We have done some work on the Google Place entry for this website:
http://www.royalhoteliow.co.uk/
We have spent a lot of time ensuring we have consistent address information, to make sure we have a good number of citations, and have worked with the staff at the hotel to ensure that there is a regular stream of reviews coming into a variety of websites that we know are used by Google.
However....
Our target searches are 'Isle of Wight Hotels' and 'Isle of Wight Hotel'.
If you do a Google map search for 'Isle of Wight', it drops a pin in the middle of the Island, which is 30 miles by 20!
The main areas for hotels on the Isle of Wight (dictated by tourism), are about 15 miles from where Google percieves the Isle of Wight is, in the coastal towns.
So it seems that no matter how hard we try, in terms of citations and reviews, GP is always going to prioritise those close to the middle of the area.
Anyone got experience of a similar issue, or got any suggestions?