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Originally Posted by Puppenstein
(Post 21837555)
The only reviews I rely on now are those on the actual hotel websites. First of all, those guests are verified and actually did stay at the hotel, and although I first thought that it may end up creating a bias based on editing, I can't see any evidence that any review is actually deleted, because I have had some pretty bad experiences and yet the reviews have stayed. I do think that if there is any horrible language that they would rightly be able to edit those, or delete the comment but keep the rating.
I don't know why TripAdvisor seemed to be so good a while ago, but I can no longer rely on the ratings, just like others have posted, I find it troubling that a Days Inn can outrank a Four Seasons Hotel... I actually had to stay in a 'local' place in the UK this year. It had received very high ratings on TA, well above some of the luxury hotels and boutique hotels in a major city. Yet there were also some one star reviews, and the rebuttals from the manager were humourous in their defense of the property and disdain for the guests. During my very short stay, the lift was broken, nobody could find the key to open the window (during a heat wave), there was no lock on the inside of the door and housekeeping walked in twice despite the Do Not Disturb, the internet failed to work at all, and the power went out times for at least a few hours at a time. (All this when I was only there for a few hours in the evening, and overnight, for two days) When I tried to check out early, and explained politely my issues, the manager berated me in the exact same fashion he had done to the negative reviewers online. Yet this place continues to be very highly rated, and one may think initially that the low reviews are due to whingers. They are valid based on my experience, and yet they are refuted each time very rudely, and the property continues to maintain a very high ranking. |
I would find that info very useful. If I read reviews, where the owner responded beligerently, I would probably not book it, or if I did, would expect the owner to act that way toward me, no matter how highly ranked it is. An owners response is an even better indicator of what kind of hotel it is than the review itself. One hotel I keep looking at has several reviews saying it is dirty. All the responses from management say the same thing, that they were very busy, and did not have time to inspect the room. Ummm, would I expect a clean room if I booked there? Probably not.
I understand peoples concerns about the ranking of hotels, but I dont understand why people dont just ignore the ranking, and go by what they actually read. As far as attractions, you can sort by what type of attraction you are looking for. It is all subjective, depending upon personal preference. You really cannot compare a helicopter tour to a museum tour..... |
Originally Posted by tatterdema
(Post 21837927)
I would find that info very useful. If I read reviews, where the owner responded beligerently, I would probably not book it, or if I did, would expect the owner to act that way toward me, no matter how highly ranked it is. An owners response is an even better indicator of what kind of hotel it is than the review itself. One hotel I keep looking at has several reviews saying it is dirty. All the responses from management say the same thing, that they were very busy, and did not have time to inspect the room. Ummm, would I expect a clean room if I booked there? Probably not.
I just wonder who though is giving them all those glowing reviews which keeps them near the top of the list... |
exbayern is absolutely spot on with regards to attractions... that are a certain set of paid activity types - segway tours, bus tours, silly helicopter rides etc. These consistently get pumped up reviews. I would venture that 95% of the reviews of these are fake.
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Originally Posted by exbayern
(Post 21837935)
Oh absolutely the responses were helpful. Unfortunately I had no choice but to stay there, and in the end the bad reviews were spot on, and the manager was true to form. He disputes pretty much every single review not entirely pleasing, and even claims to have had to consult their solicitors about certain reviews. :rolleyes:
I just wonder who though is giving them all those glowing reviews which keeps them near the top of the list... I do have to agree with people that said Tripadvisor is s l o w to respond to corrections to their listings though. I am not sure why. I have found if I put a listing in the forums as closed, it will get taken care of. But if you just respond to the listing itself, it never seems to get done. Just my opinion. Tripadvisor is not at all a perfect tool, but it is a useful one. |
Originally Posted by tatterdema
(Post 21838005)
Lol, if the owner is that big an *ss, he probably IS soliciting reviews. Or even paying for them. In the end, he will be caught, and his listing removed or tagged as fraudulent.
I do have to agree with people that said Tripadvisor is s l o w to respond to corrections to their listings though. I am not sure why. I have found if I put a listing in the forums as closed, it will get taken care of. But if you just respond to the listing itself, it never seems to get done. Just my opinion. Tripadvisor is not at all a perfect tool, but it is a useful one. |
To summarize :
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Originally Posted by ma91pmh
(Post 21837994)
exbayern is absolutely spot on with regards to attractions... that are a certain set of paid activity types - segway tours, bus tours, silly helicopter rides etc. These consistently get pumped up reviews. I would venture that 95% of the reviews of these are fake.
I don't find it hard to believe at all that anyone would try to pay off sites to remove reviews that show them in a bad light. A bad review can ruin a hotel. |
Originally Posted by Puppenstein
(Post 21838070)
I don't find it hard to believe at all that anyone would try to pay off sites to remove reviews that show them in a bad light. A bad review can ruin a hotel.
An example. A guest in our hotel got angry and wrote a horrible review saying we put him in danger by allowing a person into the hotel that he didnt want in. We have clear video showing him letting that person into the hotel several times, and taking him up in the elevator. We contacted the guest and asked him to remove it. He agreed. Tripadvisor refused. We did not pay, threaten, or in any way coerce the guest, we simply let him know that we knew he was lying. |
Originally Posted by Puppenstein
(Post 21837555)
I don't know why TripAdvisor seemed to be so good a while ago, but I can no longer rely on the ratings, just like others have posted, I find it troubling that a Days Inn can outrank a Four Seasons Hotel...
Rating is about value in the context of class. A Chevrolet Tahoe with 4* crash rating , it should be obvious to everyone , is safer than a Chevrolet Spark with a 5* crash rating. Activities aren't really useful. They lack critical mass of reviews for a statistical sampling. And there are few activity alternatives, anyway. I recently went on a 4-wheeling trip. At the end of the trip, the operator provided a discount on the spot for anyone who reviewed their business on tripadvisor with the computer at the counter. At home I reviewed their business truthfully, and deducted another * for the strong-armed tactic. (I would have done the trip regardless) For the hotel with the combative manager responses... I would have read those reviews and not gone to the hotel in the first place. TA is just a tool and its up to the user to use it in a proper manner |
Originally Posted by ma91pmh
(Post 21837994)
exbayern is absolutely spot on with regards to attractions... that are a certain set of paid activity types - segway tours, bus tours, silly helicopter rides etc. These consistently get pumped up reviews. I would venture that 95% of the reviews of these are fake.
Originally Posted by deniah
(Post 21838220)
At the end of the trip, the operator provided a discount on the spot for anyone who reviewed their business on tripadvisor with the computer at the counter.
Originally Posted by deniah
(Post 21838220)
For the hotel with the combative manager responses... I would have read those reviews and not gone to the hotel in the first place.
Oddly enough, there are actually helpful reviews for that location. The city construction has long passed the forecasted ending date, and when I stayed there it was impossible to drive down the road, so to reach the place one had to detour to another street and then climb a steep hill on foot, or if coming by foot also detour quite a bit. Several reviewers pointed out that the city construction had been extended, I think in an effort to be helpful to anyone staying, and the manager berated those people too! I would certainly want to know if I couldn't reach the place by taxi and had to climb a steep hill with my suitcase to get there... |
Originally Posted by Puppenstein
(Post 21837555)
The only reviews I rely on now are those on the actual hotel websites. First of all, those guests are verified and actually did stay at the hotel, and although I first thought that it may end up creating a bias based on editing, I can't see any evidence that any review is actually deleted, because I have had some pretty bad experiences and yet the reviews have stayed. I do think that if there is any horrible language that they would rightly be able to edit those, or delete the comment but keep the rating.
Originally Posted by exbayern
(Post 21837719)
:confused: You obviously are having difficulty in understanding what I wrote, so let me try and write it differently to help you understand my point that Trip Advisor is not neutral. (And by the way, unlike some here, I do not have a Trip Advisor account, have never posted a review on Trip Advisor, and while I am quite intimately acquainted with Paris have never taken a segway tour there or anywhere, and the only payment I have made for a bicycle in France is for Vélib’)
In recent days, the top rated attractions in some of the major cities of the world included: - Edinburgh: gokarting - Munich: helicopter ride - Rome: American tour guide - London: team building game (this one is consistently rated THE top attraction in London) My point is that none of those can be considered the 'best' attraction in any of those cities out of hundreds of options, let alone in the top five. Someone is consistently rating them five stars, with no four/three/two/one star ratings. It's doubtful that EVERY SINGLE PERSON found those things perfect, yet those types of things (plus segway tours, and bike tours costing more than $100/person for a few hours) seem to always have perfect ratings, and push their way above historic sites, museums, and other true top attractions in some of the best cities of the world. As to the ASA comment, there is in Europe a lot more scepticism about Trip Advisor, hence they had to change their claim to be unbiased and truthful. In London, the number 11 rated out of more than 10,000 restaurants was actually closed (it was a short term pop up), yet continued to receive perfect reviews and rate highly long after anyone could possibly eat there. Another restaurant which was actually a fake rated number 29 in Brixam, even though the address was actually an alleyway filled with rubbish bins, and the restaurant had never even existed. My point is, as I've stated in the previous post, is that we are able to collect actual patron reviews, and process the information about the experiences, for our own use. You won't find a purely neutral website out on the marketplace without advertising and links. I stand by my statement, although there is fluff, Trip Advisor remains the best sources of information out there. Its how we process the information for our own use.:-: |
I rely on the forums to tell me things about accessibility or anything else I want to know about a restaurant or hotel. I've found the people who post in the forums to be tremendously helpful and honest.
I really don't pay much attention to the reviews and rankings except to get an idea of specific places and then I (search first and if there isn't the information I need) post my questions in the forums. |
Originally Posted by Ancien Maestro
(Post 21838598)
Trip Advisor may have some link mechanisms, but so do most websites, including FlyerTalk where we are discussing this issue. FlyerTalk take for example is considered neutral where we can express our opinions. Trip Advisor is the same way. Both websites have media link and advertisements going on.
Trip Advisor is definitely not neutral, as has been proven several times over. At least the UK ASA forced them to change their slogan from 'reviews you can trust', as they were proven not to be neutral or trustworthy. Feel free to stay in Glasgow's homeless shelter though; it's been very highly rated on Trip Advisor and made it into the top 100 hotels, even though it's also considered the worst homeless shelter in Scotland. |
Originally Posted by exbayern
(Post 21840660)
But we're not talking about external links or advertising; we're discussing the actual reviews and ratings on Trip Advisor.
Trip Advisor is definitely not neutral, as has been proven several times over. At least the UK ASA forced them to change their slogan from 'reviews you can trust', as they were proven not to be neutral or trustworthy. Feel free to stay in Glasgow's homeless shelter though; it's been very highly rated on Trip Advisor and made it into the top 100 hotels, even though it's also considered the worst homeless shelter in Scotland. I keep reiterating that it's how the content is used. Again, Trip Advisor is the best source of raw end user information regarding hotels on the Internet. As you mentioned and corrected me about outliers. Your Scotland hotel is a perfect example of outlier. |
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