Online Reviews

Lane:

I too tend to scan negative reviews for patterns of issues. One bad review (or a group of them when it's pretty obvious that they are all from the same group or timeframe) has little weight with me. I also recall the old idea that someone is more likely to leave a complaint than a compliment. I think it was some thing like 1 compliment to every 10 complaints.

I also tend to look at multiple sources of reviews. Not just one website. While I know that there is crossover, and that not all sites are equal, I think it helps as well.

But, as you say, the article does point out some good tips on how to avoid the pitfalls of online reviews.

A wall with no outlets? Ha!

I find reviews to be extremely helpful. First, if the lodging choice has less than 25 reviews, I’m not going to stay there. It may be perfectly fine or a new option - just not going to take the chance when I’m on vacation. Same if the reviews are all over a year old. I’ve seen some start ups where I’ve been able to identify that owners were giving each other glowing reviews.

I scan the top rated reviews for what they specifically enjoyed, and then look at the negative reviews. I’m searching for deal breakers - dirty, unsafe, rude, etc. “Small” can just be that the reviewer hasn’t seen a normal European old town typical room, so that’s not a negative to me.

Afterwards, I like to scan the “traveler photos” on TripAdvisor. Sometimes they are comically different than the hotel’s!

Since we stay in the smaller family-run hotels or B&B’s for most of our options, I know they appreciate receiving the positive reviews and a few photos on Trip Advisor for their next potential customers.

I rely pretty heavily on online hotel reviews for making decisions about where to stay. I've found Trip Advisor to be highly reliable. I spend a lot of time in Germany and have found holiday.de to be highly reliable for judging institutions that do not have a lot of English speakers stay in them. On an early trip to Europe, I looked up the RS-recommended places in Venice on TA. After looking at pictures and reading reviews, I quickly decided RS guides would not be one of my resources for judging hotels.

I believe I've gotten pretty good at reading hotel reviews (especially on Trip Advisor), at filtering out the useless ones. It's been a long time since I was disappointed in a hotel that didn't meet my expectations based on the reviews.

I read the reviews for the content not worrying about the number of stars given. I try to see if the reviewers are being reasonable or being ridiculous. Many of the same kinds of issues can be experienced at many hotels, and sometimes I look for the same kinds of things I would write about other hotels. Many things some reviewers complain about just aren't important to me (e.g. quality of the breakfast, lack of elevator, how nice the people at reception are, etc.).

In fact, sometimes I like places that get bad reviews for reasons I don't care about. "Bad WiFi" means little to me anymore because I now travel with a SIM card with plenty of data. I've also gotten used to some noise in hotels over the years. "Thin walls" doesn't bother me much theses days If such things give a property a lower review score and make it not sold out when other properties are or are much more expensive, all the better for me.

The most important factors to me in a hotel these days are location and price - as long as the place is clean and has minimal comforts (like a private bathroom). So the most important thing I look for in a review is information about the location. I'll take chances on places if they are in a great location and cheap, and that has usually worked out fine for me.

I read the article this morning... it was a fairly interesting piece. I think Andrew H's comment is better than mine and similar to my approach. In general, I have found TA very helpful. Certainly, one needs to weed out the goofy reviews and not take everything at face value. But, I've had a lot of success using it to find relatively inexpensive, clean places to stay.

Like the rest of you, I also make heavy use of reviews when selecting accommodations, restaurants and even attractions, sometimes. And like the rest of you, I think it's pretty easy to identify and discard the fakes and unreasonable complainers. You can't expect luxury amenities/services at budget hotels, right? The fakes? They give themselves away a dozen different ways, and all it takes is one or two of those for me to move on.

Ditto with discarding reviews that don't provide any useful information:
"Nice place. We had a good time."
Er, OK, THAT tells me a lot. Not.

I like to scan the “traveler photos” on TripAdvisor. Sometimes they
are comically different than the hotel’s!

Jean, traveler photos are probably TA's most valuable asset, IMHO. I choose not to contribute to that site for personal reasons but refer to those photos all the time for candid reality versus styled-up ad shots. I just wish some contributors there would quit posting pix under their reviews that have nothing to do with that place/thing, if that makes sense? I'd like to see snaps of the Paris hotel you're writing about, say, and not wade through pix of you, your boyfriend, your kids at the Eiffel, the Arc de Triomphe, some random cafe, etc.

Kathy, I heartily agree about the random extra traveler photos some people add to TripAdvisor hotel photos. I wonder if anyone was disappointed that their hotel room didn’t have that view of the Eiffel Tower, etc.? ; )

I've had mostly good results with reading online reviews. The trick is to read several different sites-ie, TA and Booking.com and read all the reviews. Also know that one mans shack is another mans castle. Many people from the US describe hotels in Asia and Europe as small or cramped simply because they are used to the American 2 doublebeds, closet and ensuite. But do watch out for numerous noise-related posts. There was a poster on here that complained about an Irish hotel and wedding reception noise. When I read the TA reports there were 10 other reports that mentioned the incessant noise and the hotel's unwillingness to get involved.

My hotel review red flag, when reading them, include repeated instances/mentions of:

• room types that did not match what was reserved
  • faulty bathrooms (especially problems with hot water or foul smells)
  • unannounced extras charged despite being not requested nor included in the fare as booked
  • loud functions within the hotel well into the night (i.e. the hotel hosts dancing parties and late-night weddings in its lobby/hall without proper insulation)
  • insistence on cash payment though reservation said cards were accepted (this seems a particular problem in 2 specific European countries I shall not mention here)

Speaking of online reviews, here's one I came across while researching noise cancelling headphones. It's positive, however the comments the reviewer supplies make it a classic: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R9Y8TLC9HN5VR/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00NG57H4S

It's difficult to trust reviews nowadays. I remember reading a news about this guy who made his imaginary restaurant #1 because of fake review he and his friends did.

I heard this story on NPR Planet Money last week. fake review hunter It talks about research that someone did on exactly this topic of bogus reviews. Conclusion was that most are fake. I believe it but still read reviews, especially hotels, for any glimmer of pertinent info.

The other thing I noticed lately is being pestered to leave a review after you stay somewhere, especially if it is a newer place. Seems a lot of people post a review just to get them to leave you alone.

I may or may not post a review of a place I have been. It is my business if I do or don't Repeatedly sending me emails demanding I post the review is not going to get a better review from me.

For me, it's pretty simple regarding online reviews.

• My focus is reading those that are most recent.

• I take both rave reviews and 1-star pans with a grain of salt. In both, I need to specific reasons why a place was either fantastic as well as exactly what went wrong to make someone really hate a hotel, a piece of electronics, a restaurant, etc. Vagueness is a waste of time.

When it comes to weighing online reviews, the first factor that I look into is checking the most recent reviews. If the reviews are 6 months old or older, the review does not weight that much anymore since a lot could happen in that span of time.

If the review is recent, I also look into the account of the person who did the review. The activities on the reviewers account could give a sign that the person is real or just someone who aims to give negative review to any business.

Additionally, I do not only refer to one review page or site, I refer to at least 3 review sites where I usually see a common denominator and this is where I base my decision.