I have been reading the hotel reviews for about a month now and am particularly interested in the reviews for this hotel. I am reminded of the topic on how to spot generic hotel reviews. I just counted up the reviews of this hotel and as of this writing, of the 25 reviews, 18 are first time contributors and very few of those have any specific facts about the hotel. This really teaches me that you have to watch the reviews over time and read the reviews, not just look at the hotel%26#39;s position on the chart. Too bad we couldn%26#39;t have a list of things to look out for for casual users of Trip Advisor.
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I know exactly what you mean, skatermom. I have a similar situation on the Cape forum with this place:
tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g41555-d267425-…
I do think that TA is trying to do the best they can with reviews. It has to be an incredibly daunting job to sift through the thousands of reviews that come in. (impossible, imo)
I agree it is best to read Many reviews to get a feel for a place. I wonder if hotel owners are suggesting that guests write a glowing review for their place while the guest is still there. I just wish we weren%26#39;t reading such Biased reviews. I%26#39;ve not posted a review on the property I referenced because it would be the lone negative review and would be summarily dismissed by those reading it so it would have no value at this point. Also, my visit was a few years ago. Since that time, I%26#39;ve seen nothing but Glowing reports. I find that fascinating.
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If you read a lot of the hotel reviews on this site, the fake ones are easy to spot.
First time contributions by people who never logged on the site again is a hint, but there are many others.
Creepy, robotic %26quot;Stepford wives%26quot; tone, with short sentences and hotel brochure vocabulary. High praise of the breakfast with the extensive list of everything available on the buffet. Occasional recommandation for the wonderful restaurant next door. Specific spelling or grammar mistake that keeps coming back. Tons of positive votes for the fake reviews, tons of negative votes for the real all-the-more-negative reviews, almost no votes for the real positive or neutral reviews.
Those hotels should be avoided like the plague, because it shows their only goal : trick people into booking them. That and being oblivious to the critique, being absolutely sure that nothing is wrong with their establishment.
On the brighter side, I like to read the George V reviews every now and then. I believe they are all perfectly real, but it%26#39;s a lot of fun anyway.
%26quot;Telepathic service%26quot;, %26quot;I went there for one night three years ago and the manager remembered my kids names%26quot;, %26quot;the bell boy teached tricks to my dog%26quot;, %26quot;the breakfast bus boy spoke fluent Japanese%26quot;... this place seems out of this world
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«a list of things to look out for for casual users of Trip Advisor»
I think that would be an excellent thing to implement on the part of TA.
I see these phony posts all the time on TA forums. First (and often last) time poster who sings the virtues of a vacation rental in ad-agency language. These posts are easy to spot if you read thousands of posts every year on TA but, and this is important, the %26quot;casual%26quot; visitor on TA can%26#39;t see the sinister aspect of this.
I%26#39;ve said it before, TA should do more than just respond to complaints registered through their robotic %26quot; Report inappropriate content%26quot; link. Their overall credibility depends on getting to the bottom of this problem. It%26#39;s not rocket science. The exact source of a post is easily traceable if the system is designed to do it. TA won%26#39;t change their lazy ways without strong demand by their users.
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Hello Skatermom, I%26#39;m not as concerned as you about the folks who post one review. That%26#39;s because I am a regular contributor to TA and I haven%26#39;t posted an actual review for years. At one point someone at TA asked me to post some reviews and I did a flurry of them all at once but this just doesn%26#39;t interest me. I believe that folks generally are more inclined to post something negative rather than take the time to add positive remarks, at least that%26#39;s my experience.
What you might want to do is select a few %26#39;top contenders%26#39; based on the TA reviews and then check what other sources, professional reviewers, have to say. Even go to go the the bookstore and look through actual BOOKS, the guides.
Of course you could book with your local French specialist, the one who has taken a course, books accommodations in France as a living, has up to date information and resources, and may have even seen the properties that you are considering. Just a thought.
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I can%26#39;t speak to the meteoric rise of any particular property but, with regard to first time posters, you should be aware that TA has recently made a concerted effort to encourage all lodging establishments to ask their guests to submit reviews to TA. Since most folks who travel have never contributed to TA, it is not surprising that many reviews are by first timers. Perhaps the hotelier/innkeeper that has recent reviews has been working with TA, within their guidelines, to increase their on-line presence. In any event, I think it%26#39;s wise to back up TA reviews with trusted guide book reviews like Fodors and Frommers and to look at the specifics of the on-line reviews. An anonymous lone voice of praise or negativity is always suspect to me so I use professional advice first and then consult on-line reviews.
With regard to negative reviews and forum comments... TA users should also be aware that some people have %26quot;vendettas%26quot; against places, either because they are competitors or have some personal issues that color their judgement. In the case of Fort Hill Bed and Breakfast that Fussyguest has an %26quot;issue%26quot; with, I can say from personal experience, that they well deserve their #1 rating for B+B lodging on Cape Cod. They consistently earn editor%26#39;s choice status with a number of guide books/local publications and have been in business for over 20 years. Since word of mouth plays a big roll in a place as small as Cape Cod, it seems highly unlikely that they could be so well thought of if they were not offering a quality stay.
I do not believe that Fussy Guest has first hand knowledge of this award-winning small B+B (Fort Hill in Eastham, Cape Cod) as she has a family home in a neighboring town (Chatham). Additionally, she consistently chooses to review/recommend hotels and resorts....she does not appear to stay in small B+Bs. Could her negative comments about a small B+B in a neighboring town be a personal vendetta? I wonder how TA deals with this type of poster?
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Hi -
I agree that it%26#39;s necessary to check more than one review source, and do exactly as yellowbird does. I always recommend www.venere.com as an accommodation resource and usually advise posters to check the venere reviews as well as those on TA. Since venere is a booking engine, they can ensure that the reviewers have actually stayed at the property involved, unlike TA. The combination of guide book referrals, venere reviews and the TA reviews, gives our readers a fighting chance of ending up in the sort of accommodation they prefer.
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« Since most folks who travel have never contributed to TA, it is not surprising that many reviews are by first timers.»
It%26#39;s the unsolicited first-time posts that _read_ as advertising on TA that I have a huge problem with. If the OP comes back and participates in the thread I seldom have a problem but many OPs don%26#39;t. Those are automatically suspect.
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Well on forum posts I agree that a singleton that reads like an advertisement probably is one. But, for reviews in the lodging section I do not necessarily think that a poster who only posts once is bogus. As I mentioned, most travelers do not post reviews on TA. However, now that TA is urging lodging establishments to request reviews from their guests, I expect that the TA word is spreading and that more first time users are posting. This only works if the reviews are requested by the lodging establishments, not solicited with promises, and if posters are truthful, not vindictive. Therein lies the problem that we agree upon. How does one distinguish between honest reviews/statements and bogus reviews/statements (both positive and negative)?
I believe that the US govt. is working on a proposal that would make bribing patrons with gifts in order to get positive reviews illegal. How they would enforce it is a big question.
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How the heck does it become no 2 in Paris out of 1891 hotels with only 25 reviews. Seems to me TA is making a rod for it`s own back encouraging hotels to solicit reviews.
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TA is VERY secretive about how it arrives at a rank. I know that they totally restructured the Rome ranking when a small B+B in the outlying area consistently came up #1, beating out the outraged hotels that participate in Expedia, Oribitz and other partners. I bet those hotels screamed and managed pressure TA into banishing the small B+B to the obscure town designation under the guise of restructuring. I would love to know how TA arrives at its rank for a particular hotel.
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