Manuevering TripAdvisor
 

I'm brand new to TripAdvisor, and I wanted to check out their Paris hotel reviews. I'm not looking for one now, just snooping.

How do I find a particular hotel by using it's name, instead of having to scroll though all of those pages?

Thanks,

Nina

Just enter its name in Tripadvisor's search function along with the city's name. It'll come right up.

Oh, Nina, I feel your pain! TA is not user-friendly. Either type in "paris hotels" or the name of an individual hotel. There are 2 types of reviews, one from posters like us, the other I hope to figure out some day :)

I meant type the name in the search window on the home page

Faina, oh good, so it's not just me ... as is usually the case.

Thanks to both of you.

Nina

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

On this page, go to the search box at the upper LEFT, and type in the hotel name (such as "Nesle" or "Langlois" and click 'go'. A list of hotel(s) with that name will appear, click on the one you want.

If you just want to browse, click on "Paris Hotels" in the left-side menu, then use the filters to sort the list.
NOTE: I have no idea how they "rank" the hotels, most clicks or what. Don't pay any attention to that. (my opinion)

I think Trip Advisor is *extremely* user friendly once you understand the various parts of the website.

For Nina- Just type in the hotel name and city to the very first 'search' box you see on the opening page.

You will then get a list of any place that hotel is mentioned on the entire website... which includes:

1) TA hotel booking listings;
2) hotel reviews anyone can submit which sometimes include their own photos; AND
3) if it is mentioned anywhere on their discussion forums (which functions pretty much like this one, but is divided by country, then city).

Take the hotel reviews with a grain of salt. As has been reported here and elsewhere, some hotels, B&Bs, guest houses, etc. have been caught posting (multiple) glowing reviews about their own establishments. If you are savvy you can usually tell if the same words are used repeatedly in different reviews, writing style, spelling, etc.

TripAdvisor is a tool for travelers but should not be the be-all-and-end-all for reviews. Once you have decided on a few places come back here to run it past the Fodorites. But even then, remember that everyone has their own standards.

I absolutely agree with IrishEyes: after TA, come back here and post your questions. Saying it from my personal experience. This website just can't be overrated!!

I think many people don't realize that Trip Advisor also has a forum, exactly like this one, where there are regular posters who ask and answers questions for each other.

This is a completely different section than where you find the (sometimes questionable) hotel reviews.

I have to agree w/the "not user friendly"...that's why I'm surfing here on Fodor's usually.