( Travel + Leisure ) -- Try finding a hotel mystery shopper willing to dish on one of their stays . Ask them to reveal the dirt on the unkempt suite , the coquette of a concierge , or the wilted flower that sullied the room service tray . You ca n't . According to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association ( MSPA ) there are some 30,000 of them in the U.S. , hired by luxury hotel brands to check-in anonymously and judge mercilessly . But like a CIA agent or the rare hair stylist who 'll keep your secrets , gossip is not in the mystery shopper 's after-hours repertoire . Even if they do n't name names , everything they unearth is strictly confidential . Perhaps it 's to be expected in an industry where everyone , from the booking agent to the bellhop , is famously discreet . If loose lips sink ships , a too-revealing mystery shopper could certainly submerge an hotelier or two . Thankfully , Stephanie Perrone Goldstein , vice president of sales & marketing for the New York-based Coyle Hospitality ( whose clients include Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group ) , produced a nine-year veteran willing to answer a few questions . Travel + Leisure : Best hotels in New York City . The catch : we would speak by phone , with Goldstein playing watchdog , and the mystery shopper would remain nameless and description-less -- more incognito than Brangelina on holiday . Even by phone , the woman radiated confidence . She 'd completed over 500 mystery shops in luxury hotels on four continents , and her voice came through the wires sternly , as if she 'd been in upper management a day too long . She works as an independent contractor ( paid by the job ) . What she looks for at each hotel varies from client to client -- some brands maintain a checklist of ten things to look for upon arrival , others more than 80 . `` I pack a measuring tape , because a few hotels want me to get down to the nitty-gritty , '' she says . `` Is the radius of light emitted from the lamp exact ? Is the paint on the walls in a particular palette ? '' 5 Tour de France alternatives . Occasionally , she 'll check in as the most obnoxious breed of hotel guest : the road-weary whiner . `` I 'll call the front desk and say the room smells like smoke even when it does n't , just to see how they 'll respond , '' she says . Fake-outs are staged and executed thoroughly ; she 'll go as far as to empty the batteries from the remote and grumble about the fritzy T.V. , or unhook the chain from the toilet to time how long it takes the staff to fix it . It 's an exacting art . After she checks out , her report is written up , fact-checked by Coyle , and delivered back to the client in a matter of weeks . Travel + Leisure It List : The best new hotels 2012 . `` My goal , honestly , is to get hotels to provide the highest possible level of service , '' she says . `` When I return to these properties personally -- and I do , if they 're great -- I get such satisfaction seeing that . '' In the era of Yelp and TripAdvisor , when travelers can report anything at all to the Googling masses , trustworthy accounts are more important than ever to hoteliers . Coyle is n't alone in providing unbiased evaluations to luxury brands that clamor for it . 27 must-sees on earth . Zachary Conen , senior vice president of sales and marketing at LRA Worldwide , a mystery shopping firm based in Pennsylvania , says they maintain a stable of 120 full time consultants who travel 42 weeks out of the year . They too are tight-lipped , but happy to tell you their standards , which alter depending on the client . Is there a seasonally appropriate fruit at the front desk ? Did you get a call from the concierge within thirty minutes of check-in ? Are the amenities Gilchrist & Soames and perfectly arranged ? Competition for the positions is fierce : you 're required to have three years of management experience in the hospitality industry , excellent written and interpersonal skills , and a credit line of up to $ 7,500 -- presumably for booking your travel , which is reimbursed in its entirety . Once you 're hired , there are other hurdles ( namely , weeks of training at LRA University , learning the intricacies of each luxury brand . ) The coursework is hush hush , of course , but it may be among the cushiest of educational experiences on the planet . One can picture these people lazing about in hotel robes , fawning over thread count quantities and proper lobby manner with equal zeal . Travel + Leisure : America 's best cities for singles . The concept of sending in a ringer to report back is nothing new . Mystery shopping began in the 1930s with three men touring the country , staking out Woolworth 's and Kresge 's ( now Kmart ) department stores . It gained traction during the civil rights era , when the government hired black and white `` customers '' to investigate the compliance , and the prolific lack thereof , to desegregation laws in restaurants and corner stores alike . Today it 's a $ 1.5 billion-a-year production , a large chunk of which is travel-based . `` In the late 1980s , Hilton was among the first luxury hotel brands to utilize the service , '' says Mike Bare , co-owner and president of Bare International and one of the original founders of the MSPA . Three decades later , it 's common practice among hotel brands around the world . ( Proof : LRA recently opened a satellite office in busy Singapore . ) And soon enough , its taciturn nature may be over . `` You 'll see the secretive side of mystery shopping change ; it 's becoming a vestige of the past , '' says Jeff Gurtman , a former executive at both Coyle and LRA and now vice president of brand strategy for Dana Communications , a hospitality marketing agency . The wealth of online reviews has reignited the idea that the customer 's feedback is not only important , but critical to success . Starwood recently announced that it 's allowing guest commentary , both good and bad , on its own websites ; and more and more guests are leaving feedback directly on Facebook . `` Hoteliers read online reviews thoroughly , '' Gurtman says . `` If they notice a trend there that speaks to a problem , they have mystery shoppers to go in and test it with surgical precision . '' Essentially , they 're hiring people to complain so you never have to . And in the thoughtfulness-driven economy of high-end hotels , that might be the most considerate act of all . Planning a getaway ? Do n't miss Travel + Leisure 's guide to the World 's Best Hotels . Copyright 2012 American Express Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved .
30,000 hotel mystery shoppers in the US received luxury brand service . All past service improvements , the customers purposefully complain to improve service . Trustworthy reviews are important in the context of online customer reviews .