New York Times Applauds HotelShark.com's Fidelity

Last Tuesday's New York Times said that HotelShark.com takes a uniquely aggressive editorial approach to ensure the accuracy of its hotel reviews. The praise ran on the front page of the New York Times business section of February 7, 2006, in an article entitled "Hotel Reviews Online: In Bed With Hope, Half-Truths and Hype."

The article contrasted the approaches taken by five different hotel review websites to screen out bogus reviews. The article noted that HotelShark.com's methods border on "paranoid" in that it probes every review with suspicion. When HotelShark.com receives a review, the article noted, it "looks for a reason to publish it" as opposed to looking for a reason to reject it.

It has long been the case that HotelShark.com rejects over half of the reviews that it receives. HotelShark.com remains 100% owned by its creator.

The New York Times article said that sites like HotelShark.com have become increasingly powerful: "Hotel executives agree that the stakes are high in the ratings game." It further noted that "more and more people are using the Internet to make travel decisions," so "web sites that publish guest hotel reviews" have "become more influential."

Neither HotelShark.com nor its parent SharkPage is affiliated with the New York Times.

About HotelShark.com

HotelShark.com, the site that Consumer Reports calls one of “the tricks to booking online,” is the world’s most-trusted Internet lodging guide. The site collects, screens, and publishes unbiased, guest-written reviews of hotels worldwide. HotelShark.com was named one of the five best travel websites by National Geographic Traveler magazine, and has been praised by the Independent ( UK ), US News & World Report, and USA Today. Founded in March 2001, HotelShark.com is available free of charge at the www.hotelshark.com Internet address. HotelShark.com is owned by SharkPage, a privately held company based in Palo Alto, California. HotelShark.com and SharkPage are trademarks of SharkPage. Further press information on HotelShark.com is available at http://www.hotelshark.com/media.htm .