File this one under “hotels that don’t ‘get’ social media.”
A Hudson, New York hotel has an interesting policy for wedding guests: For every negative review left on Yelp, the company fines the bride and groom a hefty $500.
Official policy
The hotel in question, the Union Street Guest House, describes the official policy on its website as a solution to unappreciative guests:
If your guests are looking for a Marriott type hotel they may not like it here.
Therefore: If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event
Take down the review
Kindly, the Union Street Guest House promises to refund this fee “once the review is taken down.” That’s nice. However, a quick look at the hotel’s Yelp page reveals significant backlash over the reviews policy.
The Union Street Guest House did not immediately return VentureBeat’s inquiries by phone or email, nor did Yelp
Update: The hotel says the threat was just a joke…