CASE STUDIES
Upscale Independent Hotel
Location: Major West Coast Market
Service: REM
Rooms: 400
Period: October 2019 – Present
- Guest Engagement Training occurred in January 2020 and by March 2020 the hotel climbed 10+ spots on the TripAdvisor popularity index, landing in the top 7% of their market.
- Trained again in August 2022 after the pandemic closure. The hotel climbed another 6 spots on the TripAdvisor popularity index in the four months following the second training.
- The average review score climbed 4/10 of a point in the four months following training vs. the four months prior to the 2022 training, resulting in average scores of 4.6 and above.
- Google review scores are also up more than 3/10 of a point YOY.
- Since signing on board with us, this hotel has referred 2 sister hotels within their management company and the local market. Both of these hotels signed agreements and are off to a tremendous start.
Lifestyle Branded Hotel
Location: Major Gulf States Market
Service: REM
Rooms: 475
Period: August 2016 – Present
- After the first 12 months in our program, the hotel increased the percentage of Five-Star reviews on TripAdvisor by 6.6%
- With the training refresh event in June of 2022, the hotel increased its TripAdvisor rank by 18 spots between June 2022 and December 2022
- In the six months leading up to the June 2022 Training refresh, the TripAdvisor average review score was 3.7 or lower every month. Since the 2022 training, the hotel earned a 4.1 average review score or higher (up 4/10 of a point), every month for the next six months.
Pre-pandemic, this hotel referred 7 sister hotels that signed agreements with The Reputation Lab with nearly all of those hotels returning to service by 2022.
Globally Branded Hotel
Location: Major Southern Market
Service: REM
Rooms: NA
Period: September 2018 – Present
- After one year in our REM program and a focus on Guest Engagement, this hotel increased review volume from an average of 5.2 prior to training to 15.3 TripAdvisor reviews per month post-training.
- TripAdvisor rank at this hotel grew by 26 spots in the first year of service. Between that first year and 2023, another 7 spots have been gained, resulting in this hotel landing in the Top 5 of their market (a market with over 200 hotels).
- Within the first year of service, Booking.com scores grew by 4/10 or a point, Expedia 9/10 of a point, and Google nearly 6/10 of a point. How? Through a greater focus on Guest Engagement, as highlighted in our REM Program and Guest Training Training workshops.
The General Manager at this hotel has now employed The Reputation Lab at multiple hotels. Given the continued long-term success, it should be noted that the team at this hotel is consistent. The Property Champions lead the program day-in and day-out and continue to participate in weekly calls,
Branded Full-Service Hotel; 2-Year Ongoing Partnership)
Location: Texas
Service: REM
Rooms: 400+ / no recent room renovations
Period: June 2023 – Present
- Training sessions started in June 2023 and in the 12 months that followed, the hotel generated a 5.52% increase in perfect reviews across all platforms.
- The 5-star review ratio on TripAdvisor grew by 2% points, showing a significant rise in guest satisfaction.
The Y1 TripAdvisor and Expedia review scores improved by more than a full point at the conclusion of Year One. - The volume of TripAdvisor reviews in a 12-month period rose by 164.71%, via an all-inclusive process of encouraging guests to share reviews. Guest engagement has been a big focus as the rapport built with guests often leads to a “wow moment” being created.
- The all-time average TripAdvisor review score increased by 0.53%, reinforcing the hotel’s long-term reputation.
Based on review volume, and efforts needed to lead this program, we estimate that we’ve saved this management team 9 to 12 hours per month in response and leadership time.
The hotel’s management has been actively involved in the process, ensuring strong results. The leadership team of this hotel truly embraced the training content and made guest engagement part of their culture. Senior leadership attends weekly meetings with TRL, and they continue to guide and mentor team members in more thoughtful guest engagement. Their consistent efforts have led to continued improvement, and the upward trend is expected to continue throughout the year.
Branded Full-Service Hotel - Rejoined REM Post-Pandemic)
Location: Gulf States
Service: REM
Rooms: 450+ / no recent room renovations
Period: 2016 – 2020; November 2023 – Present
- 4+ point jump in perfect reviews across all platforms was achieved.
- 5-star review ratio on TripAdvisor climbed more than 10%,as the team at this hotel became more focused on engaging guests and learning more about their in-house experiences.
- Number of five-star reviews grew by 1.02%, showing a steady increase in positive feedback.
- The 1-star TripAdvisor review ratio dropped by more than 2 percentage points, indicating fewer negative experiences thanks to enhanced guest engagement, in which guest concerns can be identified during the guest experience.
- Expedia and Hotels.com review scores improved year over year as well.
- Based on review volume and the effort needed to lead our program, we estimate that we save this management team 22 – 26 hours per month.
While there have been leadership changes at this hotel through the years, the current leadership is highly engaged in driving exceptional experiences and challenging their team members to be more engaging with guests. This hotel has over six champions that attend our weekly calls and drive the program in-house.
Soft-Branded Lifestyle Hotel (3-Year Partnership)
Location: Southeast States
Service: REM
Rooms: 300+ / last room renovation was prior to 2020
Period: October 2023 – Present
- Perfect review ratio across all review platforms grew YOY while four of the five comp set hotels saw a decline in perfect reviews.
- 5-star review ratio increased by more than 10 percentage points reflecting greater guest engagement.
- YOY review scores saw growth on TripAdvisor, Google, Expedia a%.
- The 1-star TripAdvisor review ratio saw a significant drop, of more than 4 percentage points. Engaging guests during their stay, asking targeted open-ended questions about the experience allows the team to resolve negative experiences.
A change in leadership played a major role in these improvements. The hotel has referred multiple sister properties, which speaks to their satisfaction with the Guest Engagement Training program and the services provided by TRL.
Soft Branded Lifestyle Hotel (3-Year Partnership)
Location: Pacific Northwest
Service: REM
Rooms: 250+
Period: October 2022– Present
- Perfect reviews across all platforms grew by 14 percentage points.
- The Google review score increased by more than 4%
- Booking.com review scores improved by 5.4%, and Expedia scores climbed by 4.9%.
- TripAdvisor annual review scores grew by more than 12% while volume increased by 69% thanks to proactive and all-inclusive efforts that encourage guests to share reviews.
- The TripAdvisor all-time average score improved by 1.19%.
The hotel struggled with turnover in Year One which led to a delay in results as we didn’t have consistent champions leading and mentoring the team post-training. In Year Two however, the fully aligned team has embraced the program, producing strong results.
Mid-Market Branded Hotel
Location: Gulf States
Service: REM
Rooms: 250 / Last renovation was estimated to be in 2015.
Period: May 2018 – March 2020 / July 2020 - Present
- The percentage of perfect reviews has increased by more than 4.5 percentage points.
- Booking.com annual review scores increased by 4.1%.
- TripAdvisor review volume increased via all-inclusive efforts that invite guests to share their reviews. In turn, the 5-star review ratio on TripAdvisor has seen double digital growth.
- TripAdvisor rank has improved 30 spots YOY
Full-Service – Upscale Brand
Location: Gulf States
Service: REM – to Review Response in Year Three
Rooms: 350+ / rooms renovation: 2019
Period: June 2017 – Present
- The percentage of perfect reviews has remained consistent at more than 76% perfect reviews across all channels.
- The 5-star review ratio on TripAdvisor consistently remains at 90% and higher.
- The TripAdvisor review count dropped by five reviews YOY but remains consistent.
- OTA performance also remains consistent.
This hotel is now five years out from their room renovation, yet the review and guest satisfaction data remain consistent. When this hotel started with us they were ranked at #40+ in a market of over 150 hotels, and today the hotel consistently ranks in the Top 5 of their market.
Independent Lifestyle Hotel
Location: West Coast
Service: REM
Rooms: 200 + / rooms renovation 2018
Period: 2019-2020 / August 2023 – Present / Hotel hosted a Training Refresh in Q1 2025.
- The percentage of perfect reviews increased by 1.8%.
- Google review score increased by 2/10 of a point YOY.
- Expedia, Hotels, and Booking scores remained consistent YOY.
- TripAdvisor review count slipped, though the same is true for 3 of the 5 competitors in the market.
The property is in a market that has struggled to rebound post-pandemic, but despite those challenges the hotel to see small improvements. Hotel has referred four sister hotels that are now in service programs with The Reputation Lab as well.
Full-Service Branded Hotel
Location: West Coast
Service: REM
Rooms: 250+ / Rooms renovation: 2021
Period:April 2022 – Present
- Percentage of perfect reviews across all review platforms has remained consistent in this second year of service.
- 5-star review ratio on TripAdvisor increased by 12.19%.
- TripAdvisor review count rose by 31%.
- Google review scores improved by 2.48%, Hotels.com is up by 8.2% and Expedia is up by 2.3%;
- Booking.com did see a very slight drop.
- TripAdvisor rank improved five spots YOY.
This hotel saw great improvement in Year One and as the hotel started to compete with the best of the best in the market for Year Two, the results became more about maintaining consistency. Elevating performance in a marathon – not a sprint, and the team maintains a focus on driving overall performance.