Not just Tripadvisor! We have been burned from travel to merchandise.
Good or bad, I tend to read a good number of reviews. I eliminate the ones that are vague looking for specifics, and then look for patterns. I also look for reviews where the vendor has responded as a means to get some satisfaction.
I look for the vendor’s photos and reviewer’s photos. I look for what has been cropped out or omitted. I recently picked up a “suite” where that was really a studio (the bedroom was not separate). Using Google Maps “street level” can reveal a lot about the facility and area. I discovered a place that was reviewed with water views would have been a disappointment.
Whenever you read a positive review, look for specific details, not just boilerplate praise. “The staff were all very friendly” could be fake, but “Jeremy went out of his way to make sure my daughter got her Cheetos,” probably really happened.
When you read negative reviews, look for spelling and grammatical errors. Stupid people usually have unrealistic expectations, and lash out with blame for their own faults at the expense of the business.
Wading through unhelpful reviews has become so much more time consuming that is almost not worth it. I find 1-star and 5-star reviews to be the least helpful. Check the 2,3, and, 4 star reviews if there are any.
Nope. I do not trust reviews on website nor travel industry surveys. I rely on the opinion of friends whose standards and interests align with mine or on my own experience. Social media and the travel industry are plagued by influencers and special interest groups with a percentage. I also prefer to have low expectations and get pleasant surprises rather than disappointments.
I have always wondered how much you could trust reviews. You should be able to. When I first came to Hawaii I had no idea what hotel to stay at. I saw an ad for the Ilima hotel at Waikiki and called the 800 number. I spoke with a woman who handled reservations for them. I took my chances and was satisfied. The Outrigger Aina Nalu at Lahaina was also very nice. We stayed at Hotel Molokai and Hotel Lanai. Both good choices. This is from my personal experience. No fake reviews! I’m not being paid to say this!
Although I like to look at reviews I take them either a “grain-of-salt”. Example: My daughter was paying for our hotel for our granddaughter’s “Sweet 16”, in San Diego. I told her of a hotel which we’d stayed at several different times a couple decades ago. She reserved, but then I read the reviews. A few reviews were very upset because of construction going on, and that one of the two pools were closed. They talked about how terrible the place was. We continued with our booking & we were not let down. Other than the rooms being nicely updated they were just as nice as when we’d previously visited. In fact, when we entered the parking lot there were two teenage girls who had just gone swimming. I ignore the minority of negative reviews.
I rely on Andrew Doughty’s guidebooks for each of the islands. They’re unbiased and not shy about pointing out bad service. I’ve found all of their reviews to be spot on.
Great info. Thank you. I used to try to do a TA review each time we traveled. However a couple years ago we had a bad experience at a resort. And although we raved about the beach and the activities at the resort we were honest about the condition of the rooms and the service in the restaurants. TA sent me an email saying they weren’t posting it because it seemed fake. I had many other reviews already on TA and this one was flagged as fake. It made no sense. I haven’t written a review on TA since then.
Some businesses on TA have scads of 1st-time reviewers. If they do I usually ignore the company and take it off my list of possible choices. If there are just a few 1st-time reviews I ignore those. Obviously, there are going to be some actual first-timers that get ignored but that’s a small amount of the reviewers.
If I’m looking for a hotel I always look for reviews from several sites. Is this a perfect solution? Ha, no, but it usually gives me a pretty good idea of the choice I’m making.
I haven’t used Trip Advisor for years every since I found out that they suppress negative reviews.
Not just Tripadvisor! We have been burned from travel to merchandise.
Good or bad, I tend to read a good number of reviews. I eliminate the ones that are vague looking for specifics, and then look for patterns. I also look for reviews where the vendor has responded as a means to get some satisfaction.
I look for the vendor’s photos and reviewer’s photos. I look for what has been cropped out or omitted. I recently picked up a “suite” where that was really a studio (the bedroom was not separate). Using Google Maps “street level” can reveal a lot about the facility and area. I discovered a place that was reviewed with water views would have been a disappointment.
I look for things I specifically want/prefer.
Whenever you read a positive review, look for specific details, not just boilerplate praise. “The staff were all very friendly” could be fake, but “Jeremy went out of his way to make sure my daughter got her Cheetos,” probably really happened.
When you read negative reviews, look for spelling and grammatical errors. Stupid people usually have unrealistic expectations, and lash out with blame for their own faults at the expense of the business.
Wading through unhelpful reviews has become so much more time consuming that is almost not worth it. I find 1-star and 5-star reviews to be the least helpful. Check the 2,3, and, 4 star reviews if there are any.
Nope. I do not trust reviews on website nor travel industry surveys. I rely on the opinion of friends whose standards and interests align with mine or on my own experience. Social media and the travel industry are plagued by influencers and special interest groups with a percentage. I also prefer to have low expectations and get pleasant surprises rather than disappointments.
🤣 I stopped reading Trip Advisor’s reviews 10 years ago! They’re horrible but people still read them. Good luck chumps
I have always wondered how much you could trust reviews. You should be able to. When I first came to Hawaii I had no idea what hotel to stay at. I saw an ad for the Ilima hotel at Waikiki and called the 800 number. I spoke with a woman who handled reservations for them. I took my chances and was satisfied. The Outrigger Aina Nalu at Lahaina was also very nice. We stayed at Hotel Molokai and Hotel Lanai. Both good choices. This is from my personal experience. No fake reviews! I’m not being paid to say this!
Although I like to look at reviews I take them either a “grain-of-salt”. Example: My daughter was paying for our hotel for our granddaughter’s “Sweet 16”, in San Diego. I told her of a hotel which we’d stayed at several different times a couple decades ago. She reserved, but then I read the reviews. A few reviews were very upset because of construction going on, and that one of the two pools were closed. They talked about how terrible the place was. We continued with our booking & we were not let down. Other than the rooms being nicely updated they were just as nice as when we’d previously visited. In fact, when we entered the parking lot there were two teenage girls who had just gone swimming. I ignore the minority of negative reviews.
I rely on Andrew Doughty’s guidebooks for each of the islands. They’re unbiased and not shy about pointing out bad service. I’ve found all of their reviews to be spot on.
Great info. Thank you. I used to try to do a TA review each time we traveled. However a couple years ago we had a bad experience at a resort. And although we raved about the beach and the activities at the resort we were honest about the condition of the rooms and the service in the restaurants. TA sent me an email saying they weren’t posting it because it seemed fake. I had many other reviews already on TA and this one was flagged as fake. It made no sense. I haven’t written a review on TA since then.
Some businesses on TA have scads of 1st-time reviewers. If they do I usually ignore the company and take it off my list of possible choices. If there are just a few 1st-time reviews I ignore those. Obviously, there are going to be some actual first-timers that get ignored but that’s a small amount of the reviewers.
If I’m looking for a hotel I always look for reviews from several sites. Is this a perfect solution? Ha, no, but it usually gives me a pretty good idea of the choice I’m making.