TripAdvisor

[Winston Smith]

Would you/do you trust reviews of hotels and restaurants on that website?

[Joyofsox]

I like to see the general feel of the reviews, but accept that wingnuts have access to keyboards and the odd spurious one finds a way through.
I have generally agreed with the tone of the reviews.

[Winston Smith]

I ask because I am staying in the Lake District this week on business and I booked a room at a pub on Laterooms.com. The reviews on that website were glowing...there were 78 in all and it had a 99% rating and having skimmed through them, I did not find a negative review apart from a few minor complaints about trivial matters. The same place on TripAdvisor is slated and the negative reviews far outweighed the positive ones and in fact some people were quite nasty in their criticism. I suppose I shall find out for myself but it seems a bit weird to me.

[Lucylastic]

I've found that with restaurant reviews too. On one site a place will be universally praised and on another it will be dammed by all. I think people are encouraged by other reviewers to follow their lead.

[Joyofsox]

I look to see the dates too. Often the reviews have prompted a refit and relaunch, but the old ones stay forever.

[none of the above]

Indeed, sometimes the tone of the reviews can show the exact point when new management or a change (better or worse) happened. I have noticed this many times on campsite rating sites.

[Winston Smith]

TripAdvisor have got a reputation for people leaving vindictive reviews on the site. Normally from competitors who have hotels or guest houses nearby.

[himerus]

I tend to ignore the extreme reviews, good or bad, but generally I can get a rough idea of what I am buying into.

[LightRibena]

I tend to ignore the extreme reviews, good or bad, but generally I can get a rough idea of what I am buying into.

I tend to do the same, more so with the bad reviews as I find people are more willing to bitch and moan than they are to praise.

[Big Ben]

I find Tripadvisor reviews to be very helpful and are the best, most detailed reviews around. I ignore the ratings per se, because they are subjective. Rather, I look for the reasoning behind what is said and key facts that are hard to otherwise know. For example, how close are they to public transporation if you don't have a car? Is there a noise pub in the ground floor? Is there a nice restaurant nearby, or a cheap place for breakfast across the street in stead of eating at the hotel? The tips they give are often very informative.

[H. Franklin Layne]

I don't use those particular sites, but I have noticed, in general...that reviews that are legit will share several things in mention; there will be patterns to what gets mentioned, and when you see them, you get an idea of what to expect. Reviews that go too far, one way or the other, I disregard. It could be due to a competitor, or employees berating or hyping, beyond reality.

[Who?]

TripAdvisor have got a reputation for people leaving vindictive reviews on the site. Normally from competitors who have hotels or guest houses nearby.

This type of site/format is wide open to abuse. I have a couple of clients that are hoteliers and they both worry about false reviews, and post them against their competitors! Posting on these sites appears to be a skill that they're having to learn. It's also common for friends of hotel management to post fake glowing reviews. I think it's a numbers game and you need to go along with the majority of reviews. The same can be said for restaurants of course.

[Rip Van Fish]

TripAdvisor have got a reputation for people leaving vindictive reviews on the site. Normally from competitors who have hotels or guest houses nearby.

This type of site/format is wide open to abuse. I have a couple of clients that are hoteliers and they both worry about false reviews, and post them against their competitors! Posting on these sites appears to be a skill that they're having to learn. It's also common for friends of hotel management to post fake glowing reviews. I think it's a numbers game and you need to go along with the majority of reviews. The same can be said for restaurants of course.

This

[Lucylastic]

One of the giveaways of a glowing review's origins is when the writer loiters on the site and attempts to counter subsequent damning reviews. I think a lot of these review sites are worthless. Although, as I always point out, no one is to waste their money on Dickens World.

[Julie-Anne]

One of the giveaways of a glowing review's origins is when the writer loiters on the site and attempts to counter subsequent damning reviews. I think a lot of these review sites are worthless. Although, as I always point out, no one is to waste their money on Dickens World.

True, I don't think anyone would like a hotel enough to return to Tripadvisor every few days and defend it against any criticism that was put against it.