(13) Aunque después, cada vez que nos veía nos preguntó con ironía si habíamos visto más cucarachas!

(Although later, every time he saw us he asked us ironically if we had seen more cockroaches!)

Lo que lamentamos es que en ningún momento se nos compensara por las molestias ocasionadas.

(What we regret is that at no time were we compensated for the inconvenience caused).

Espero que os sirva nuestra lamentable experiencia en dicho hotel (Opinion 5 Hotel C)

(I hope that you will benefit form our unfortunate experience in this hotel).

(14) Las camas balinesas de la piscina para la opción level estaban ocupadas por quien le apeteciese estar alli y tenias que reclamar tu mismo, ademas estaban sucias.

(The Balinese pool beds for the level option were whomever wished to use them and you were expected to reclaim them yourself, they were also dirty). (Opinion 16 Hotel A).

On the other hand, hotels address reviewers directly. They use the ‘usted’ formal address rather than the informal ‘tú’, marking social detachment and establishing a business-like relationship with guests, so they systematically use nominal and pronominal forms of deference and formality, such as ‘usted’, ‘le’, ‘señor’ or ‘señora’. Hotels thereby position themselves using a formal and corporate register that is clearly distinguished from the guests. In (14) the contrast between the review and the response can be seen. While the first is constructed from the first person and does not address the audience in a specific way, the hotel addresses the guest with formal and detached courtesy, with the purpose of projecting a professional and commercial image, this will be read by guests but also by all users of the platform, and therefore potential guests as well.

(15) (Opinion 8 Hotel A)

Es el mejor hotel q he visitado en Cuba, la habitación con excelentes condiciones, las visitas excepcionales, la piscina bella, la zona de playa Caribe 5 estrella, el trato del personal excelente. XXX (name of the reviewer)

(The best hotel that I have visited in Cuba, the room was excellent, amazing views, a beautiful pool, the 5 star Caribbean beach area, we were treated very well by the staff).

Estimada XXX:

En nombre de todo el equipo de XXX nos gustaría agradecerle sus valoraciones tras su reciente visita a nuestro hotel.

Deseamos recibirle de nuevo en un futuro no muy lejano. Me encantaría conocerle personalmente en su próxima visita al hotel, por lo que ruego me dejen saber las fechas de su próxima estancia

Saludos Cordiales 

XXX, Community Manager

(On behalf of the entire XXX team we would like to thank you for your comments after your recent visit to our hotel.

We hope to see you again in the not too distant future.

I would love to meet you personally on your next visit to the hotel, so please let me know the dates of your next stay.

Kind regards

XXX, Community Manager)

Thirdly, we have analysed the use of politeness indicators. Therefore, we computed politeness markers and formulas, such as those used for thanking and apologising (Bunz & Campbell 2002), in which a type of normative politeness is expressed in conventional forms.