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Ever since Trip Advisor started bombarding me with praise emails (how many readers had read my reviews, egging me on to collect a new meaningless “badge”, etc)… I said enough… and stopped posting.
While I’m at it… the little messages Expedia puts up like “3 people booked in the last 10 minutes!”, “Only 2 rooms left!”, “8 people are looking at this hotel RIGHT NOW!!!” are on the verge of making me stop using that site. |
Originally Posted by traveller001
(Post 20721064)
Thanks for the tip on VFM Leonardo...
Turns out this is a Hotel marketer getting paid to help hotels http://vfmleonardo.com/ Tripadvisor should IMO simply ban any posts by them. |
I review small, independently owned places
Originally Posted by KRSW
(Post 20718468)
I still use (and post reviews) to TripAdvisor. I like to help other people out, and I hope I put enough detail in my reviews for people to know I've actually been to a property and spent some time there. I'd say I have a mix of reviews, some positive, some negative. No censorship (yet) from TripAdvisor about it.
As a rule, I look through the pictures and read associated reviews. After all, at least there's some(?) proof the person has been to the property, or at least has a photo of it. The fakes haven't quite figured this one out yet. The level of detail in someone's description is a dead giveaway. Even the Ritz-Carlton gets things wrong at times. There should be at least some things every hotelier can improve, and I try to make it a point of putting these in my reviews. I also am annoyed with the VFM Leonardo photos all over the place. Yes, it's nice to have A photo vs. NO photo, but the VFM photos are unreliable at best. Great example of fake reviews & fake/old VFM Leonardo photos: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...nnecticut.html Take a look at the traveler photos vs. VFM Leonardo's. VFM's photos are from a much rosier time. Also take a look at the reviewers who posted positive things about the property. All their first and only review, usually from the area no less, if you believe their profiles. I don't. I drove past the place. It's a dump. |
I use Trip Advisor to research attractions, hotels, you name it. I find it quite useful for exploring new locations to discover some new adventures.
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I like TA for hotels in cities I'm not very familiar with, but I use the Olympic judge method of evaluation the reviews - toss out the highest and lowest ones, and average everything else. That seems to give reasonable results.
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Originally Posted by artemis
(Post 20731412)
I like TA for hotels in cities I'm not very familiar with, but I use the Olympic judge method of evaluation the reviews - toss out the highest and lowest ones, and average everything else. That seems to give reasonable results.
What I find most helpful are the detailed postings, like the rooms overlooking the pool are nice but noisy. Or - they have a shuttle but you have to ask at the front desk. |
Originally Posted by KRSW
(Post 20718468)
I still use (and post reviews) to TripAdvisor. I like to help other people out, and I hope I put enough detail in my reviews for people to know I've actually been to a property and spent some time there. I'd say I have a mix of reviews, some positive, some negative. No censorship (yet) from TripAdvisor about it.
As a rule, I look through the pictures and read associated reviews. After all, at least there's some(?) proof the person has been to the property, or at least has a photo of it. The fakes haven't quite figured this one out yet. The level of detail in someone's description is a dead giveaway. Even the Ritz-Carlton gets things wrong at times. There should be at least some things every hotelier can improve, and I try to make it a point of putting these in my reviews. I also am annoyed with the VFM Leonardo photos all over the place. Yes, it's nice to have A photo vs. NO photo, but the VFM photos are unreliable at best. Great example of fake reviews & fake/old VFM Leonardo photos: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...nnecticut.html Take a look at the traveler photos vs. VFM Leonardo's. VFM's photos are from a much rosier time. Also take a look at the reviewers who posted positive things about the property. All their first and only review, usually from the area no less, if you believe their profiles. I don't. I drove past the place. It's a dump. Nothing says "honest review" more than "I bet if I say something bad I'll be living on the street". |
Originally Posted by heraclitus
(Post 20724238)
I can't think of a single hotel I've ever looked up on TA that didn't have photos from VFM Leonardo, although maybe now that I think about it, some tiny B&B-type places had no photos. Maybe it's Tripadvisor that's hiring VFM Leonardo? Having photos (even those ones) certainly makes reviews more useful.
More like VFM Leonardo planting seeds that Google's web bot finds to feed the search engine. I'm betting they just search online find a pic shot by somebody else whenever and post it. The more they post the more traffic they get from Google. I just Googled "hotel marketer" and VFM was at number three. |
I think it can be great for trying to get specifics on certain hotels, especially all-inclusives, such as how big the pools are, if the food is any good, if the upgrades are worth it etc.
I also like it for ideas of things to do in cities I've never been to. I think their ratings are often times off, but it at least brings up ideas of things to do. For example, we had a family trip to the mountains of North Carolina and TripAdvisor had a zip line place mentioned high in its rankings. After more research, I found a better company that offered more for kids, but it at least got me thinking about ziplines. |
My caution on the forums is that TA tends to only want a pretty picture to come through, with reports about crime in particular removed almost immediately. I happened to be following some discussion about two events in Anguilla when, presto, all talk was removed from the forums. Similarly, there were three arrests in T&C in May, including an 80 year old doctor who spent the weekend in jail. They were apparently set up by having a bullet put in their suitcases. Charges were eventually dropped as was ALL discussion about these incidents on TA.
I understand that TA depends on advertising, but to edit the forum posts so obviously takes away much needed, complete information from travelers. |
I have seen some very unsubtle false posts on TA for some hotels in China too. I guess you need to be aware.
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So I've recently started writing for TripAdvisor and I was looking at a review I wrote today for a bakery in Cary, NC called La Farm. I noticed it was the #5 (of 304) restaurant in Cary and I decided to look at what else was in the Top 10. Well, number six is a Chic-Fil-A with 10 reviews. That right there sums up a lot of the problems with TA.
Also, when I was looking at hotel reviews for a HGI I stayed at there seemed to be a suspicious amount of 1 time highly positive, 5 star reviews. |
There forums are a joke...
...along with the advice given by destination experts.
I'm truly, honestly astounded by some of the advice given to unsuspecting tourists. I like to frequent the forums for my town, which is a major cruise ship excursion port. I've also been frequenting the Hawaii forums. Apparently the Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki is a must do according to many posters. It seems that in the mind of many posters on there, if something is over $20 it's overpriced and expensive. Then I go over to the South Africa forums and I really laugh out loud at some of the suggestions and advice. |
Reliable or not, it is amazing how tripadvisor now runs the show. All hotels I have been to in the past months have stickers on the front door, certificates, awards, signs "rate us on tripadvisor", etc.
Tripadvisor has power and now dominates the show. Even the once a year casual traveler is aware. |
Originally Posted by CBear
(Post 21346742)
Apparently the Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki is a must do according to many posters.
Personally if I can't find info here on FT (which is where I look first), I will look at TripAdvisor. I read the negative reviews first to see if there are negatives that are truly worthwhile to note (i.e. "front desk was rude is NOT worthwhile" to note, nor is "hotel forgot my wake up call") |
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