|
Originally Posted by dewidewi
(Post 21815586)
The biggest problem for me with TA is when I'm looking for reputable tour operators in a city. There's usually a lack of reviews, and a lot of them are fakes, ie. 2 posts or less.
|
Originally Posted by DenverBrian
(Post 21814193)
Generally, the current renovation cycle is occurring not because of customer reviews, but because of the economic cycle. Renovations were severely restricted during the Great Recession. Now that hotels in general are doing well, there's CAPEX available.
All based on macro economics, not on customer reviews. Renovations is a necessity for the hotel industry, just like any real estate holdings for the long term. |
Originally Posted by cheltzel
(Post 21815719)
We usually use the TA discussion forums to find tour operators.
|
Originally Posted by danielonn
(Post 21803419)
. While I like to laugh at some of the responses to the review it would be better if someone from the National Tourist Board and Travel Agents to have their reviews marked as"Professional Reviewer" after they have been verified.
|
Originally Posted by flyernick
(Post 21817652)
I'm a contributor to the igougo travel site. Some of the worst reviews posted there are from travel agents, who go on a day-long multi-hotel tour of hotels in Hawaii, e.g., and then post a "review" which is basically a one paragraph re-hash of the intro blurb from the hotels website/brochure.
|
I almost exclusively stay in Accor properties and as a Accor member we are often (not always) sent two sets of reviews to complete. One is by the group (eg Sofitel / Pullman / Novotel etc and for their internal review) the other is linked to TA and gets posted automatically.
This "link" means that the majority of higher end Accor properties have someone comment on every report on TA. Sometimes the GM, sometimes a QM or similar. Sometimes a "copy/paste" answer and sometimes personal. When I stay at a property that does not meet my expectations I always email the GM first with constructive feedback. At my latest stay though, the GM copy/pasted his standard TA reply into the email too! To which my reply was "thank you for your typical TripAdvisor reply..." To his credit he did respond after that email and address all points... |
Originally Posted by photographer2012
(Post 21815490)
I do agree that TA has become less useful mostly because some places fake reviews. mostly when looking for restaurants (when it's a privately owned small place, the owner will work harder to fake his reviews)
some reviews are so obviously fake it's embarrassing.... the way's to avoid that: 1.compare ranking\reviews with other places like booking.com and expedia. if a place is ranked very high at TA and got bad score at expedia or booking.com...something is fishy 2. PICTURES!! that is the no.1 advantage of TA...being able to see how the place really looks....i look more at pictures then read reviews (i'm referring to hotel reviews) 3. read only reviews from "Star" reviewers. i'm a Top Contributor and take TA very seriously...and i'm pretty sure that most "Star" reviewers do the same and are reliable 4.read reviews that were "Terrible", see what the issue was about....was it because they did some mixup with the rooms the ruined the vacation (may be just a one time thing) or was it dirty room\noisy rooms. also sometimes people are just being too sensitive about something and gave "Terrible". that is also the place to understand if there is actually something terribly wrond with the hotel 5. Hunch! - after reading probably hundreds of reviews i thing i can get a hunch from TA about the quality of the hotel and seeing the whole picture fro the info you get 6. understand that some people have different taste then yours.....i'm a Luxury hotel lover....but some people are looking for the best bargain. and if they got a bed and a room that doesn't smell they will give it an excellent review. 7.a ranking for a place with 2000 reviews is more reliable then 100- reviews... after all this said. i do believe that TA needs to enforce some policy to kick out fake reviews...like from new users to send proof of stay. i truly love TA and it's concept, and i hate it when people abuse it...
Originally Posted by fti
(Post 21817805)
Well, you can forget igougo starting early next year. They are going out of business. They will stop accepting new contributions in early December, stop allowing you to get rewards later that month and will close down in early 2014.
|
Originally Posted by fti
(Post 21817805)
Well, you can forget igougo starting early next year. They are going out of business. They will stop accepting new contributions in early December, stop allowing you to get rewards later that month and will close down in early 2014.
|
Originally Posted by CMK10
(Post 21819340)
That's a really good guide to TA and very helpful, thank you. I'm a Starred Top Contributor myself and always try to include pictures with my review.
{speaking of igougo} Oh wow, I still get SPAM from them. I wrote reviews there in 2002-2003 then gave up on it. Sad to see they're going though. |
Originally Posted by flyernick
(Post 21820076)
Speaking of spam, and relevant to this thread, I'm annoyed and kinda' creeped out by the spam from Tripadvisor. Just because I researched a bit about a place doesn't mean I want to get reminders asking if I'm still interested in going there 2 months later.
|
Originally Posted by flyernick
(Post 21820076)
Speaking of spam, and relevant to this thread, I'm annoyed and kinda' creeped out by the spam from Tripadvisor. Just because I researched a bit about a place doesn't mean I want to get reminders asking if I'm still interested in going there 2 months later.
Doesn't a TA user have the option to select notifications or not? |
Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro
(Post 21822115)
I thought Trip Advisor is a neutral site.
You would be well advised to do better research. At least here they cannot make the claims that they make on the US version of the site Tripadvisor must no longer claim that all of its reviews are honest, or even from real people For those of us covered by EU privacy policies, one can change the settings (not sure how obvious that is on the US site) BUT it requires visiting a very long list of sites to turn off the options. Tripadvisor is a business there to make money, not some giant altruistic group of people sharing information. |
Originally Posted by exbayern
(Post 21822262)
:D HA that is quite the joke! Tripadvisor was owned by Expedia and has long been in bed with travel websites, driving traffic to them.
You would be well advised to do better research. At least here they cannot make the claims that they make on the US version of the site Its how we filter and use the information that is key.:-: |
Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro
(Post 21824367)
Actually, I think Trip Advisor is still the best information out there to evaluate a hotel. Sure there are other websites, but Trip Advisor has the most reviews, although there is post padding, and General Manager Response mechanisms.. there is a set number of hotels in the market, and they all have to be ranked. My point is there is still the best hotel, and the worst hotel, and everything in between.. that has to be evaluated. I also find Trip Advisor to be invaluable evaluating condos, and at that, specific condo units.
Its how we filter and use the information that is key.:-: Add to that the invaluable help given on the forums from regular people. I recently completed a trip that I planned entirely using the help of a DE, and everything she told me was spot on. Without her assistance, my trip would not have been nearly as enjoyable. |
Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro
(Post 21824367)
Actually, I think Trip Advisor is still the best information out there to evaluate a hotel. Sure there are other websites, but Trip Advisor has the most reviews, although there is post padding, and General Manager Response mechanisms.. there is a set number of hotels in the market, and they all have to be ranked. My point is there is still the best hotel, and the worst hotel, and everything in between.. that has to be evaluated. I also find Trip Advisor to be invaluable evaluating condos, and at that, specific condo units.
Its how we filter and use the information that is key.:-: Don't you remember when you were quoting me hotel rates and I told you that there were far better rates available at the very same hotels? You were using the TA site to search, which directed you to specific websites and quoted you specific rates. As to how accurate it is, does anyone really believe that the top attractions in a city like Paris is a bike tour, or a segway tour? Really? |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 7:54 am. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.