Online Customer Reviews for SPA Hotels: The Case of Tripadvisor

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to find out the expectations of customers regarding 5-star SPA hotels in Sapanca, and reveal the factors affecting customer satisfaction in SPA hotels.

Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative research method was used in the study.485 positive and negative customer reviews made between April 1, 2020, and April 1, 20201 regarding 5-star SPA hotels in Sapanca on Tripadvisor.com were reviewed. These reviews were branched into significant groups through content analysis method and grouped under nine main themes and 54 subthemes.

Results – At the end of this study, it was observed that the main review categories were attentiveness in “human resources” category, successful SPA services in “SPA” category, tastiness of food and beverages in “food and beverage” category.

Discussion – The internet has radically developed and become widespread in recent years, and online customer reviews has become significant sources of information for tourists. Online reviews are crucial for hotels since they show all aspects of customer satisfactions and dissatisfactions. There are no studies that examined the online customer reviews for SPA hotels in Turkey. This study examines the customer reviews of SPA hotels, and it shows that human resources, SPA, and food & beverage services are the factors that have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction. At the end of this study, it was concluded that the success of SPA services had a significant impact on overall satisfaction at SPA hotels. There are considerable number of reviews about pools at SPA hotels, thus, it shows that the variety and cleanliness of pools should be prioritized. It is also important for a successful SPA facility to have sufficient number of staff, and to recruit professionally trained personnel for massage services.