TripAdvisor
May 29, 2011, 12:12 pm
#46
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: AA, DL
Posts: 326
Another Tripadvisor user offers a different clue for identifying shills. The gist is summed up with, "One helpful thing to know about shills (people who post rave reviews under alias for their own operations, or those of family or friends) is that they have no restraint. In fact, lack of restraint is an inherent part of what makes a shill a shill!"
Details in his blog post.
Details in his blog post.
May 29, 2011, 2:00 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,783
I made a mostly negative review about a NYC hostel a few months ago and that's still up there.
Can't say I've had any real problems with the reviews there. I agree with some of them based on places I've stayed but a lot are dependent on what room you get as things like excessive street noise, poor furnishings etc sometimes only apply to a few rooms.
Been looking at hotels for Washington DC and they all seem to have problems regardless of whether they're $400 a night 5* slap bang next to the White House, or $200 3* 20 minutes walk away. I tend to read reviews based on chains or brands that I've heard of or some place mentioned by someone else - that's how I heard about my last NYC hotel (wouldn't have considered it due to it being slightly further out than the usual touristy areas but some people on another forum were singing its praises and I took a look, booked on the strength of reviews / recommendations and price and loved it).
I personally like reviews from a few sites before I make my mind up. Some of the booking sites just use Trip Advisor or +ve reviews only so I don't pay too much attention to them.
Somewhere like these forums has people travelling all over the world and I've learnt quite a few hotels in places like Hong Kong, San Francisco etc that whilst maybe classed as the best and get rave reviews, aren't as good as another in say the same chain.
Can't say I've had any real problems with the reviews there. I agree with some of them based on places I've stayed but a lot are dependent on what room you get as things like excessive street noise, poor furnishings etc sometimes only apply to a few rooms.
Been looking at hotels for Washington DC and they all seem to have problems regardless of whether they're $400 a night 5* slap bang next to the White House, or $200 3* 20 minutes walk away. I tend to read reviews based on chains or brands that I've heard of or some place mentioned by someone else - that's how I heard about my last NYC hotel (wouldn't have considered it due to it being slightly further out than the usual touristy areas but some people on another forum were singing its praises and I took a look, booked on the strength of reviews / recommendations and price and loved it).
I personally like reviews from a few sites before I make my mind up. Some of the booking sites just use Trip Advisor or +ve reviews only so I don't pay too much attention to them.
Somewhere like these forums has people travelling all over the world and I've learnt quite a few hotels in places like Hong Kong, San Francisco etc that whilst maybe classed as the best and get rave reviews, aren't as good as another in say the same chain.
May 29, 2011, 2:22 pm
#49
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 747
I had one review removed after I gave a deservedly poor review to a hotel. The review was factual and there was nothing about the review that merited removal other than the poor rating that I gave. I suspect that hotels, particularly members of large chains, can put pressure on TripAdvisor to remove poor reviews.
May 29, 2011, 11:06 pm
#51
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
There is a lot of raw information on trip advisor.. everyone needs to sort all of the information out based on their own travel requirements..
Having said that.. don't take reviews to heart.. there will be positive and negative reviews.. Its important to get to the bottom of why.. and come to terms whether to stay at the hotel/motel/condo or not..
Having said that.. don't take reviews to heart.. there will be positive and negative reviews.. Its important to get to the bottom of why.. and come to terms whether to stay at the hotel/motel/condo or not..
May 30, 2011, 6:20 am
#52
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA LT Gold; BA Silver; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,081
That's standard procedure- they're happy to have updates for places you reviewed before but they always delete the earlier one.
May 30, 2011, 7:59 am
#53
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fernandina Beach, FL
Programs: Global Entry, 4MM, Lifetime AAdvantage Platinum
Posts: 258
May 30, 2011, 9:45 am
#54
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA LT Gold; BA Silver; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,081
OK, they may have changed things. Response to current FAQ on second reviews is, "Yes, we allow members to submit reviews of multiple experiences with a particular location. <snip>If you would like to make a change to an existing review about a location, please contact us and request that your old review be removed. Once we remove it, we will let you know that it is safe to submit an updated review."
It may be that earlier rules required that the initial review be deleted regardless of circumstances- or else I mis-read them. I published an updated review a few years ago and both the original and the update were highly complimentary, but I'd thought that you had to ask to have the original review deleted first even though there was no change in the overall tone.
It may be that earlier rules required that the initial review be deleted regardless of circumstances- or else I mis-read them. I published an updated review a few years ago and both the original and the update were highly complimentary, but I'd thought that you had to ask to have the original review deleted first even though there was no change in the overall tone.
May 30, 2011, 11:34 pm
#55
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
OK, they may have changed things. Response to current FAQ on second reviews is, "Yes, we allow members to submit reviews of multiple experiences with a particular location. <snip>If you would like to make a change to an existing review about a location, please contact us and request that your old review be removed. Once we remove it, we will let you know that it is safe to submit an updated review."
It may be that earlier rules required that the initial review be deleted regardless of circumstances- or else I mis-read them. I published an updated review a few years ago and both the original and the update were highly complimentary, but I'd thought that you had to ask to have the original review deleted first even though there was no change in the overall tone.
It may be that earlier rules required that the initial review be deleted regardless of circumstances- or else I mis-read them. I published an updated review a few years ago and both the original and the update were highly complimentary, but I'd thought that you had to ask to have the original review deleted first even though there was no change in the overall tone.
Through the years of changes, www.tripadvisor.com remains a reliable source of experiences.. Granted they have been under pressure because of its commericialization.. and the fact that hotels depend on business generated from positive reviews.. but the good and the bad that's there for everyone to read, is a good source of raw experiences..
Read until satisfied!
May 30, 2011, 11:34 pm
#56
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,457
I can definitely add that my comments about earlier visits are still there, with some properties having 2 or 3 reviews from myself now. When everything has remained more or less the same I don't do second/third reviews, unless it has been more than a year since the last one, as things tend to change sometimes.
Jun 1, 2011, 1:23 pm
#57
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
On balance I find Tripadvisor quite useful. And, as with FT, some reviews can be fun to read.
A few additional observations:
1. It's of course important to bear in mind the price and thus the nature of the group reviewing a place. For instance, uniformly excellent reviews of a $40/night place in some developing countries might mean that it's well-run, but nevertheless not nearly as nice as a place charging $100/night up the beach. Conversely, a luxury property naturally has more critical guests. As others have noted, sometimes the devil is in the details of what specific reviews say.
2. Sometimes the rankings don't make sense--or at least don't make sense to folks (like most of us) unfamiliar with how TA awards rankings. For some locales, I've seen a place get mostly great reviews but be ranked relatively low.
3. Be wary of a property that has an inordinate number of first-time reviewers, particularly if the language is similar in many of them. Yet additional evidence that something is off can be if you find that such reviewers joined TA about the time of posting the reviews. Now, this could simply be due to their being happy customers encouraged to do so by the hotel. But particularly if the language is similar and the reviews brief, it could be the hotel posting its own misleading information.
4. I've had a few instances where I needed to prompt TA to post my reviews a week after I submitted them. Oddly, a couple of these were about major Hilton properties. Not sure what to make of this.
A few additional observations:
1. It's of course important to bear in mind the price and thus the nature of the group reviewing a place. For instance, uniformly excellent reviews of a $40/night place in some developing countries might mean that it's well-run, but nevertheless not nearly as nice as a place charging $100/night up the beach. Conversely, a luxury property naturally has more critical guests. As others have noted, sometimes the devil is in the details of what specific reviews say.
2. Sometimes the rankings don't make sense--or at least don't make sense to folks (like most of us) unfamiliar with how TA awards rankings. For some locales, I've seen a place get mostly great reviews but be ranked relatively low.
3. Be wary of a property that has an inordinate number of first-time reviewers, particularly if the language is similar in many of them. Yet additional evidence that something is off can be if you find that such reviewers joined TA about the time of posting the reviews. Now, this could simply be due to their being happy customers encouraged to do so by the hotel. But particularly if the language is similar and the reviews brief, it could be the hotel posting its own misleading information.
4. I've had a few instances where I needed to prompt TA to post my reviews a week after I submitted them. Oddly, a couple of these were about major Hilton properties. Not sure what to make of this.
Jun 22, 2011, 2:10 pm
#58
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: AA, DL
Posts: 326
Tripadvisor's sole remaining feature that I still found very useful -- user-provided photos -- has now taken a turn for the worse.
They've significantly shrunk the size of user-uploaded photos, which now have to share screen space with search-for-a-room tools.
And they've stuck a link to "see professional photos" in the corner of each user-uploaded photo -- totally unnecessary because it's possible to find hotel-provided professional photos from the main screen for each hotel.
They've significantly shrunk the size of user-uploaded photos, which now have to share screen space with search-for-a-room tools.
And they've stuck a link to "see professional photos" in the corner of each user-uploaded photo -- totally unnecessary because it's possible to find hotel-provided professional photos from the main screen for each hotel.
Jun 22, 2011, 5:22 pm
#59
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA LT Gold; BA Silver; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,081
Tripadvisor's sole remaining feature that I still found very useful -- user-provided photos -- has now taken a turn for the worse.
They've significantly shrunk the size of user-uploaded photos, which now have to share screen space with search-for-a-room tools.
And they've stuck a link to "see professional photos" in the corner of each user-uploaded photo -- totally unnecessary because it's possible to find hotel-provided professional photos from the main screen for each hotel.
They've significantly shrunk the size of user-uploaded photos, which now have to share screen space with search-for-a-room tools.
And they've stuck a link to "see professional photos" in the corner of each user-uploaded photo -- totally unnecessary because it's possible to find hotel-provided professional photos from the main screen for each hotel.
Caveat emptor, as usual.
Jun 22, 2011, 11:56 pm
#60
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
Yeah, this is bad news. I still find the picture size sufficient to see the detail, but they now share space with a banner ad on top and the Search tool on the right side. On the bottom there's a link to "Hotel amenities" that- surprise, surprise- takes you to the hotel's listing on Hotels.com, at least for the review I checked. The Hotels.com listing did show many pictures of the hotel but it's a sneaky way to direct people away from amateur reviewers whose shots show dust, mold, and swimming pools suitable only for ducklings.
Caveat emptor, as usual.
Caveat emptor, as usual.
Surely, trip advisor could offer a blow up feature on the pics..