V-Flyer

This report from the BBC

I have posted a very small number of reviews on TR (probably like lots of us)

I use TA as an indication - ignoring the overly gushing and overly damming reviews and read a number to get a flavour of the hotel. I have never booked a hotel simply because it has a good TA rating.

I like Tripadvisor but, like Tonty, I take a lot of what I read there with a huge pinch of salt.

It amazes me how there can be such polarised views about the same facilities / staff in the same hotel.

I have often suspected phony reviews - by the premises themselves in the case of gushing ones, or by rivals in the case of very poor ones that don't fit in with the general tone of the majority.

How to police this is a whole different matter. I think you just have to accept that things on the internet are not always as straight forward as they seem. :w 8D

Nick

I've always found TA really useful as it allows me to identify any trends/consistencies.

What I like to see is the management of the hotel, responding to the feedback (both positive and negative), this shows me that they really do care and listen. It also allows the reader to identify with the hotel and the levels of service.

Personally, I don't want to see TA change. As said above, you can generally identify the reviews which are fake or extreme.

tontybear wrote:I have never booked a hotel simply because it has a good TA rating.

I feel a bit naive in admitting this, but I almost always book hotels that have good TA ratings, and usually that is the only site I consult for advice...

...and I have never been disappointed. The best consequence of this was staying at the Library Hotel in New York, which I discovered by looking at the top 10 ranked hotels in the city.

I don't tend to read the individual reviews, but I do look at the ratings and (particularly) the city rankings. As long as there have been a decent number of reviews, I find that the ratings are very reliable. I imagine that other people will have had other experiences.

Cal346 wrote:I've always found TA really useful as it allows me to identify any trends/consistencies.

What I like to see is the management of the hotel, responding to the feedback (both positive and negative), this shows me that they really do care and listen. It also allows the reader to identify with the hotel and the levels of service.

Personally, I don't want to see TA change. As said above, you can generally identify the reviews which are fake or extreme.

I'm the same. I especially used this approach when finding somewhere to stay in Skye. A lot of small B and B owners were being quite rude in their responses to people who may have had genuine complaints. I avoided all of those.

If I'm going to a new place I find Tripadvisor useful for giving me a list of hotels in that area and a general flavour of them and also to compare prices on the hotels' we Oates as well as third party sites such as Expedia. This is especially useful when I'm planning a multi-destination trip.