KatW

Trip Advisor (TA) gets short shrift hereabouts and I say that low opinion is not always warranted. Consider this: Anyone with half a brain can sort the wheat from the chaff -- it's easy to check those TA reviews for luxury (or other) properties, then zero in on the savvy contributions. Easy as pie to dismiss reviews by hoi polloi and the over enthusiastic travelers.

Most luxury properties are heavily reviewed and some of those reviews are cogent and useful. The reviews that aren't useful are easily identifiable; just skip 'em. I travel luxury most of the time and find TA useful in assessing properties. I, like most here, have no difficulty sorting out those reviews which speak to who I am and how I prefer to travel. Thus, TA isn't my only measure but it is one I factor into the mix of decision making.

I understand we're all super here and disdain the common platforms but there yet can be utility in some and TA is one such.

Okie dokie, now bring it on, the waves of distressed disdain and discord. I am HOPING this will be a semi-civilized discussion.

offerendum

We had many discussions about it. I really value the Pictures on TA as they are normally very helpful. Reviews are mixed but some are really helpful. Of course it`s a problem, that lux properties especially at honeymoon Locations often are overrated. But you soon find out and it`s understandable. 15 years ago when I rarely stayed at luxury properties I was impressed for example by IC Le Grand Paris, IC Geneva or Swissotel Basel. So if people the first time stay for example at Raffles Seychelles they are impressed. If you know FS Seychelles you are neither impressed.

In the end even at FT I sometimes see pictures and reviews of properties which are totally positive. Some hotels I know and honestly I simply can`t understand. Sometimes I see the Pictures and think: Hey, this should be luxury? No way, avoid at all coasts! That`s life and taste + requirements are different. In the end if a Hotel hat 95% positive Feedback on TA it may not be the best hotel available, but you will normally not get something totally disgusting.

One good TA example: Amanoi, Vietnam: 2 star review: I needed a quick trip by myself after a SE Asia conference run. The views were nice but as a place of business it was a little TOO relaxing. There was a big feeling of being stranded, in the negative sense.

OK, I think it talks for itself.... Aman and place of business....

KatW

Yikes, hope I've not initiated a duplicative thread. Heh, I bet I'll find out soon.

I agree, the photos on TA can be useful indeed. As can some of the reviews.

pricesquire

I think TA offers immense value.

It's up to the (hopefully sophisticated and discerning) reader to separate the valuable from the invaluable.

robyng

You won't get disdain/discord from me. As with many on-line reviews (from hotels to housewares) - I immediately hop to the bad ones - and read the negative things some people are saying. And determine whether I would be annoyed by the things that annoyed these people (if no - I ignore the review - if yes - I take the review seriously). I am also interested in management responses to negative things (both when the traveler is actually at a property - and later when the traveler writes a bad review).

FWIW - I think the pictures are kind of interesting. But often only of marginal utility. The professional photos usually make a place look unrealistically good - and the amateur ones often make it look unrealistically bad. Also - pictures don't tell you about showers that leak - malfunctioning/non-functioning electronics - construction noise that wakes you up at 7 am - and the like (I've had these issues and others during recent hotel stays). I'm a big fan of "no hassles" when I travel - no matter what category of hotel I'm staying in.

One thing I like about FT is it's kind of a "small town". So - after a while - one can pretty much get a sense of various posters - what they like and dislike (and whether their likes/dislikes are the same as yours - or different). So you know how to weight their opinions. TA is - by comparison - a "city". And I think it's harder to pin down individuals whose opinions you value (although I'm sure it's possible if you read enough). Robyn

Kagehitokiri

endless discussion of tripadvisor here >

>
the standards on this forum can be extremely high, and are very high in general
and re this (luxury hotels) forum, i agree with robyng, TRAVELSIG, kamel123

TA removes reviews, does not allow discussion, most reviewers have ~1 review
tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-c4-Fact_Sheet.html a quantitative example >
~2.8 "reviews and opinions" (IIRC includes 'forum' posts) per "emailable member"

(FT is 40.9 posts per member and 2.5 threads per member for 565,921 members)

TRAVELSIG

TA like any resource has its good and bad.

Specialist discussions such as "where exactly are the parking spots" TA can be very good to answer. Like others I appreciate the photos.

A good deal of filtering makes TA a useful resource. I don't put much weight in their "this hotel is #XX out of XXXX" data as a lot of times the #1 hotel is there because they have some type of TA promotion or offer. I also ignore the (all in CAPS typically) "I HAVE PAID 550 GBP FOR A HOTEL ROOM AND NOW THEY WANT ME TO PAY FOR BREAKFAST" or similar such silliness.

In the end- I do tend to glance at TA for a hotel I have not been to before and the two or three minutes it takes me to do so does tend to be worthwhile.

Certainly I don't put the weight on it as I do put weight on with this forum- here I have found destinations and information absolutely not available elsewhere- so thanks to al of you who have aided in this mission!

LondonElite

I think Tripadvisor is a complete waste of time. It's very difficult to know what is real and what isn't, what's been edited or modified, what's never made it past the censors....an then there is the problem of believing much if what has been written. To me it's like Seatguru...useless.

I'm still not quite sure what the thread title means...is it 'is Tripadvisor relevant to luxury travellers'?

kamel123

For my purposes, I feel TA is not bad as an additional source of information.

The level of detail on FT is unparalleled in some areas (e.g., discussing the intricacies of Amanpuri vs. Trisara, or BKK luxury hotels), there is real dialogue, and the travel experience of certain regular posters is absolutely unmatched. Some regions are less well covered, though.

The advantage of TA from my point of view however is sheer volume. Yes, there is generally a strong positive bias, most reviewers are inexperienced etc. But if you want to quickly get an overview of what's available in some region without immediately going to the usual suspects Aman/FS/MO..., it certainly provides that.

offerendum

Is seatguru really useless. At least they have some seatplanes from planes that aren`t online on the airline-website.

Pausanias

I value TA and write hotel reviews for it. What annoys me is the total lack of any editorial control - for instance, one 'reviewer' went to the Isle de France on St Barts, plonked himself down on a sun lounger and demanded a glass of water. He wasn't a guest and was asked to leave. He wrote a review of the hotel and gave it the lowest rating. That's ridiculous and the review should have been removed.

Someone else reviewed a hotel in Venice called Canal Grande - not the Aman but a basic three-star joint but the reviewer posted it on the Aman page. I tried to get it removed but it never was.

Despite all this, TA can be immensely useful and in our bubble of luxury hotels I've come across some excellent reviews of Amans, Four Seasons etc etc.

I also think TA is worse than useless regarding restaurants - so often you find some curry house or pizza place the top restaurant in a town which has some serious dining establishments. So I hardly if ever look at restaurants.

LondonElite

There is certainly the odd aircraft that is shown on Seatguru that doesn't appear on the website, but otherwise, for airlines such as BA, LH, UA, and AA, to name only a very few, I find it of no help at all.

7Continents

I use TA frequently and therefore post reviews to "pay back". I find that if you only go back a few months and read carefully, it can be quite helpful to find out if a hotel fits your expectations, rather than if it's the best hotel. Most will pick based on location/price and then impression from TA rather than based only on TA reviews themselves.

mike_la_jolla

I agree. TripAdvisor is totally and completely worthless. I can look at pictures on Google. I never go over to TA other than to look at the shockingly large number of fake reviews. I have stopped contributing.

aa213bb

I'm with the majority here, and find myself very much echoing robyng's, travelsig's, and pausanias' thoughts.

In short, I'll peruse TA to help decided between a few hotels, or to choose a hotel for which this FT forum would be of no help - e.g. Gila Bend, AZ USA … good luck finding anything on FT about that!

As with anything online, I do have to separate the wheat from the chaff.