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Harborby Signalry
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Ops / GMThis month

Job brief

Recover from a bad OTA review spike

How and who for the hotel job—verified when attested.

When a cluster of reviews drops the bubble in a month, I want a recovery path I can defend so we fix the cause and the rating without buying fake stars.

Usable on this screen

Scoped brief

A spike is a symptom. Triage the cluster, fix the ops cause, answer like a grown-up, then and only then ask happy guests. Software can inbox the firehose. An agent can draft in your voice. A studio can run the 90-day path. Nobody on this brief sells a guaranteed star.

Outcome
A 90-day rating trajectory with confidence bands, the complaint cluster actually fixed, and responses the GM will sign.
Catalog budget band
$8–18k sprint + any ops fix. A worksheet range, not a quote.
Catalog timeline
10–16 weeks to a new bubble. Not a promise.

  1. Step 1

    Name the cluster in a week

    Not 'service.' The actual rooms, shifts, or promises that broke. If housekeeping is the cluster, this job becomes the housekeeping job.

  2. Step 2

    Answer what is already live

    Responses the GM will sign, in the house voice, inside platform rules. An agent may draft. Review gating is a hard no — it is also how you lose the listing later.

  3. Step 3

    Fix the cause in operations, not in copy

    If the cluster is rooms, walk rooms. If it is a renovation, tell the truth and date the end. Quill will send you to Hearth & Key when that is the honest brief.

  4. Step 4

    Publish a trajectory, not a promise

    A 90-day path with a band. Weekly, not a monthly PDF. Stop when the cluster is gone, not when a salesperson wants a testimonial.

Provider shortlist

  1. People

    Quill Review Studio

    Reputation recovery

    Catalog score 8.5. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id quill-review.

  2. Software· demo

    Frontglass Reputation

    Review inbox & rating trajectory

    Catalog score 8. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id frontglass.

  3. Agent

    Reviewdraft Agent

    Review response drafts

    Catalog score 8.3. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id reviewdraft.

  4. People

    Hearth & Key

    Housekeeping quality & guest comfort

    Catalog score 8.9. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id hearth-key.

Download markdownFull who listRecord a result

Leave a record

The next hotel starts from what you leave

Harbor by Signalry stays hotels only. A description, a claim, and a reported result each leave a stable id behind. Nothing here is a price, a customer, or a verification.

  • Buyer

    Describe your job

    No account. Harbor by Signalry opens the closest catalog brief, when not to buy, and a shortlist. A weak sentence stays on the catalog.

    Open a brief

  • Supplier

    Join as a supplier

    Company, jobs served, regions, and a hotel reference. The packet is queued as unverified pending. The form cannot mark it verified.

    Start a claim

  • Hotel

    Record a result

    A metric, before and after, and the dates. It is shown as reported until a person checks the evidence. Verified Outcome is not insurance.

    Record a result

AdviceName the cluster before you ask for volume.

VerifiedThe Marlowe: 7.4 → 8.6 in 14 weeks; zero gated asks.

Name a verified-outcome priceSit a 30-minute pilotHow ranking works

Situation

What is actually on fire

A cluster landed on the OTA. Marketing wants a reply campaign. The desk has not named the theme.

Approaches

Two or three paths — with the give

Studio-led recovery

When. Craft, a path, and someone who will refuse gating

You give. Cash and a GM who still has to sign

Inbox software plus an agent

When. Faster replies, lower GM midnight load

You give. No strategy if the cluster is operational

Silence and hope

When. Nothing this week

You give. A bubble that becomes the new brand

Who to involve

  • · GM
  • · Duty manager
  • · Rooms if the cluster is rooms
  • · Owner if spend

First 7 days

YAML-shaped: day / theme / tasks / owner / risk / exit. Advice until a case is verified.

  1. day: 1

    Cluster, not volume

    • · Read the spike. One theme or it is not a spike.
    owner:
    GM
    risk:
    Reply-all theater
    exit:
    Named theme

  2. day: 2

    Same-week owner

    • · Who recovers while the guest can still be found.
    owner:
    Duty manager
    risk:
    Monday marketing
    exit:
    Named owner

  3. day: 3

    Fix the floor

    • · If it is rooms, walk the rooms. A reply is not the fix.
    owner:
    Rooms lead
    risk:
    Public-reply-only
    exit:
    Floor note

  4. day: 4

    Human reply

    • · Draft ok. Send is a person. No guaranteed star.
    owner:
    GM
    risk:
    Bot reply
    exit:
    Send rule

  5. day: 5

    Vendor ask

    • · Do they page the desk or sell a reputation cloud?
    owner:
    GM
    risk:
    Volume dashboard
    exit:
    Scored checklist

  6. day: 6

    One cluster drill

    • · Recover three live or recent 1-stars the same day.
    owner:
    Duty manager
    risk:
    A campaign calendar
    exit:
    Three timed

  7. day: 7

    Publish recovered vs ignored

    • · Ignored in the spike is the fail.
    owner:
    GM
    risk:
    Star average as the score
    exit:
    Friday note

Decision worksheet

Questions, red flags, bands

Take this to a vendor call. Budget bands are Advice — a Harbor shape, not a quote.

Ask the vendor

  1. 1. Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?
  2. 2. What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?
  3. 3. Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.
  4. 4. What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?
  5. 5. What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?

Red flags

  • · Buying reviews or gating checkout.
  • · Answering 200 reviews and changing nothing on the floor.
  • · Promising a star you cannot control.

When not to buy. Anyone selling a guaranteed star or a gated checkout ask.

Do it in-house

Time and a named owner. No vendor. Use the 7-day plan first.

$8–18k sprint + any ops fix

Typical Harbor band for this job — advice, not a quote.

Full program

People + system + 90-day proof. Only if the 7-day plan already failed.

Vendor checklist

Score the call. Keep it on this browser.

Weighted questions — yes/no, scale, or text. Must-pass ids persist on this browser. Pass threshold 70. A no on a must-pass is a walk-away — not a maybe.

Brand
Stack shape — not a partnership

  1. property context · weight 2 · must pass

    Can they name your key count and whether you are independent, soft-brand, or major — without a discovery theater?

  2. property context · weight 2 · must pass

    Do they treat your PMS as a shape (Opera-class / Mews-class / Cloudbeds-class) — not a fake partnership slide?

  3. control · weight 3 · must pass

    Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?

  4. vendor · weight 2

    What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?

  5. vendor · weight 2

    Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.

  6. vendor · weight 2

    What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?

  7. vendor · weight 2

    What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?

Does not clear

0 / 100

must_pass: recover-ota-review-spike-ctx-rooms, recover-ota-review-spike-ctx-stack, recover-ota-review-spike-q1

A must-pass failed. Walk away.

How

The brief

A spike is a symptom. Triage the cluster, fix the ops cause, answer like a grown-up, then and only then ask happy guests. Software can inbox the firehose. An agent can draft in your voice. A studio can run the 90-day path. Nobody on this brief sells a guaranteed star.

  1. Step 1

    Name the cluster in a week

    Not 'service.' The actual rooms, shifts, or promises that broke. If housekeeping is the cluster, this job becomes the housekeeping job.

  2. Step 2

    Answer what is already live

    Responses the GM will sign, in the house voice, inside platform rules. An agent may draft. Review gating is a hard no — it is also how you lose the listing later.

  3. Step 3

    Fix the cause in operations, not in copy

    If the cluster is rooms, walk rooms. If it is a renovation, tell the truth and date the end. Quill will send you to Hearth & Key when that is the honest brief.

  4. Step 4

    Publish a trajectory, not a promise

    A 90-day path with a band. Weekly, not a monthly PDF. Stop when the cluster is gone, not when a salesperson wants a testimonial.

Tradeoffs

  1. Studio-led recovery

    You get. Craft, a path, and someone who will refuse gating

    You give. Cash and a GM who still has to sign

  2. Inbox software plus an agent

    You get. Faster replies, lower GM midnight load

    You give. No strategy if the cluster is operational

  3. Silence and hope

    You get. Nothing this week

    You give. A bubble that becomes the new brand

Pitfalls

  • · Buying reviews or gating checkout.
  • · Answering 200 reviews and changing nothing on the floor.
  • · Promising a star you cannot control.

Success criteria

  • · Cluster cause named and owned.
  • · Response SLA met without gating.
  • · Rating trajectory published for 90 days.

Who

Ranked for this job

Rank is post-job score, then listed order. Not for sale. Software marked demo is an archetype.

Agencies & contractors

Systems

AI agents

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Compare

When to pick whom

People do the work beside the desk. Software is a system — demo-labeled when it is a category shape. Agents draft; they do not post money or mark a room clean.

ProviderKindScoreFeePick whenWalk away when
Quill Review StudioPeople
8.5
$9–16k recovery sprintA sudden, specific review collapse with a known cause.Properties hunting for a guaranteed star rating.
Hearth & KeyPeople
8.9
$14–28k program, 8–12 weeksGMs watching housekeeping comments eat the rating.Hotels that only want a mystery-shop report.
Frontglass ReputationSoftware· demo
8.0
Demo · $149–399 / property / monthGMs who need the review firehose in one place.Hotels buying a guaranteed rating.
Reviewdraft AgentAgent
8.3
$149–349 / monthGMs who answer reviews at 11 p.m.Anyone shopping for fake volume.

Open graph

Hotels on this job

Open hotelsBuy / sell desk

Evidence

Peer case studies

Ops / GM
8.7

A 7.4 bubble, a 90-day path

The Marlowe · 186 keys · Austin, TX

Claim.
A 7.4 bubble recovered without gating or bought reviews.
Evidence.
Cluster named in five days; public replies signed; rooms cause closed.
Caveat.
The path was 14 weeks. A same-day reply does not rebuild a bubble.

Read the case

Verified

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