TripAdvisor - Do you use it?

[clazman]

Yes I use and put reviews and photos on TA.

Kudos to Novotel Sydney Olympic Park, I neg reviewed our room with photos and they tracked me down via room number and we were offered a free suite for an event night later that year (rack rate was $500+ that night), with welcome fruit basket no less.

Pullman Olympic Park also recently came to the party with a free dinner because of a few tiny issues we had with our last stay.

I do like when the business reps respond to reviews.

That is what is wrong with TA, write a negative comment and hopefully you get a free room or upgrade next time.

 

[Denali]

Do they find you by matching the room info and dates? Or, is it not as anonymous as it should be by some other 'route'?

In my case it was pretty obvious when I posted that I was there on a [insert major sporting event night] and I had room number ###.

I was very surprised when contacted and more than happy to take up their offer of additional hospitality.

 

[Denali]

That is what is wrong with TA, write a negative comment and hopefully you get a free room or upgrade next time.

Actually, that was not my intention. As a paying guest I was upset about the cleanliest of our room - bathroom had obvious mold and room was dusty/unclean.

I didn't expect a free anything but I have no problems with putting actual photos online for other people to see the state of the room that was charging hundreds of dollars per night for.

 

[Mattg]

That is what is wrong with TA, write a negative comment and hopefully you get a free room or upgrade next time.

This has never happened to me! Am I doing it wrong?

 

[bPeteb]

TripAdvisor is such a well known site but am wondering do the AFF folk use it? How do you use it? For what particular purposes? How often do you use it?

I stay regularly in Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel and they treat me like a king - so I posted a 'glowing' review on TA which appeared next day.

I stay 3 or 4 times each year at Le Royal Meridien in Shanghai only because of its location but this hotel 'never delivers' - so I wrote a 'less than glowing' review which DID NOT appear - how do you trust their hotel reviews?

We use it to research destinations and accommodation choices. I like that the rankings can include hotels we would never consider (on price) followed closely by something that is well within our budget.

Like many have said I also read the excellents and avoids, then more or the very goods and goods. I never look at reviews more than a couple of months old. I can't see the point. I always look through the photos. We haven't chosen wrong once yet, but that might be because I research for waaaaaaay too long (while driving my partner mad) across multiple sites before I'll commit to booking anywhere. New York and a few stops Iceland are coming up...

I post a review of every hotel we/I stay in on TripAdvisor and I've never had a review 'not published'. Some reviews have been glowing, some ok, and some far, far from glowing. They're all up there.

 

[CMak]

Always use TA when planning a trip.
I try to look for the trends in the posts, generally ignore the posters with one review (but everybody has to start somewhere) and tend to rely on reviews from Australians.
I have had all of my reviews published, even those that weren't particularly complimentary (although I do make an effort to be constructive rather than vitriolic).
CMak

 

[kremin]

I always look at TA but I generally have shortlisted already. I read up to a year of reviews and you get an educated feel for a place. More obscure places the sample response size isn't big enough eg: Murmansk

Maybe 10% of the time TA has changed my mind to another hotel

The attraction section is good to know what's available around, the reviews aren't real helpful to me

 

[RooFlyer]

Just went to TA to check out a hotel client has booked for me. Got a survey box pop up and I thought it might be an opportunity for me to tell them how their 'selected just for you' sucks.

Well, no. There was only one question, and here it is with the possible responses. Regular Trip Advisor users and/or account holders, anyone spot the flaw in this?

I answered that I heard about it on the radio. I mean, who designs these things?

 

[burmans]

I'm a bit surprised that noone has mentioned the use TA or what line.

I use TA as one of my sources of info (also looking on bookings.com/Agoda/hotelscombined to verify as I know they enforce the "you must have stayed here" rule) because the alternatives are pretty rubbish. Travel Agents put you in bland places that pay them the best commission, the travel books seem out of date, recommendations in the Age/SMH seems to be for people with way more money (and maybe less sense) than me.

In general TA is real travellers (taken with a grain of salt, I ignore 1 post wonders, most americans and accept that backpackers compete to find the cheapest accommodation/food and regard that as the only possible way to rate something) and the main reason I use is that subject to those provisos its probably as good information as I can get. Oh and I must say that if you apply those filters it has rarely let me down (unlike Travel Agents, Travel Guides which definitely have).

 

[Hvr]

[h=1]TripAdvisor names top Australian contributor Jolyon Philcox with the highest number of reviews for 2014[/h]Philcox has travelled to 54 countries, clocking up over a million miles of travel, or 40 per cent of the world, since 2009 and penned a whopping 1388 reviews of hotels, attractions and restaurants during 2014.

<snip>
Given the diversity of taste and experience among the site's reviewers cannot always accurately or fairly represent a place, Philcox advises TripAdvisor users to choose reviews written by like-minded people.


"I can view the profile of the reviewer and instantly see if they share the same travel values and expectations," he says.



TripAdvisor names top Australian contributor Jolyon Philcox with the highest number of reviews for 2014

I wonder if he posts here? (How would he have the time!!!)

 

[get me outta here]

It seems that according to TA I have visited 17% of the 'world'. I must start to go to some new places obviously.

ALSO, just found this under my TA m'ship:

American Express Travel

Spend $150, Get $50 Back
Save this offer to your Card to receive a $50 statement credit, when you spend $150 on pre-paid hotels, car hire or experiences at americanexpress.com.au/travel by 31 January 2015. Offer limited to first 15,000 Cards.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I use it to read up on hotels we intend on staying in as you pick up things you may not have found out until you get there. For instance when we stayed at Cabo I didn't realise you couldn't swim at a lot of the beaches along the coastline including the beach at the Holiday Inn Los Cabos where we were staying due to strong undertows.

A lot of people whinge and complain about ridiculous stuff like not being able to checkin to their hotel early morning when the checkin time at the hotel is clearly advertised as being 1500.

One thing I take note of is how promptly the hotel management responds to any complaints on Trip Advisor as it gives you confidence that if you did have any issues during your stay that they would be sorted out promptly.

 

[sammm]

I use it also to gauge hotels. I but I check who is doing the review, and where they came from. as there are differences on expectations.

 

[burmans]

I use it also to gauge hotels. I but I check who is doing the review, and where they came from. as there are differences on expectations.

Ain't that the truth (my bolding above).

 

[williamsf1]

Like most on here , I use TA as a reference guide only and hold reviews with “real” photos showing any issue with a higher credibility . I do find some of the complaints on there a little petty like “ the receptionist did not smile at me on day 3” …… “ the bathroom towels were not soft and fluffy” ( in a 3star hotel)

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I haven't read all these posts but I note many have said it's good if you know how to use it. I'm unsure if how I use it is the correct way (possibly not) but I like to view the real photos, read the comments (especially the negative ones) and look at the ratios of comment. I did find TA particularly useful for finding out a bit about Sri Lanka, as the web is very disjointed it seems with basic info on Sri Lanka. We used an AU based Travel Agent to find some prices for us, but airfares in particular were the standout. We were quoted something like AU$300-400 PP to fly one way across to Yala from CMB (actually to an airport which was still some hours drive from Yala), but with TA advice from people who had done it, I found an alternate airport a lot closer and about 10% of the price (still with UL in an A320). With 3 of us flying, that's around an AU$1000 difference.

It also helped us decide not to choose the Waldorf in Dubai as it's brand new and surrounded by construction sites with it doubtful that the whole hotel would be finished by the time we checked in. I don't really want to pay for a sleepover in a construction zone and try finding that info on the hotels site .

I have found too however, that TA can be manipulated. I found one restaurant in Surfers which had only 5 reviews and they were all glowing so we went there for lunch one day. Honestly, without a word of a lie, the dump would rate right up there as one of the worst foodie experiences we've endured (and I've eaten at some pretty ordinary establishments). I was so annoyed at what I think can only have been beat-up reviews by the owners family, that I wrote a report (yes, I'm one of those one time reviewers everyone ignores). My review was posted but that was followed by a flurry of posts about how fabulous the place is......best in Australia etc etc. After some time, others began reviewing how awful it was as well, so I guess there's no real way of telling whether reviews are genuine or just advertorial rubbish apart from reading discussions. It soon becomes reasonably clear who is in the know and who is just pushing their own barrow.

 

[Bob Larkin]

I am hopeless on remembering where I have been so I write reviews as a diary of sorts, all have been published and like the others I disregard the first time critics when choosing places to stay or eat, and because its so big now, the reviews are usually spot on. What I really like are the places that monitor there reviews, it usually shows in there customer service

 

[Atleastonce]

I use trip advisor to review places and get tips from other travelers. Like others I tend to discount the reviewers with minimal number of reviews. I have posted 272 reviews on trip advisor.

 

[PaulST]

I have found too however, that TA can be manipulated. I found one restaurant in Surfers which had only 5 reviews and they were all glowing so we went there for lunch one day. Honestly, without a word of a lie, the dump would rate right up there as one of the worst foodie experiences we've endured (and I've eaten at some pretty ordinary establishments). I was so annoyed at what I think can only have been beat-up reviews by the owners family, that I wrote a report (yes, I'm one of those one time reviewers everyone ignores). My review was posted but that was followed by a flurry of posts about how fabulous the place is......best in Australia etc etc. After some time, others began reviewing how awful it was as well, so I guess there's no real way of telling whether reviews are genuine or just advertorial rubbish apart from reading discussions. It soon becomes reasonably clear who is in the know and who is just pushing their own barrow.

Good on you for reviewing your negative experiences. As a general rule, if someone posts a POSITIVE review and they've only done one review, I'll ignore it. You can also hover over the username of the reviewer and it'll show their average score. If they've done 3-6 reviews, and all have been 5 stars, you should suspect something.

 

[Scarlett]

I wonder if he posts here? (How would he have the time!!!)

I thought the guys name was a spoof. But it reads like he's just a travel nut like many of us.