Skip to main content

Hotel charges wedding patrons $500 for every bad review posted online

hotel charges patrons 500 every bad review posted online wedding
Image: Flickr Image used with permission by copyright holder
Many businesses, like the Union Street Guest House, wants to make sure its reputation isn’t diminished by negative reviews on the Internet. To prevent them, it’s now charging hotel guests an extra $500 for every negative review they publish online, reports the New York Post.

Interestingly, it looks like the policy applies to those who are part of a larger group that is at the venue for an event, including weddings. “Please know that despite the fact that wedding couples love Hudson and our inn, your friends and families may not,” reads the venue’s online policy. “If you have booked the inn for a wedding or other type of event … and given us a deposit of any kind … there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review … placed on any Internet site by anyone in your party.”

Recommended Videos

Related: We explore Marriott’s newest hotel, and the awesome tech powering it

Yelp on Monday issued a statement noting that it frowns on such intimidation tactics.

“Trying to prevent your customers from talking about their experiences is bad policy and, in this case, likely unenforceable anyway,” the company said — a sentiment quickly echoed by hotel-reviews site Trip Advisor.

“It is completely against the spirit and policies of our site for any business owner to attempt to bully or intimidate reviewers who have had a negative experience.”

If the negative review is taken down, you get your deposit back. Unsurprisingly, many have taken to Yelp to protest the Union Street Guest House’s review policy, with the venue’s page currently filled with one-star reviews.

“Guess what? You’ve earned another one star review for your despicable censorship policy regarding negative reviews. How’s this working out for you,” reads one one-star review. “Unacceptable policy of not allowing objective review of their hotel (cost $500 per bad review!). You can’t insulate yourself from bad service, you can only respond to it,” reads another review.

Angry Internet users have also filled the Yelp page with jokingly bad looking images, meant to discourage anyone from booking at the hotel, including shots of dilapidated buildings, obese people eating cake, and scenes from The Shining.

Interestingly, it looks like the venue quietly took down the policy from its Events & Weddings page, likely as a result of the backlash. Wise move on its part.

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
How to delete your YouTube account

Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.

Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more