Statement to ABC News From TripAdvisor

ByABC News via logo
January 24, 2011, 3:29 AM

— -- This morning on "Good Morning America" you saw a story about TripAdvisor.com's Top Dirtiest Hotels in America.

Click HERE to read the full story.

Below is a statement from TripAdvisor:

TripAdvisor's Top 10 list of the dirtiest hotels in America is according to traveler ratings for cleanliness on the website.

The list is based on candid traveler feedback specifically rating the category of hotel cleanliness from 1-5 (1 being lowest, 5 highest) in the hotel review form on the site. The top 10 dirtiest hotels in the U.S. had the very lowest cleanliness ratings on TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor takes the authenticity of our reviews very seriously and have numerous methods to ensure the legitimacy of the content on the site. Our reviews are systematically screened by our proprietary site tools that are continuously upgraded; we have a large and passionate community of more than 40 million monthly visitors help report suspicious content and we have a team of quality assurance specialists that investigate suspicious reviews. The sheer volume of content on TripAdvisor - we have more than 40 million reviews and opinions-allows a traveler to get the complete picture of a property, from the opinions of many, before they book.

If a property owner has an issue with a traveler review, we provide avenues for them to raise concerns and strongly encourage them to contact our Owners Center where issues will be investigated fully. Hoteliers also always have the option of posting a management response to any review on their property - good or bad and therefore giving the hotelier the opportunity to thank the good and offer their perspective on the bad.