I never see the www.flipkey.com rental site mentioned. It is the site that Trip Advisor uses for its rather new addition of vacation rentals.

I think the presentation on the Flipkey site is 'nicer' than the Trip Advisor presentation.

Reviews cannot be posted directly to Flipkey. They can only be done by an owner/manager giving Flipkey the guest's e-mail address for them to send an invitation for a review of the apartment that the guest stayed in. Flipkey is quite strict with the reviews.

Just passing on this for yet another place to look for places to stay.

Enjoy...

Joan

Always good to have another choice. Merci!

I would read Flipkey with the usual cautions that most people use with Tripadvisor. You have to trust that the owner/manager is giving Flipkey the addresses of legitimate former guests. I read those reviews with the same healthy skepticism in Flipkey as I do with Tripadvisor. Tripadvisor owns Flipkey.

And, if I was an owner and knew a renter was unhappy, I wouldn't give their names to Flipkey.

I see abuses of the Tripadvisor set-up often with reviews and postings about a Caribbean island with which I'm familiar. There is just way too much advertising and posting of dubious reviews. I can't imagine what happens with a large tourist destination.

That said--it's always good to explore as many sources as possible when renting. You never know what you may learn.

cw

Always all of that..even posters on this site plug places that they personally own! There will always be a certain amount of that.

You will find many places on the Flipkey site that you find on VRBO and individual company websites. They all have to do their advertising!

Some of the websites are just more user friendly and appealing to those of us who are searching.

a bientot..

Joan

I don't see why they have to have invitations to post reviews, they don't on Tripadvisor. That's why I trust their reviews more, they are unsolicited and anyone can post one, barring some minor anomolies.

Christina,

They call it a 'closed review' system. Flipkey likes to have better control of it. They feel it is more secure and reliable if they send the invitation and they receive the review directly from the guest. They have such good technical systems to be able to trace fake ones, I guess. I'm not that much of a technical person to be knowledgeable in those areas. Flipkey says they are working on developing some way for guest to be able to post directly..they are fussy! Will see what hapapens.

I do like their presentation much better than that of TripAdvisor.

a bientot..

Joan

Even with reviews, make sure there are good pictures of the apartment and if you like a place, it doesn't hurt to ask the owner for a reference that you can talk / email with.

Flipkey is owned by Trip Advisor.

Can't say it bowls me over - more like a conglomeration of ads from various sources than anything. Technically lousy with very basic search, long load times, no standardized format for descriptions so many lack important info like the size, bed configurations, equipment, etc. Much prefer homeaway.com or vrbo.com

Seamus,

Many ads same as on vrbo etc. same apts. Up to owner, manager what they list. I am most familiar with the Paris Perfect apartments, so looked at one of theirs...has bed size in bedroom and size for trundle in living room...has a list a mile long of other amenities. I don't know what more they could have!

I am familiar with most sites out there...I think this is well done..just another to look at for apartment comparison. You sometimes find bits of information on the same apartment in a different site.

Joan

The thing I do on "review" sites is focus on the photos, if any, taken by "members" They tend not to use fish eye lenses and other "tricks" and may give you a much more realistic veiw of what you are getting.

Reviews have to be read with caution. I remember reading one on an apartment rental that had me laughing. Apparently the poster did not realize that apartment rentals don't have daily maid service and conceriges. So you have to be realistic.

And my standard disclaimer on ANY review is if it starts with "It was my honeymoon/anniversary/birthday/etc and while I didn't expect anything special...." RIGHT! If you hadn't expected "Special" that would not be the first sentence and when you didn't get it, you decided "I hate this place" and went looking for things to whine about! LOL!

CarolA,

I think you can pretty well tell those fish eye photos. They seem to look somewhat distorted.

The Flipkey 'closed' review system may be good, as the owner/manager has no control over what the guest sends to Flipkey. Flipkey sends the invitation to the guest and the guest returns it directly to Flipkey. If an owner/manager uses many addresses from their own browser for fake ones, it is quickly recognized and the review invitation is never sent out by Flipkey...that owner/manager may end up with problems with further listings with them.

Dishonest people will always find ways around the truth, unfortunately!

Joan