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[happy2012]

You can tell which reviews are written by Reputation Defender (and similar companies). They're all the same format, low post count, and painfully corny. Those companies should stop hiring wannabe-author English majors and technical writers. Hilton hires the professional writers to boost ratings. I'm sure the other major hotel companies hire reviewers, too, but Hilton's are the worst.

I just wrote a review 20 min ago on the AMAZING Hilton Toronto, wish someone would pay me for that review!!!.
Just had to say!!

 

[twooley2]

I look at the reviews and take them with a grain of salt you can pretty much tell the stocked reviews that are there just to ruin a hotel that a competitor deems a threat and decides to write bad things about. Like low count and same cities etc.

 

[sparklynails23]

I just wrote a review 20 min ago on the AMAZING Hilton Toronto, wish someone would pay me for that review!!!.
Just had to say!!

Oh, I've reviewed Hiltons too, almost always very positively, but the paid reviews on their sites are so easy to spot.

 

[Seeker615]

I love Tripadvisor and use it faithfully.

Like the others have said you need to check the majority of the reviews and and see what the general consensus is. If there is a lot of 5 star reviews and maybe a few lower reviews look and see why they got the lower review. I also look and see how many posts the reviewer has also.

I also agree that you need to read why there was a complaint and look for the consistencies. (dirty rooms, bad service, run down)

Before I even consider booking I check tripadvisor. It has saved me from a potential disaster more than once.

 

[bdoyledimou]

i saw reviews on Pop Century that complained about way to many kids..

then i found the samea review for all the All Star resorts -- they all reccommended the Howard Johnsons Maingate.

the only difference was the resort they were slamming.

 

[toontoy]

I would look at travelocity and expedia's reviews as well as they make sure you have stayed at the hotel before you can review it. I think that is the major flaw to tripadvisor.

I have read some reviews for a hotel and and after staying at it you could tell the negative reviewer never stayed their

 

[shalom]

I have found that I write 99% good reviews.

I realized recently that mine are all positive, as well, at least in terms of numerical ratings. I try to give specific information in my comments, because that's why I hit Trip Advisor myself, and I ignore the ratings because so many places they're useless. For instance, TS resort ratings are often higher when the resort has a lot of on-site activities. I don't care about most onsite activities, so that means the rating system isn't helpful.

I like longer reviews or reviews because the reviewer often gives you hints about where they're coming from. Even here on the Dis, an "on-site all the time" person will say "huge" when someone who regularly stays offsite might say, "kinda cramped" -- their basis for comparison is different so they're going to say different things. In reality, "Disney huge" is kind of like "beachfront big" -- it's big for that location, but compared to places a mile away, probably kinda small. I like space, so that difference matters.

Do I think TripAdvisor is a useful site, but I also think you have to "filter" the posts a bit, and not just for the obvious people with a grudge or people trying to fake you out. If you know what aspects are most important to you, TripAdvisor is a lot more useful than if you're just looking for "good versus bad".

 

[Nomad70]

I always use Trip Advisor when looking for hotels and restaurants. Having poured over hundreds of each (and cross referencing with other review boards like Yelp, etc.) I have figured out what to really take stock in and what to take with a grain of salt. When someone complains about construction or closed pools in a hotel, that doesn't bother me. These things happen and are unavoidable. Heck, at least they are upgrading, right? Finding bugs in a hotel room, that's a sticky one. If we are up north where it tends to be cooler and I find bugs that may have more weight then finding one say in a hotel at Disney, FLORIDA, and the SOUTH in general have bugs, and among them, roaches! While good pest control is key, it is control, not eradication of them. Hotels can't can't always control noisy guests either. As for food reviews, they are very subjective. What I like and what someone else likes can be very different. So I tend to read between the lines and see what is maybe a pattern. I have read and given countless reviews on places I thought were fantastic and equally horrible, with others have a very different review.

 

[BensDaddy]

I travel for a living and generally book my own hotels for myself and my traveling companions. So it is important to me not only to be in a nice hotel, but to be near food, entertainment, etc. I use TripAdvisor extensively. I have over 149 reviews and 66 "helpful" votes. I try to be pretty detailed in my reviews.

My suggestion is that you look for reviews left by business travelers. They tend to be more realistic than the once a year vacation traveler, and also picky about the things that really matter.

 

[Buzz L. Year]

TA is genrally better for hotels than restaurants. Just my .02.

 

[Candleshoe]

I still use Trip Advisor and really like it. But I tend to discount the too highs and too lows and focus on the middle ones. I also read for content. The more detail the better!

 

[Doogan]

In addition to all the others who have mentioned things like looking at averages, throwing out out-liars (highs and lows), I also look for whether or not management is engaged in the comments. I doesn't bother me if somebody has a complaint as long as the hotel/restaurant tries to correct the problem once they are made aware of the situation.

I still find that hotels/restaurants that get a vast majority of good reviews do not disappoint. It may be that some who get mediocre reviews are actually OK, but I haven't really tested that theory.

 

[tina.tina]

I think Trip Advisor is just as reliable as asking a wide group of your acquaintances for their opinion on a new local restaurant. You have to look at everything in context and weed through all the extra stuff to get to the basic truth.

I also think you have to weed out personal preference to get the basics. I saw someone with a negative review make a comment that the Dolphin had too many kids roaming around & that wasn't something he/she wanted at a conference hotel where a person is trying to get work done.

I sort of disagree with the person who wrote that you should rely more on what a business traveler says. If I'm going somewhere on vacation, I want amenities and an atmosphere that they're not looking for on a working trip.

It helps to know the person who is giving advice but I don't trust my parents to give me good reviews for hotels. I've stayed places that I would never recommend to anyone because they've said a place was nice. Now, I go online & look at Trip Advisor to see what strangers have to say before I book.

 

[ready2vacation]

I have been contributing on TA for years. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at spotting the fake reviews and then I do as others state taking the super-highs and the low-lows and throwing them out.

If someone has only one post, I usually discount it for the most part.

If an "average" hotel has 100s of reviews and they are GLOWING, I usually chalk it up to it being a hotel that strongly emphasizes enterning a review.

If someone writes the review and it sounds too commercial and uses descriptive language that someone would not typically use, I usually discount it (yes, realizing some people just have the gift of prose).

Finally, if there is name-dropping throughout, I usually figure they are a friend of someone or they were put up to the review.

Funny thing (to contradict my own advice above), I have very few posts on the DIS, but have been going to Disney for years and actually been reading the boards for literally years. However, I take it with a grain of salt that there are probably people who discount what I have posted because of the # of my posts

 

[softballmom3]

I, too, have contributed many times to Trip Advisor. I try to be as honest and detailed as possible because tbh that is what I read when I go there. I'm with other PP's in the fact that name dropping will signify "fake" reviews at times.

I've also posted reviews that aren't so great where management never responds. In contrast, I've posted great ones where no comment either .

I have faith but I do read through the reviews also so I can get a "feel" hopefully of what the place is like.

A lot of times, in this day and age, you never know what you are going to get regardless but if I'm going somewhere and end up with an issue I want to be at a place that is professional and will take care of it!

 

[Brook1099]

I use trip advisor often,my good luck ran out, I just this weekend booked a hotel near our beach to visit a friend. Oh, I was so dissapointed when I got there, almost didnt stay,outdated badly, smelly,burn holes everywhere, no towels, no hairdryer, dingy pool my kids didnt want to swim in, yet the reviews were really good, WHAT As soon as I got home I made my review, I started with the good points which was location and the air conditiner was cold, after that my review was downhill. I am planning a Siest key trip, will use trip advisor as a starting guide then hit YouTube and Dis Boards.

 

[shebjo]

I use trip advisor often,my good luck ran out, I just this weekend booked a hotel near our beach to visit a friend. Oh, I was so dissapointed when I got there, almost didnt stay,outdated badly, smelly,burn holes everywhere, no towels, no hairdryer, dingy pool my kids didnt want to swim in, yet the reviews were really good, WHAT As soon as I got home I made my review, I started with the good points which was location and the air conditiner was cold, after that my review was downhill. I am planning a Siest key trip, will use trip advisor as a starting guide then hit YouTube and Dis Boards.

We did Siesta Key/Sarasota trip the last 2 years and had a good time. Regarding Trip Advisor - it's like any other reviews/comments. Friends and I will go out to dinner and one likes the place and the others don't. I read the reviews and posts on Trip Advisor, Dis Board and other sites before all trips (doing that now for my upcoming FL trip although I have visited so often). For me - I like to read what people like/dislike ...and I especially pay attention to those reviews where the poster seems to have something similar to me - like kids my age. but in the end - unless it's mostly negative posts - I think it's best to give the place a chance. If you think it may be okay - try it for yourself. Some people are just so hard to please - we all know people in our family/friends are colleagues who complain about everything ..so some of these trip reviewers are these people.

 

[WaDiWo]

Yes, some people are hard to please, have unrealistic expectations, or just don't read what they're getting into. One TA reviewer, a new DVC member, gave Bay Lake Tower a 1 star because housekeeping didn't come everyday. Well, that's part of the Disney Vacation Club that he/she purchased, and BLT shouldn't all of a sudden get a bad rating because he/she didn't know how Disney Vacation Club worked.

Oh, there was also a complaint and a 1 star review because one reviewer's daughter did not get a card and balloon from Bay Lake Tower on her birthday. Wow.

 

[7165red]

I find the travel forums very helpful, people are always willing to help.

 

[AndyFL]

Alot of you folks look at TA reviews the way I do, I take an average. This past Oct I almost changed the hotel we were going to stay at but luckily chose not to.....if it turned out to be as bad as some said it was I would simply walk away and go somewhere else. Turned out we loved it and plan to stay there again in the future. I have since begun leaving reviews of my own and try to help clear up the wheat from the chaff to try to help someone else who is trying to decipher how a place can be paradise and hades all at the same time.