TripAdvisor Restaurant Reviews....are they real?
 

I've often mentioned here that I do not think TripAdvisor is a reliable site for restaurant reviews. Here is a recent article, from ElPais, that discusses the subject, and the issue of fake reviews:

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/08/08/...21_911716.html


When you are contacted by a restaurant or a hotel that you've visited, or by a guide you have used, and asked to write a review, do you comply?

I can't speak to the fake reviews, but I do give my opinion, unsolicited, of places I have eaten at or have stayed at.

I give my opinions, when it seems necessary, or when I am particularly impressed. I think I am "LadyOLeisure" over there.

ekc - I don't always post something but usually I'll post a review especially if it's been particularly good, or there's a problem that needs fixing.

if it's simply mediocre, I don't normally bother.

when I'm reading reviews, like judges of certain sporting events, I disregard the very best and very worst, then read the rest.

I've written a few reviews on the site. But I've also been contacted and asked to write them; this does not sit as well with me.

For example, a tour guide that I hired for a day about 6 years ago recently contacted me by e-mail and asked me to write a TA review for him. I went to the site and noticed a slew of favorable reviews lauding his services, so I suspect he sent out a mass mailing to everyone who had booked with him over the years....and asked them to post reviews.



I'm curious most about this....if you are ASKED to write a review, how do you respond?

Oh my gosh you mean that everything on the internet is not true. Hold my hand Mary! :-)

I write up Trip Advisor Hotels. I tell it like it is, warts and all. I have had three people email me to check (in each case was I gilding the lily?) and in each case I was not and they were happy with the honeymooners sending me a short thank you note.

So at the end your decisions are your own and I have had three of my best meals when I made no decision to eat. At one a man grabbed my hand and took Mrs Bilbo and me into a restaurant to eat at a party that did not have enough guests! At another I'd booked the B&B next door to the pub and they came and knocked on our door to see if we wanted supper and finally a barman said "just go there". It is the fun of the holiday these impromptu things.

BTW, I have never been contacted and asked to write a review...but when I go somewhere based on reviews, I am likely to go back and post my own.

The Italian newspapers are getting very upset about TA at the moment, which given the country's reputation is highly amusing for instance did you know that more "Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil" is exported from Italy than is made in the country for world wide(including italian)consumption.

I've never been asked to post a review but do so when I have something to say about a restaurant, good or bad.

I've never been asked to write a review either. I don't often write restaurant reviews, but I review just about every hotel I stay in - I use TA a lot when planning trips. I think it is important to add to the community and not just take.

>TripAdvisor Restaurant Reviews....are they real? <

No less real than any other set of opinions from an anonymous group of strangers.

Are Fodors reviews real?

((I))

I don't use TA for restaurant reviews. I don't know if they are real or fake, but I don't find them reliable. I can tell immediately by looking at any site's reviews of restaurants local to me, and in the case of TA I feel like the reviews do not generally match my experience .

I have never been asked to write a review; I would do so if I had been blown away by the place, I suppose.

TA is a lot like Zagat, the reviews should to be taken with a grain of salt and a shot of whiskey. Obviously most are sincere. There just can’t be that many unscrupulous hotel or restaurant owners, can there?

We know that there are certain unlicensed “tour guides” who know how to work the system to their advantage, but most reviewers are notably amateurs, lacking the depth of knowledge needed to write a critical review. Instead we get someone’s opinion based on a one-time event. In the vain of uncle Client, you get the good, the bad and the ugly!

It’s a sad state of affairs that so many hotels and restaurants, as well as some tour guides, have become dependent on getting a good review on TA.

To me they are like Zagat. Why would I want to go where the majority of people go? Most things that are popular and successful -- Wal-Mart, Olive Garden, Meryl Streep movies, Everybody Loves Raymond or Dancing with the Stars -- are not things I enjoy. And the basic American diet is not something I eat.

PS: Guidebooks should not be trusted because the overriding factor for selection is (a) view and (b) short walk to big tourist attraction. Worst food recommendations on the planet are in guidebooks published in Britain for British tourists (same for British newspapers).

Go to Chowhound, or read some of the very high end travel magazines, or wine and food magazines.

Also, usually for every country or food region, there is somebody who is really passionate about the local food and is a great cook. Read their cookbooks and books, Track down their interviews online. See what they recommend.

I don't find TA reliable at all for restaurant reviews but do find the hotel reviews helpful. Food is so subjective and I have no idea what the reviewer's tastes/preferences are. I have much better success with a forum like Chowhound or here where I've gotten to know the posters and can better determine whether our likes/dislikes would be similar.

TA reviews require intelligent reading. I throw out the dumb (poor rating from someone who couldn't get a reservation), the informationless outliers (everything awful or wonderful, no details), the clueless (complaints of small portions at a tapas place, "bad service" when no bill is presented until asked for at a European resto, pricey Coca Cola), and the like. Descriptive reports from a poster who has reviewed other places are more trustworthy, especially if the comments mesh with other trustable posters. On the other hand, a poster with hundreds of reviews in a relatively short period of time may be a paid review on demand shill. The more reviews a place has, the harder it is to slip in useless reviews as they are easy to ignore.

As for solicited reviews, the only time my review was solicited I had already formed a highly positive opinion that I intended to post, and did.

If I like the place/places I say so and do not hesitate to comment when not satisfied..haven't been too unhappy recently but did blister Jasper Park Lodge a while back and Warsaw Westin was a disappointment. Have read about and tried several from T.A. and no problems at this time. I do know that the ones I write and those my family write are real!!!

What I posted above doesn't even take into account that some of the reviews may be fake. I just don't think it's a good format for restaurants as it's also based on popularity.

I've posted a few hotel reviews on TA and they've all been unsolicited. I've only been asked to post a review once but that was on Stayz (the Australian version of VRBO) not TA. In that particular case our host had just started renting out her cottage, we enjoyed our stay and I was happy to help.

Some hotels have "encouraged" Trip Advisor reviews, and in itself, that doesn't bother me. Most of these are couched in terms of, "If you enjoyed our services, could you....".

Sometimes I'm "on task" with getting those reviews up; other times, I just ignore the email reminder.

Recently, though, I was told during a tour and afterwards by email that if we had GOOD things to say, could we please post to Trip Advisor. And if we had negatives, could we please just contact them personally instead of posting.

Now THAT was cause for a review! And it wasn't good.