Not sure what to believe

[SweetPeasMom2]

I go to the reviews on Trip Advisor and they are all mixed. Anywhere from Excellent, Great Stay, Run, Bedbugs, etc. It's not any in particular, pretty much all the hotels I've looked up are like this.

 

[sympatico]

Yeah, you have to take a lot of them with a grain of salt. Some aren't true reviews. Click up the profile of the one that's writing the review and see where else they've stayed and their reviews. Sometimes you just can't please some people. There's also trolls that just get a kick out of writing false reviews. Sometimes the competition posts bad reviews so you won't stay there. I use TA for a guide but usually ask on here or other boards for info from the local experts.

 

[Miss Stitch]

I agree. I also tend to think that mostly people with bad experience post too. Some people are very difficult to please and nothing would make them happy.

The last two hotels I stayed at had mostly bad reviews on Trip Advisor and I was really worried (We had already booked), but I thought they were both great and we had no problems whatsoever. People had actually lied also when posting as someone apparently staying there the same time as us, said the pool was dirty and that there were no resturants or shops within walking distance. We went in the very clean pool everyday, and ate at the Orlando Steak House, Bennigans, drank in the sports bar and bought supplies from the grocery store, gifts from the gift shop all within five mins walk!!

Dont worry, book the places you like the look of and have a great time.

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

Thanks. I didn't know I could look at their profile and get an idea of posting history. I swear I just don't understand trolls. They really need to get a life.

 

[Brian Noble]

I tend to put more faith in Expedia reviews---to review a property, you have to have booked your stay there through them. I also like the Unofficial Guide's ratings, as they at least try to be objective.

For timeshares, I also put a lot of stock in the TUG reviews.

 

[lilyv]

I never use Trip Advisor for advice. There are way too many folks who just troll away there.

 

[deedeetoo]

I really like tripadvisor though I admit I have never used it for a WDW trip. There are usually lots of user pictures posted so you can get a real feel for what a place looks like - much better than the 5 stock pictures that the hotel may show you.

Its always the first place I check when I am travelling to somewhere unfamiliar. As others have said, you have to take it all with a grain of salt. Read the reviews carefully. Some people are complaining about stuff that is just ridiculous. Other people are gushing about a place but it becomes obvious when reading that they don't travel much or normally stay at lower quality places.

My main problem with them is that there seem too be a large number of people that put value above how nice a place is, so you will find 3 star places ranked above 5 star places. There is no way that the 3 star place is nicer than the 5 star place, but people go in with different expectations and then rank things accordingly. Again, you really have to read a lot of the reviews.

 

[rosiep]

Taking the reviews with a grain of salt is really good advice. I like a clean, well lit hotel that has decent room service. Some people want a deluxe stay, staff that is solicitous or a nice pool...when these expectations aren't met we rate the hotel poorly....so only by knowing what someone wanted from the outset...and then comparing that to what they got and how they rated the hotel can you really get a picture of the experience.