I used TA reviews for almost every property we stayed at during 3+ months of travel in SE Asia Jan-April 2014. I also looked at the websites of the properties in consideration and the ratings. For this trip there were specific amenities we wanted so the hotels' websites were also helpful.

Every place I booked was exactly as had been reviewed-no surprises. When I returned home I started doing my own reviews but I always attach lots of pictures. I trust the reviews with pictures more.

I frequently use booking.com. Never a problem. Never a rant A savy traveler looks at a variety of reviews but only the recent ones ( past 12 months ),reads between the lines and then hopes for the best.

I have used both Booking and TA a lot. I realize TA has many fake reviews, but most are easily found: extreme reviews done by users that have written one review, or users that reviewed only one town with either one star (their competitors) or five stars (their business).

Booking I thought was more reliable because only actual customers are allowed to comment, but felt strange that their hotel ratings were usually higher than TA. That doubt ended I wrote my first bad review for B.com and was surprised to find out that it was never published! (Makes me angry because it involved bedbugs that other customers will not be aware of )

Now I also realize that "bad reviews is bad for B.com business". And B.com policy is coherent with that : "We reserve the right to adjust, refuse or remove reviews at our sole discretion." http://www.booking.com/content/terms.html

I prefer to trust a website that eventually publishes reviews of untrustworthy people (TA), rather that one that select reviews based on the return they provide (B.com).

The place I trust most are forums, where you can ask your questions and get replies... either Trip Advisor (but Destination FORUMS not just the reviews section) or here on Fodor's.

'I don't intend to sound nasty, but why not read both, look at what the complaints are based on and use your own judgement? I hope you don't vote based on what the editorial pages tell you.'

This.

Going through the reviews its never difficult to spot people who had genuine problems versus people who would hold the hotel manager responsible for the weather and the exchange rate if they could. I don't doubt that both sites have their share of fake or exaggerated reviews but they are vastly outweighed by genuine ones. I write for TA, loads of my friends write for TA, and I feel that they are all balanced and reasonable, giving praise where it's due and criticism where it's warranted. I cannot believe the level of paranoia about these type of sites and it really worries me that grown adults are not able to apply basic common sense and a reasonable level of discrimination over what they are reading.

PS I have another against Booking.com either

TripAdvisor does not ensure that anyone giving a review has actually stayed at the hotel they are reviewing. Booking.com does. But, there's an even bigger problem with Booking.com reviews. They filter out bad reviews. On 2 different occasions, unfavorable reviews I have submitted to Booking.com have gone into some black hole never to been seen again. If I post a favorable review, the review appears in a matter of minutes. I no longer trust Booking.com reviews. I realize they are not giving me the complete picture.

You can PM any other poster who is registered on Trip Advisor and ask them about the reviews they have posted. You can figure out for yourself that way if their comments are legit.

Fred909: I've had bad-ish reviews published on Booking.com. Perhaps the two they didn't accept didn't meet the format/posting style requirements..

Funny that your bad reviews have been withheld - use of language maybe ?
I have written about 100 reviews on booking.com and 60 on hotels.com some unfavorable and none were unpublished.
I deleted all my reviews on TA for reasons explained by others.
But it is relatively easy to see through some reviews and owner has a right of answer. Which they sometimes use very efficiently.

I always review on both sites - I find other's reviews most helpful when choosing hotels so feel I should post reviews as well. I don't ever recall any not being published on either site. On booking.com they specifically ask for negative as well as positive things.

It's crucial though to read a number of reviews - at least ten or more - in order to get a realistic idea. Some individual people have odd ideas what is good or bad so 'hearing' from a majority is the only way to get a good idea.

I've also submitted bad reviews to Booking.com, and they were published.

I don't really care that much about booking.com only allowing reviews from people who've booked--I mean that doesn't make me prefer that website. I just think it is really limited, obviously, for that reason and because the reviews are mostly just ratings and some people say a few words. you get a lot more content on Tripadvisor. IN fact, I prefer that on Tripadvisor, you can get reviews from anyone who has stayed at a place, much bigger and more representative sample.

I've never read any reviews that I personally thought were suspicious or sounded bogus, but maybe that occurs for some particular kind of hotel where I tend not to stay. I like reading the details, and I can decide what is important to me. I do read both, but find Tripadvisor much more useful.

I don't think I've ever posted a review on either that was like 1* or whatever, I guess I've been lucky and never stayed in a place that was that bad, partly because I do a lot of research in advance (and read reviews) I've posted 3.0 reviews on both.

I did have one not posted on booking.com once and it wasn't because it was negative. I wasn't sure for the reason, but reading the rules, I think it has something to do with making a reference to another review (eg, I don't know why so and so said they had a problem with noise, we couldn't hear a sound or whatever). I think the rules say you aren't allowed to do that. And I'm sure there are other rules, also, for things like giving names maybe, etc.

I will admit most properties on booking.com seem to have average scores of 8 or higher, but part of that is their measure. I just put a review on there and the way they come up with the score forces you to only answer a few things which may not reflect the way you feel about the place as a whole. Mine didn't. So yes, I thought the location was great, and the price was fair, etc. but I had noise and lighting problems that the staff ignored after complaints, but there wasn't any way to reflect that in those point scores as they didn't ask me that. I did put it in the comments. I like the scoring better on tripadvisor where you yourself decide the rating on a 5 point scale, considering everything.

>>I've never read any reviews that I personally thought were suspicious or sounded bogus, but maybe that occurs for some particular kind of hotel where I tend not to stay. I like reading the details, and I can decide what is important to me. I do read both, but find Tripadvisor much more useful.
<<

There have been MANY stories about fakes on TA and other sites - both negative and positive reviews are faked. Just a few:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8094231

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...-10354818.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sals-cash.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-are-real.html


for instance, according to one Harvard study 17% of Yelp reviews are fakes.

What really bugs me about Trip Advisor is the way accommodation providers are encouraged to ask people to review them. This results in vast numbers of first time reviews which are usually all glowing. I have this mental picture of a visitor not being allowed to check out until they have written a glowing review....

Christina, the usefulness of the booking.com reviews having booked is that they were actually from customers who came.
I don't see how you get the idea there are no descriptions in the reviews, as that is just not true.

i find their reviews more helpful.

I will admit most properties on booking.com seem to have average scores of 8 or higher, but part of that is their measure. I just put a review on there and the way they come up with the score forces you to only answer a few things which may not reflect the way you feel about the place as a whole.

<<I just put a review on there and the way they come up with the score forces you to only answer a few things which may not reflect the way you feel about the place as a whole.>>

I found this true, too -- and have not been nearly as impressed with booking.com reviews because of this. I also find the photos are too glitzy as they are produced by the management of the accommodation.

One of the things I like best about TripAdvisor reviews is looking at the Traveler photos. I find that this gives me a much better sense of what a place looks like and, in conjunction with both sites, I get a good feel for a place.

I've seen plenty of scores in the 6s and 7s on booking.com

Some in the 5s.

I try to look at properties which are at least 8.5.

But definitely cross reference with TA.

I review a lot for booking.com. you can easily find scores of hotels on their in the 6s and even 5s. It's my practice not to stay anywhere below 8.

Also I've posted quite critical reviews that were posted. But of course, rankings self select. My last stay in Paris was in a hotel with 9.2 score, but you have to remember it's a 9.2 for that price point, in that area etc.

I always read at least 10 reviews, and most often, other reviewers' experiences seem to cofirm my own.