New Hotel Review Site Demonstrates that Hotels Don't Always Deliver On Promises Outlined On Their Websites

Oyster Hotel Reviews Names Best San Francisco Hotels in Seven Categories, including Best Value, Best Luxury, Most Romantic, Best Kid-Friendly and Best for Business

http://www.oyster.com/

NEW YORK, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Oyster Hotel Reviews (www.oyster.com), the new travel site that provides unbiased, professional reviews and undoctored photos of the world's hotels, launched its coverage of San Francisco. Oyster employs a team of journalists that stays anonymously in each hotel, tests the amenities, photographs the rooms and features extensively, and writes a clear assessment of the hotel's overall value. The site now includes reviews for New York hotels, Los Angeles hotels, Las Vegas hotels, Miami hotels, Hawaii hotels, Jamaica hotels, Aruba hotels, Dominican Republic hotels, US Virgin Island hotels, and Bahamas hotels with upwards of 200,000 photos taken by Oyster's staff of full time hotel reporters.

"Since launching in June, Oyster Hotel Reviews has uncovered hundreds of inaccuracies claimed within hotel marketing materials," says Oyster CEO and Co-Founder Elie Seidman. "While other travel sites recycle the photos, property descriptions, and inflated star ratings they often receive from the hotels themselves, Oyster's hotel reviewers travel anonymously and spend at least one night in each hotel. They test the amenities -- from the bed linens to the concierge -- and take hundreds of photos ensuring that the Oyster review is the most thorough, detailed and honest review anywhere -- online or off."

Oyster reviewers are professional journalists from America's most respected publications including The New York Times, Money, Conde Nast Traveler and the Los Angeles Times. Reviewers stay in hotels anonymously, systematically evaluate the properties on 70 different dimensions, and take hundreds of photos. Oyster reporters sleep in the beds, swim in the pools, eat the food, and interview other guests at the hotel to ensure an objective, comprehensive analysis. Every review looks at service, design, dining, cleanliness, nearby nightlife, and even the thread count of the bed sheets. In addition, the site considers the specific needs of different types of travelers, including families with children, honeymooners, business travelers, golfers, pet owners, and those looking for exceptional value.

After careful deliberation, editors and reporters awarded top San Francisco hotels with an "Editor's Choice" award in several categories, including luxury, value, kid-friendly, and romance. Additionally, the editorial team compiled "best of" lists and slideshows with recommendations on where to stay for celebrity sightings, gay travel, girlfriend getaways, historic hotels and best views while visiting San Francisco.

Editor's Choice Awards for San Francisco include:

Best Luxury Hotel: The St. Regis San Francisco Hotel

Best Value Hotel: Laurel Inn San Francisco

Best Kid-Friendly Hotel: Radisson Hotel San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf

Most Romantic Hotel: The Huntington Hotel

Best Boutique Hotel: Campton Place Taj Hotel

Best Hotel Restaurant: The Westin St. Francis hotel

Best Business Hotel: Le Meridien San Francisco hotel

"Hotel stays usually account for the biggest portion of your travel expenses, but a hotel is not something you can return if you're unsatisfied. As our popular photo fakeouts show, there can be a big difference between reality and what the hotel brochure or website shows," adds Seidman.

Oyster's team of hotel reviewers is currently out covering many more vacation destinations and top destinations, including Boston, Phoenix, Orlando, Scottsdale, and Washington, D.C. will be added in the months ahead. Popular European destinations will be added during 2010.

About Oyster Hotel Reviews

Oyster Hotel Reviews (www.oyster.com) is the first and only travel site dedicated to publishing objective, in-depth reviews, written by trained journalists, of the world's hotels. Oyster's staff of hotel reviewers stay in hotels anonymously while systematically evaluating the properties and taking hundreds of photos of every hotel. Oyster Hotel Reviews adheres to the highest editorial standards; it does not accept compensation or incentives from hotels, and pays for all travel expenses. Hotels cannot pay to be reviewed nor can they influence the reviews in any way. The site aggregates rates from leading travel sites and provides several booking options for each hotel. Oyster is financed by Bain Capital Ventures and is led by an accomplished and experienced management team including Oyster co-founder Elie Seidman and executive editor Scott Medintz and managing editor Ellen Stark. The Oyster Hotel Reviews team consists of dozens of experienced journalists whose credentials include The New York Times, Men's Journal, Money, The Village Voice, and Conde Nast Traveler, among other publications.

SOURCE Oyster Hotel Reviews

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