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The owners of the Ballymascanlon House Hotel in Co Louth have taken a legal action for damages against internet giant Google, alleging defamation of the hotel’s business and reputation via Google’s web search service.

It is alleged that Google had permitted, since about March 14th 2011, the term “‘receivership’” to automatically appear after the hotel’s trading name when a search is carried out in the autocomplete suggestions in the search bar.

This suggested the hotel was in receivership or financial difficulty when it was not, the plaintiffs claim.

source: irishtimes.com

A businesswoman who operates a high-end hotel is facing financial ruin after a customer’s positive online review on TripAdvisor was suspected of being written by management.
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Officials from the popular ratings site believed hotel management had in fact posted the glowing review, in breach of its rules and placed a warning notice on its page.

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The hotel denied this saying it was posted by a happy customer on an internal computer.

The financial consequences have been immense and the hotel has been forced to drastically reduce prices by almost 70 per cent to fill rooms that used to be constantly full.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

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Three-quarters of luxury and “‘upper upscale'” hotel chains — segments that include brands such as Four Seasons, Hilton and Marriott — charge for in-room Internet access, according to the ‘American Hotel & Lodging Association’ 2010 Lodging Survey conducted by STR Global.

In comparison, just 2% of full-service midrange hotel chains — a segment that includes brands such as Holiday Inn — ask you to pay a fee for surfing the Web in your room, the survey found.

Hotels that impose such fees consider the demographics of their customers and feel they can ask them to pay extra, said Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the ‘American Hotel & Lodging Association’.

source: CNN

A corpse hotel in Japan is proving a big success as bereaved relatives flock to check in deceased loved ones during the wait for busy crematoriums.

The Lastel, in a suburb of Yokohama, offers 18 refrigerated coffins for dead guests at a daily rate of 12,000 yen (£98).

The profits being reaped at the ”half-way morgue” reflect a booming death industry in the country, where 1.2m people died in 2010 – up 55,000 on the previous year.

source: sky.com

Travel review website TripAdvisor has removed the slogan “‘reviews you can trust'” from its website and replaced it with “‘reviews from our community’”.

The site is currently the subject of an investigation by the advertising watchdog after companies complained that reviews of their businesses were made up or defamatory.

TripAdvisor has more than 50 million reviews of hotels, restaurants and locations, all of which are supposed to have been written by travellers.

But the veracity of reviews has been called into question by a group of 2,000 hoteliers, who approached online reputation management company KwikChex to investigate.

source: Independent.co.uk

For the seventh year running, British businessmen find Moscow hotels the world’s most expensive, ahead of Geneva, Zurich and Paris.

The average Moscow room rate from January to June this year cost £261, compared to £228 in Geneva and £220 in Zurich.

The Russian capital is also home to the world’s wealthiest expats, with over a third of them earning in excess of £160,000 per annum.

fuente: telegraph.co.uk

it’s a suite that may appeal to only the most die-hard of fans – but one London hotel reckons it can cash in on love for Jaguar cars with a dedicated ”Jaguar suite”.

Set to open this September, the Jaguar Suite at Taj Hotels 51 Buckingham Gate is a canny arrangement between the two companies, both of whom are owned by Indian giant Tata.

Measuring 170 square meters, the suite contains two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchen and living and dining areas, but for fans, the abundance of Jaguar paraphernalia is sure to be the highlight.

source: Independent.co.uk

A bizarre new hotel, shaped like a boat,- is to be placed on top of the Queen Elizabeth Concert hall peering out over the River Thames for the 2012 Olympics.

The nautical building, due to be hoisted into position on London’s South Bank in December, will be equipped with a mast and look-out station and guests will be expected to keep a detailed log and hoist a flag to indicate they are aboard.

source: indiatimes.com

“‘Getting away from it all'” may be a travel marketing cliché, but the phrase might take on a whole new meaning come 2016.

Russian firm Orbital Technologies plans to open the first space hotel in history in five year’s time. The space hotel, or “‘Commercial Space Station,'” as it’s officially called, will float 250 miles above Earth.

The hotel can accommodate a maximum of seven people at a time. To check in, tourists will have to undergo special training that can take up to three months, depending on the type of spacecraft they fly to the hotel. The firm says that stays can range from three days to six months.

source: CNN.com

Marriott has won two major awards at the ‘Frequent Traveler Awards’, held April 28 in New York.

The chain’s Marriott Rewards scheme picked up the award for ‘Hotel Program of the Year’ in both the Americas and Europe and Africa, although ‘Priority Club’ by rival chain InterContinental took the ‘Program of the Year in Middle East and Asia/Oceania’.

Air Canada‘s Aeroplan, Lufthansa‘s Miles & More and Emirates‘ Skywards were the big winners in the airline ‘Program of the Year’ category, taking the Americas, Europe and Africa and Middle East and Asia/Oceania respectively.

source: Independent.co.uk