patty

You know, I don't know who to believe. One says yes to a hotel or area, and one says no. I picked up "Maui Revealed" as you suggested and it is great but some of you say certain hotels are great but others say they are dirty. "Maui Revealed" says the ones you say are dirty, are great. What does a woman do?

Susan

Patty, I know what you mean! I went through the same turmoil when planning trips to New Orleans, Honolulu and New York City. You read one favorable review then another terrible one. I think you have to take some of the bad reviews with a grain of salt. If someone had a particularly bad experience (and all hotels, even the Four Seasons, are going to do this to someone some time), then they are more likely to voice their dissatisfaction. Also, people on this forum just love to disagree! Good luck sifting through all that info!

hank

Patty: the problem is that someposters have different standards than others.
You need to read between the lines.
If someone raves about someplace like a Marriott as being the best in the world and it was their honeymoon, more than likely they areyoung and inexperienced.

If someone complains about a pretty good place and the reasons are "it was overpriced, the room didn't have a vibr-massage bed, and there was not enough liquor in the min-bar", they probably don't have the budget to be staying at nicer places and they're just whining.

If people will offer comparisons, that's most helpful. I've stayed at all the main resorts on Maui and this is how I compare them....", etc.

You have no frame of reference unless you can tell from poster's note what his/her level of experience and taste are.

Cat

One person's room may have been dirty because of human error on the part of housekeeping. Maybe the person on duty neglected that room. Maybe that lousy housekeeper did not work there when the others stayed...etc.

Also, different personalities will have different points of reference.

I would recommend gathering as many "facts" as you can in addition to the "opinions", determine what the "majority" said, and make your own decision. Nothing beats experience.

Beth

Patty, I totally agree with Susan. There ARE some good suggestions here - you just have to look for trends - if a lot of people are having good experiences and just a couple of people aren't, it was probably an exception, rather than the rule. I've stopped viewing the postings here because I found the questions repetitive, the posters nasty, and the information confusing.

Do your research, make your OWN decisions and make your own vacation - none of the posters are going with you.

Have a great vacation.

xxx

I agree you have to read between the lines. A few of my favorites:

"The room was tiny, but how much time do you spend in the room anyway?"
"It wasn't fancy, but for the price you couldn't beat it."
"The room was pretty clean. . ."
"Although the air conditioning didn't work and there was no hot water, the desk clerk was real nice about it."
"It won't win any decorating prizes, but you're only there to sleep anyway."

All of the above tell me "DON'T STAY AT THIS PLACE!!"