Move over TripAdvisor here come the “Meeting Review” sites.  The following are some sources that are attempting to give meeting and event planners a forum with which to share reviews and ratings about hotels they have visited or held meetings. 

MeetingUniverse.com - In order to dig through this site I had to register as a new user.  I selected the “free” user subscription and the form was simple to fill out. 

I clicked on the link to review “Hotel Ratings”, clicked on the “Search” link and selected the “Los Angeles, CA” metro area to conduct a search and no hotels were returned in the search.  Odd, I thought, so on with another search in “Atlanta, GA” and two hotels were returned…Westin Atlanta North and Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  I selected Hyatt Regency Atlanta to review.  When I clicked on the “View Details” for what I assumed was the review, my access was denied and I was prompted to “Upgrade” my account for the details.  D-

Meetings Intelligence Exchange - At first glance, Meetings Intelligence Exchange was more professionally laid out than MeetingUniverse.  Tim Ryan, former “meeting planner turned hotel sales and conference services executive” is the founder of the company.

The application form was easy to navigate and shortly thereafter I received an auto-generated “Welcome” email about my application.  The email suggested that if I was accepted into their membership I would be “required to share my experience and insights by creating three property reviews”.  “This ensures that all our members are contributing…”.  A great start to a short-term relationship.  D

Meetings Collaborative - I wouldn’t consider this to be a meeting review site but more of a place for planners to discuss issues, best practices, Tweet, etc. and there is no form or application for “Membership”.  If one decides to contribute to the forum or other areas you must be registered.

I clicked on the “Listing & Reviews” tab and selected “Philadelphia. PA” to take look at what reviews were available.  Out of the 23 hotels that were returned only five had reviews.  So far, although limited, this site has the most reviews from what appear to be “credible” meeting/event planners.  C+

Review Events - Bills itself as “The home of independent supplier reviews” and appears to be launched by a group from the UK.  I decided to look at “Venues/Reviews” for properties in “Houston, TX” and found a total of five hotels/venues but no reviews.  I conducted the same search for “Ireland” and found 47 hotels on the first return page alone but no reviews.   D

Although these sites lack the quantityof hotel reviews as seen on sites like TripAdvisor, it’s only a matter of time before they gain traction.