Fawlty Towers on the Hudson?

  |  August 5, 2014
Not the Union Street Guest House

In spite of what you might have heard, this is NOT the Union Street Guest House

We’re pretty used seeing the city of Hudson in the news these days, what with the constant comparisons to Brooklyn, but even we were surprised to see the kerfuffle over the Union Street Guest House’s policy that charges wedding parties $500 per negative Yelp review. Just in case you’ve missed it, the Hudson boutique hotel placed the policy on their website, which was reported on yesterday by Page Six, New York Post‘s blog. Apparently, the Internets went insane over it, as those crazy Internets are wont to do, and people began posting hundreds of negative reviews on Yelp, most from those who’d never set foot in the establishment, just to take jabs at the hotel’s proprietor. That’s when the backpedaling began, which the owners posting on their Facebook page that the policy was meant to be humorous and “tongue in cheek” and has never been enforced. We’ve read, however, that the policy was enforced at least once with a wedding party. More on that here. Our take on the whole thing? Well, quite frankly, it’s a stupid policy. Nobody controls the Internet (but if you know someone who does, please email us their contact info. We have some work for them), and such a policy is a sure-fire way to make guests and potential guests feel alienated and unwanted. But was it really a joke? No way of knowing for sure, but the “hey we were just joshin’ and funnin'” excuse sounds pretty lame to us. You can decide for yourself how you feel about the issue. There’s certainly been enough press on it. And if you want to read those crazy negative (and sometimes, extremely hilarious) Yelp reviews yourself, you’ll find them here. Many are still up, but we suspect that won’t last long, so read them while you can. So how did this whole thing blow up so much and so quickly? We like Sam Pratt’s assessment of it all. Sums it all up nicely, we think. And the lesson in all of this? Read your hotel’s policy fine print really, really well.

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

Read more from Kandy Harris

Read On, Reader...