There are SO MANY bogus reviews on TA it is a shame. Actually, TA is getting ready to be sued through a class-action lawsuit in both the UK and US by hoteliers for negative reviews, which are also a problem.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/201...travelwebsites

Take a look at this TA thread where a poster was bullied by the hotel to remove their review:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...r_Support.html

Why? Because they had booked the hotel for a family reunion, then the hotel "lost" their reservation.

Or look at this thread about unethical reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...or_better.html

I am on TA a lot and have learned to basically disregard TA hotel reviews except for factual information or from posters who have more than 5 contributions. It is way too easy to manipulate the reviews.

TA says they have systems in place to avoid insiders posting (both positive and negative) but the reality is they are a for-profit business and the more hotel reviews they have, the more hits they have and the more advertising dollars they can command. Very unfortunate.

Stick to the travel forums on TA. Those are usually very helpful.