Tripadvisor?

[Prudie]

Do you post reviews on tripadvisor? I do and try to be honest and put good ones as well as bad but I find them fascinating reading. I was looking yesterday at some 5* resorts abroad (things like Sandals) just for interest and am amazed how a place can get so many excellent and also so many terrible reviews, is it really such pot luck?

[theshedman]

I have also put a few reviews on TA both good and not so. I have also been to some that get really good reviews on TA and have thought how can they have got such good ones when they were at best average.

[piggynose]

i think most people look at tripadvisor before booking holidays now, well i do. but i dont always allow peoples opinions to put me off going to some hotels, eg recently a hotel in marrakesh was deemed a hellhole more or less, it wasn´t.

[factor-fiction]

Martin Lewis always says look at all the reviews in the middle. The top ones can often be ones posted by staff, the bottom ones by people with an agenda (rivals, serial complainers etc)

[jno]

the best oens come from the hotelier's mum, the bad ones come from his rivals. Ignore the best and worst 10% is a good rule of thumb.

Plus it has to be said even in a great hotel things can go wrong, but that doesn't mean they always will.

[Sycamore3House]

It is useful when booking a holiday to see comments. I agree with the others posts about the good and the bad. I also always go on holiday with the mind set 'expect the worst it will always be better' and also most people are only there for a week or two so if it is bad it won't be long till you get home. I don't think I have had a bad holiday. Just always got what was paid for.

[EcclesCake]

I always ignore the posts from Honeymooners. They are almost certainly going to be having a holiday of a lifetime, staying in the best hotel they've ever stayed in. If you are used to 3 stars of course 5 stars is going to be fab, more than they ever imagined etc, etc. I remember a honeymooner being excited because they didn't have to pay for the sunbeds!

[Peaspeculiars]

I always look at TA before booking, and try to keep an open mind about the 'terrible place, nightmare' photo's etc (why anyone would spend their holiday taking pictures of a crack in a tile is beyond me).
If a place is excellent - I always leave positive feedback and also try to put in a few hints and tips about the local area as an 'I wish I'd known this brilliant thing earlier in the week' type section.

[Ratty2E]

Yes I do, a couple about hotels but mainly about restaurants. I also check out places I might be thinking of going but have on a couple of occasions found the reviews not very representative of what I experience. One place I went to on the back of mostly rave reviews turned out to be awful, admittedly there were only half a dozen reviews in total so may be they were all submitted by family and friends of the owner. They have one more now that isn't so glowing. I think you have to read carefully and make your own judgement, some people will complain about anything and others seem easily pleased.

[carolegif]

Depends on whether you book the right holiday. I had a friend who went to Sandals and hated it! "Too many Middle aged American bosses with their young mistresses!" And we went to a 5 star hotel and had a dreadful time, yet others thought it was great. Perhaps they liked rude staff!

[LyndaB]

I usually look at trip advisor, but rarely take any notice of it. I am always amazed at the number of people who take the trouble to complain about really minor things (like having to buy your own toilet roll in a Greek apartment - shock horror). We once got a really really cheap holiday to a Roda in Corfu (a village we adore) and the reviews of this particular apartment were horrendous - guess what? Apart from the fact that we had to share a pool with another complex, we absolutely adored it - so since then, we take all the review with a television chef sized pinch of salt.

[Ellipsis]

I also try to ignore the best and the worst. Another similar tip is to pay more attention to people who have posted lots of reviews, good and bad, over time (including what TripAdvisor calls "Top Contributors"). These people are less likely to be fake.

Also pay more attention to the more recent ones than the older ones; older ones are worth looking at if they are at a similar time of year to when you plan on going (not only date-wise, but also religious and other local festivals).

Also try to figure out if the reviewer is similar in nature to you. Similar age, income, worldview, etc. After all, for the purposes of their review, they are your proxy at that location - so, if they're nothing like you, their review is not going to be as helpful as if they are very similar to you.

That said, also look for common things popping up in lots of reviews. E.g. we were looking at one lovely tropical hotel, and lots of reviewers complained about the seaweed on its private beach. Having lots of independent opinion on this was useful - more useful than if only one person had mentioned it.

Also in the summary area at the top of the reviews, check the type of reviews (family, couple, business, solo, etc.) For example, if you're looking for a nice romantic hotel for a couple and most of the 5* reviews are from families, then it might be the very opposite of 5* for you ...

[TWR]

Each & every one of us can't be pleased Prudie, what one person's likes another may not, I put what WE FIND, An honest, truthfull, opinion on the hotel,staff, food etc.

[Prudie]

Thanks all for very constructive and interesting replies. As I said I am a regular contributor to TA and take it all on balance. I just find it amazing that reviews vary so dramatically, particularly on the high end market hotels.

[mikey4444]

Be careful of anything that is written on Trip Advisor. There is little in the way of moderation. Its apparent that rival companies plant stories about each other. Its also apparent that some comments derive from the hotels themselves !

If you are going to read Trip Advisor, read ALL the reviews, to get a balanced opinion.

[TWR]

We were in a Hotel in Tenerife 1 year ago, the comments on T.A. was very unjust, it stated the staff were rude, service rubbish, location bad, unclean, what a load of Bull sht, the staff could not do enough to help, the location was just right, all area's clean, they were in the proccess of getting full A/C fitted and surplied us with 4 fans + a basket full of fruit as compo, I give that back, but the gesture was nice." Make your own judgment"