Tripadvisor.com/Hotel
 

Whenever I consult tripadvisor to read the hotel reviews of various hotels I'm astounded that 99% of the hotels get glowing reviews. Are these reviews genuine ? Forgive me for being so naive.

Tripadvisor has slipped considerably. A few years ago, reviews were generally honest, even though there was some cheating. But cheaters couldn't do much more than add some glowing reviews to offset negative reviews. Now, things have changed, as Tripadvisor seems to be very responsive to hotel's requests to remove negative reviews. I'm not sure if this has to be attributed to new funding mechanisms, or a change in "philosophy," but I don't trust Tripadvisor anymore.

You mean that something like this might not be genuine

"I was greated at the front desk with warm smiles and sincere small talk. Since I am always on the road, this was very comforting to me. I am also on a tight budget, so the price for the room was very pleasing! When I entered the room, I was VERY impressed by the cleanliness of the room and how comfortable the bed and other furniture was. I truly felt like I was at home!! The many amenities that this hotel has to offer is amazing. Not only did I have a wonderful breakfast, but I was very excited to know that I had a relaxing happy hour in a beautiful lobby to wind down in. All in all, this is a perfect hotel for anyone looking for a good hotel at a good price, cleanliness, comfort, and friendliness."

And the reviewer gave the hotel 5 stars in every category.

Amazing how that entire paragraph carries no useful information whatsoever.

Sounds great :) What's the name of the hotel?

Must be the Rusty Parrot Lodge & Spa (#1 @ travelandleisure.com) booked at priceline.

You must be looking at different hotels than the ones I've looked at on Tripadvisor! :eek:

I've seen a lot of negative reviews there over the years. I was recently researching the Copper Canyon in Mexico, for example, and the reviews for hotels in that region were quite a mixed bag; there were some strongly negative reviews as well as positive reviews of the very same hotels. Also, I was recently looking at ratings of London hotels there and the reviews, by and large, looked honest -- they talked about the good and the bad.

I take both the positive and negative ones with a large grain of salt. People are more likely to post if they are upset than if they are satisfied. On the other hand, I, like others on this thread, suspect that a lot of the glowing ones are written by (or for) the owner/manager of the hotel. ;)

I've had the same experience lately. Just last week I stayed at the #1 hotel in a particular resort town in Britian that turned out to be a somewhat rundown 2 star place.

Still, I check out the reviews and try to glean whatever info I can.

Its best to read a page or two of comments. If 8 reviews are very positive, and all read about the same way they were probably written by the same person and he is probably employed by the hotel. IMO the reviws seem more truthful for the chain hotels than the independents. Also I ignore 99% of B&B reviews by anyone.

MisterNice

I've found that TripAdvisor qualified with a Flyertalk search (or new post, if the Hotel hasn't been posted before) generally reveals substantive information I can use in making an informed decision. Of course, I trust the opinions of fellow Flyertalkers and the unedited medium over what may be a biased Trip Advising site.

I don't find FlyerTalk to be that reliable for hotel reviews. :eek: Too many people here seem to be perennial malcontents, just looking for things to complain about. (I can give examples, but don't wish to embarrass anyone here. ;) )

I believe it will soon be possible to see what other reviews a poster has made on tripadvisor. This will give us the power to see whether the poster is well respected or a permanant malcontent or a cheater. While it will cause the researcher more work, not just looking at reviews but reviewers, it ought to raise the overall content quality. ^

I both agree and disagree with this. I think that overall the FT user base IS more savvy and also (due to the large number of nights spent in hotels) demanding than the leisure-leaning majority of people who are TA's posting base.

I thnk that problems arise when members (especially higher-tier members) come to a property with unrealistically heightened expectations. It's one thing if a property shamelessy and unapologetically refuses to honor the Terms and Conditions of the loyalty program. But it's quite another thing when someone takes it personally when a hotel does not go BEYOND what is required in those same Ts and Cs - "disappointment" as it's so often phrased.

Regarding TA itself, if I see a preponderance of negative reviews (epsecially when they give specifics, not just nebulous generalities), I would tend to pay attention. However, I think that all-positive review sutiations need to be taken with a huge boulder of salt, due to the potential for false puffery.

Yes, they are making this change. I've generally found TripAdvisor to be a good mix of balanced reviews and have been happy with the choices I made based on feedback. I also write reviews and have given the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't think mine have ever been pulled, but I'm always very specific. Not just "room service was awful" but "Room service kept promising my meal was on its way and after an hour of delays I cancelled the order and went to bed". And, like some of the previous posters, I've gone to places with a few trepidations (negatives, but not one of my major priorities related to comfort, cleanliness and quiet) and been pleasantly suprpised.