companies have the resources to fund and produce top-quality information. Users need and appreciate that.
• New media still has less reach than old media, but is more personalized. As we move ahead, ‘high touch’ media will also become high reach. We’ll be in a world of high reach and a high degree of personalization.
• The future of new media adoption in western Europe, unless it changes significantly, is under pressure. Brazil, Russia, India, and China have many more young people as a percentage of their populations, so technology adoption is higher. The greatest new media opportunities lie there.

Photo by MorBCN on Flickr

Some of you know I’m in Europe for a couple months to attend conferences and work with a few hotels. Since arriving, I’ve been trying to learn the nuances of European internet marketing from my colleagues here. Of course, the tactics we discuss in this blog have relevance globally, but there are always regional differences in the sites to target and best practices to use. I hope to share some of these in future posts, but for now here are most popular guest-review sites with European users:

• TripAdvisor (seems to be the market leader in most countries)
• Qype (based in Germany)
• Zoover (based in the Netherlands)
• Trivago (based in Germany)

The decision to focus on regionally popular sites is somewhat controversial. Some hoteliers I talk with say it’s only profitable to spend time promoting their TripAdvisor presence, while others say TripAdvisor is ineffective.

I’ve also noticed that the Italian hospitality mistrust Tripadvisor due its relationship to expedia, whereas independent players are considered a source of objective and honest information about user’s holiday stay. – Michele Aggiato (Italy)

For those of you elsewhere in the world I intend to share regionally-focused lists for other continents as well. For now, you may consider creating a listing of you want to reach European travelers. For example, Qype is quite popular in Berlin – lots of local restaurants have “as seen in Qype” on their windows. However, they also provide reviews in San Francisco, Sydney, and Singapore – so you may want to create a profile there for your business there.

(Special thanks to Daniele Beccari of isango, Dirk de Man of Web Power, and David Marshall of Sirleaf Ltd. for their contributions to this post)