Originally Posted by
emma69
I think TA is a good resource - almost more so the forums than the straight reviews, but with the reviews, what I tend to do is discount the top 10%, discount the bottom 10% and then take a look at what is left.
^ Agreed. Along the same lines, we'll completely discount what we read if there are only a very few reviews, whether good, bad or indifferent. It's the scanning through 10,20, 30 or more that's useful. Finally, if we suspect any of the reviews are shills, we're through with that business.
Originally Posted by
emma69
I don't know this hotel so can't comment specifically, but what I have found at a couple of other hotels recently is a card given to guests specifically asking them to review them on TA.
We've found that to be quite common on our trips to Thailand and, most recently, India, mainly in places we've found through good TA reviews. That appears to be an understandable case of businesses (hotels, tour guides, attractions) realizing they're getting customers through TA and wanting to perpetuate it. FWIW I generally don't, although we have contributed 20 or so reviews to TA over the past few years.
I can truthfully say that using TA like this has never led us astray and we've found businesses that we wouldn't have found otherwise.