While I think they should be proactive and actively recruit restaurants in poorly served markets (like Nanning) in order to make their service more useful, I was speaking mainly of restaurants that are already listed, but with errors that render them completely useless. Basically, when a reviewer states that a restaurant is closed, this should trigger an automatic audit on their side. If they are unable to confirm otherwise, they should simply delete the listing. In the case of one French sandwich shop that I tried to locate last week, it wasn't until after I arrived in the neighborhood that I bothered to read further down the list of glowing reviews than I had in the past, and I found this key tidbit from 2 years ago, "it was a great place, but it's now closed because the owner moved back to France."

Regarding gaming the system, as much as they might try to tell you otherwise, this is extremely easy. For example, I consulted a popular hotel in Shanghai on online marketing a few years ago, and the centerpiece of our TA campaign was to make buttons for the front line employees to wear with the TA/到到 logo which said, "give us 5 stars". This resulted in an immediate huge jump in the rankings. And, if their employees had really been aggressive, I'm pretty sure they could have cracked the top 10... without resorting to self promotion (which is also commonplace).

I saw another funny one today. The Umstead Hotel and Spa, the only 5 star hotel in the Raleigh/Durham/Cary area (built originally to be a Four Seasons I believe) is the #2 hotel in Cary behind the Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh-Cary. Must be a hell of a HGI :D

Not necessarily so unusual. The same thing happens with most crowd-sourced reviews. People going to the 5 star hotel (or restaurant) have very high expectations and will subtract points when things aren't perfect. Those at the HGI may go in with lower expectations. And HGIs are actually pretty nice for suburban business travelers and for families looking to step up from the usual budget brands.

There's also the challenge, when writing a review, of whether to rate businesses relative to others in the same price range or on an absolute value-to-price basis. This is a question for which there is no single correct answer. In the former case, reviews for budget brands would be all 2-3 stars with repetitive comments like "There was no spa to get a massage", "Their idea of room service was delivery pizza!", and "The restaurant has PLASTIC cutlery!" In the other case, reviews for higher end businesses would be full of negative comments like, "I don't see paying 2-3x for this when the chain hotel/restaurant down the street has perfectly acceptable rooms/steaks/etc."

its easy to glance at a reviewer's location, review #, and helpful #, to gauge reliability of their rating - you can tell those who are used to ... less-upscale establishments heaping praise on middling businesses.

For almost any review I go straight to the 2* review (1* is for the rare extraordinary circumstances) - reading a few of these negative reviews will usually tell you what you need to know

that Folk Gospoda place in Warsaw is a nice joint, btw. But for food I go to Platter in the Intercontinental.

I don't find Trip Advisors rating of restaurants reliable. It gives me an idea, but sometimes there are multiple listings of the same or similar name of the restaurant.

I still find hotel ratings from Trip Advisor the most reliable but for other types of businesses, Yelp has been pretty invaluable lately.

I agree with you regarding Trip Advisor and other hotel rating websites. I use Trip Advisor as a resource but don't rely on it as a sole means in making my selection.

For instance this April I am going on a cruise from Sao Paulo(Santos) to Barcelona and booked hotels in Sao Paulo, Santos and Barcelona.

When I booked my Sao Paulo hotel I found the Mercure Sao Paulo Central Towers.. On Trip Advisor people were saying that their apartment was not updated and the response from the manager was to request an updated room. Listen people like to nit pick things and I always write the hotel and ask to be put in a Non Smoking updated apartment on a high floor away from the elevator.

In Santos I also booked the Mercure Santos. I have had a great stay at the Mercure by Frankfurt Airport on a layover and had a great experience there. I have found that by requesting what you want leaves room for less disappointment.

In Sao Paulo I got the room with Breakfast for $82 a night and it comes with an electric stove, two twin beds, a bathroom with a shower. The hotel also has an indoor pool Fitness Center and Sauna. For $82 a night with breakfast I am not complaining. Heck I'm going to be out most of the day sightseeing.

In Santos I got the Mercure for $125 for the night before the cruise and the room is a suite with a separate living room and bedroom and balcony. Its literally right on the beach and its about 4 miles from the pier and close to shopping. So it fits our needs.

Then in Barcelona I found the 4 star Amister Art Hotel in L'Example for $88 a night. A nice hotel for the price.

What I do is read through as many reviews as possible on TripAdvisor and Yelp and use the good and bad reviews to my advantage. With the bad reviews I take the review and make a mental note of what to write in my request e-mail. For instance if its says they got a loud room or one that is on a floor with construction then I request to be put away from the noise.

If I see more than one review with some of the same tips then I use them to my advantage. While I know you cannot cancel a Hotwire reservation you can put in requests to get a better room.

A lot of the time the reviewer does not give the hotel a chance to fix their problem and will write a bad review. I make TripAdvisor work for me.

For instance in Barcelona it says the breakfast is expensive and not worth the cost so I will see the breakfast before committing and skip it if I see its not what I expected it to be and go to a local Bakery for breakfast. What travelers do is commit to an expensive breakfast and expect it to be like home.

In Sao Paulo it was a great deal since Mercure offers full breakfast with hot items, cereals, fruits, breads, meats etc. In Santos Breakfast is $12 per person so I will see what it is and if its good then I will pay for it. When I went to Mercure's webstite it was more expensive to book their breakfast package and room package but with my rate we still come out $40 less by booking breakfast directly at the hotel.

In Sao Paulo it was cheaper to book breakfast with Mercure than using other third party websites.

So all in all use TripAdvisor to your advantage. Start taking mental notes and write a request e-mail. A lot of the time there is a response from the manager to the bad and good reviews. Use his or her name in the e-mail and stay that Mr. Smith Manager at your hotel replied to reviews on TripAdvisor about the older rooms per his advice he suggested to request a newly renovated room if its available would you please assign us a Non Smoking newly renovated room on the top floor away from the elevator?

Always try to use the local language. In Brazil I used some of the local language in my e-mail and they were happy that I was trying and I feel that it goes a long way since they may not speak or write perfect English you are trying your best to use the local language.

I hope these tips help you.

Or, there's an easier way. Ignore TA and pay a very few shekels for an expert and independent guide book.

Your post makes me wonder if the hotel pays their friends, relatives and frequent guests to write good reviews to negate the negative reviews? Lets say Hotel Juniper De Paris has a bad rap and they pay their relatives and friends to write a good review how do we know its a good hotel?

I think its unfair that TripAdvisor would allow friends or family to write a good review to keep their hotel in business. 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.

One funny response to a review that I can imagine a manager of a Parisian Hotel Writing.

Dear Mr.XXX

I am so sorry to read your review. Perhaps you would have been better accommodated at the Hilton up the road that caters to Americans. We pride ourselves in providing excellent service, updated rooms and a good breakfast. Some of the comments you wrote are so untrue.

First of all I was advised by the Front Desk Clerk that you were rude and demanding from the start. Mr XXX I am sorry but we simply cannot deal with a demanding customer who did not show any pleasantries or even allow us to deal with the situation.

Secondly I was taken aback to hear that you treated our housekeeper rudely and did not give her an opportunity to replenish your bathroom items. Mr. XXX Quite frankly I don't think we can cater to your needs.

In the future we hope that you find a hotel that meets your Americanized needs. We are a European Parisian Boutique Hotel operating for over 30 years and your comments were an insult to our entire staff especially the comment you made about our breakfast.

Please look somewhere else when booking your next Paris Hotel.

Yours Truly,

Jean Rousseau
Manager

LOL

Agreed - in the States, its Yelp all the way. Although even there due to sheer size almost all restaurants are 3.5 or 4 stars. You really have to sift through the reviews now to get a better sense.

However, Yelp isn't international. So you have to use TA when traveling abroad. And TA is good for excursions too. And they have the same problem re hotels these days - you really need to sift through the reviews to see who is posting. People from Singapore and China post very different reviews than people from the USA. Expectations are different - need to look at who is saying what - the overall scores are less helpful these days. TA needs to give us scores by reviewer type.

Excursions I haven't tried but its good to know. Plus cruise reviews as well. I'm a newbie to both cruises and excursions.

I'm not surprised with the post padding on TA mentioned here. It is big business and the hotels depend on TA to generate business. Bad reviews are a cancer to the hotel business cash flow. Granted there are a few customers who post on TA unreasonably, and the comments need to be mitigated, but when a hotel is truly bad, I think the consumers will see right thru it.

I review negative ratings and comments on TA specifically to see if our family can handle the worst expected happening on site. All properties have something negative going on, even the properties I tend to frequent. It's managing expectations not everything will be perfect, and having heads up prior to arrival.

Pinch of salt required
 

I never take anything in TA as gospel any more than I assume that travel and accommodation providers web sites do not exaggerate aspects of what they have to offer. I tend to disregard grossly vitriolic comments on TA, particularly when they are one of only a couple of comments made - my impression is that all too often there is a 'getting back at the provider' motive. Similarly grossly complimentary comments from someone who has only ever posted one or two comments also raise a cynical suspicion. I use TA as a guide and temper my reaction to posts with discretion. One can always go to a forum for advice if uncertain about entries. To say that TA is no longer reliable is a bit of a broad statement to make just as it would be a risk to say that it is always reliable.

I find that with a large enough sample of reviews and some discretion, I can usually make a decent judgement of a property.

The most credible I find usually make very specific praises/complaints and reference the room/service level. A property can be a very different experience depending on standard room vs superior/executive vs club floor vs penthouse suite.

My own review history (14 now) probably would look suspect, as I give mostly positive reviews averaging 4/5. I attribute this to the literally painstaking effort I put into finding the right property for me. I also take into account the star level (a 3* has a lower threshold to meet than a 5*). Sometimes I wonder when reading the reviews, "Did you not even give the hotel's website the most cursory glance?" I swear, some people don't even try.

I like writing good reviews on Trip Advisor. I find it helpful when there is a positive hotel stay, to share my experience. Alas, the number is in the low teens of reviews I've actually written, because the reviews that are already on the website I find covers most of what I would have to say anyways.

The vitriolic reviews is the ones I read. All hotels have them. #1, does the General Manager care, and follow up? We selected Floridays this past spring break, and I contacted the general manager prior to arrival. There was an unfortunate mishap, but the general manager followed through and made the stay for us exceptional. Our family had a great time. Had the General Manager not followed through, and I was left to deal directly with the staff, I would have had an awful stay, and a vitriolic review myself. Thankfully, I gave this hotel a 5 star rating in my TA review because of the excellent personal attention.

Yes -- when I read a negative review that mentions specific problems encountered by a guest, I want to see an individualized follow-up from management that addresses the person's situation and not just a generic "sorry we didn't meet your expectations" kind of thing. Sometimes you'll see hotels that seem to have a standard pre-programmed response to every complaint, which to me is as bad as not responding at all.

The trouble with that, is the book is, at minimum, 18 months out of date (by the time the reviewers have stayed, written up, published, to book shelves etc.) I bought a few books on Amazon last month, and the latest update for several of the well known ones were 2-3 years ago. Plus, you have a very limited sample - perhaps just one stay - which as we all know can go very well or very badly - a mass sampling will probably give you a better overall idea IMO.

I like that TA is current - there are people who were there last week, so they can give you almost real time information. If you venture into the forum side, there are people who post 'live from' threads.

It has its limitations, sure. But it can also answer the questions on things that are important to you - beds hard or sort? Shower curtains, or glass dividers? What sort of coffee is in the rooms, etc. Things that don't make it into more formal publications, yet may have burning importance to you.

This answer is an insult. I don't see how someone could pull off the wallet to 'managers' like this.

You might want to avail yourself of the free platinum status with Accor hotels that seems to pop up frequently - you'll find a thread in their forum on here - room upgrades, etc.

But some managers are so arrogant and think they are right and the customer is demanding and had not done his or her research before booking.:D

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with danielonn's posting history. A quick search and read might change your stance ;)

No, the post was insulting to the French. Go back and read the post again, or at least what I quoted above.

Exactly.

Unbelievable some of the recent candid management pushbacks from some hotels. You'd think that some of these management figures lived in the hotel as their homes.

But one thing that has resulted in TA is management looking after the customers more closely and providing better service and product at the hotel level. A renovation would make old hotel reviews old.. at least I see quite a few hotels undergoing much needed renovations to improve the customer experience.

Of course, we have to read it on TA before venturing out to the old holes.:)

Got it. Resembles an actual answer read earlier in the thread.

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.

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...

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.

We usually use the TA discussion forums to find tour operators.

And business economics.. Just amortize the reno on top of the usual base rate, and reset the building life while collecting a higher rate with higher vacancy for the rooms.

Renovations is a necessity for the hotel industry, just like any real estate holdings for the long term.

I have done that in the past, but then I need to plan well ahead in order to secure the specific guide everyone recommends. I kind of like the idea of last minute (week or two) planning.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Yes, I saw that yesterday also. Too bad. I found igougo a fun site and earned a few hundred dollars in amazon gift certificates over the years. (I originally signed up to earn AA miles, but decided the rate was better for the amazon $.)

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.

+1. Tripadvisor tries way too hard in that regard.

I thought Trip Advisor is a neutral site. This spam is a marketing technique.

Doesn't a TA user have the option to select notifications or not?

: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

. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-are-real.html

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.

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.:-:

100% You must use common sense when reading and accepting as fact some of the reviews, just like you do in everyday life. If a review stands out with over the top complaints or compliments, then it probably is not accurate for most people.

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.

You missed the point. You said 'I thought Trip Advisor is a neutral site'. My reply to you is that it is not neutral, nor is it always honest or reflective of the situation. (Hence this entire thread)

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?