Macross

I look for words like bed bugs, dirty sheets. I just had to find my husband lodging in a UK village and two had bed bugs in the reviews. His normal place was booked and he was not that crazy about the place he settled on. Heat wave and no ac or fans. He said I would not have been happy but it was close to where he needed to be.

IMDonehere

When I buy a travel guide or look at on-line travel sites, I think of the places I know best, see what they write about those places, and compare. The vast majority of the people TA, are rank amateurs, who are emboldened to see their name in lights.

BTW, the 2016 Spain Fodor's is a spectacular improvement over its predecessors. There is much more regional information and the cultural aspects are a bit more complete. While I understand their main audience are people who are going for the first or second time, it is nice to see a nod to the experienced traveler.

Despite the fact there are few insufferable sorts here, I find the information here usually accurate, well-intentioned and honest especially when you get to recognize certain people.

halfapair

I look at both. I really need to see pictures of the beds (after a bad, uncomfortable bed situation in a B&B). I look only at the traveler photos on TA. And I look on TA for the room recommendations. Sometimes I request a specific room number based on what I read.

TA is also good for look at maps and seeing what is close together. Which restos are near the hotel and which restos are near which points of interest.

I have booked my hotel on Booking.com and been very pleased with the system.

ilsabing

I agree with most of the above. I use Booking for all my arrangements, but often crosscheck the place I have chosen against TripAdvisor, specifically looking at the most recent reviews for indications that it might be shabbier or less clean than I would like. For some reason I see this type of comment more often there. Then I go with a gut instinct balancing the two. But I never make my arrangements though TA or even Hotels.com. I like the clarity of the Booking system.

bilboburgler

I don't see it as an either or situation. I see it as a both. TA gives you more detail and you can see any trends such as sudden improvement. Booking is always a bit more stilted and you can get the odd nutter.

I find the trick is to read the best comments and the worse comments then think through what the issues are. Are the writers experienced, is it their first trip, are they out of their comfort zone?

What I would say it do not forget google itself offers not only map based accomodation planning but also comments. I often find little gems hidden away.

AJPeabody

The ranking numbers on TA are useless in that more reviews improves the ranking irrespective of the favorability or unfavorability of the review. Then there are the content free reviews and the idiot reviews (one star rating because they couldn't get a reservation or there was no coffee machine in the room). If there are details, I decide if the detail means anything to me and if the review seems shill-like, whether positive or negative. TA reviews are more fun to read than the usual low detail reviews on Booking. Booking's filters are a great resource compared to TA's presentation.

Whathello

I posted close to 500 reviews on TA.
Then I got banned twice because I had a big mouth on the forums.
TA wants to have it politically correct and removes anything that could be hurtful to them.
I therefore asked them how they would protect me in case an owner was not happy.
I got no reply other than I had to follow the rules.
In order to protect myself I removed all my reviews and several thousands of my posts before they saw it and kicked me out for good.
I use TA less and less and use hotels.com (same group I think) or booking.com also booking only above 8.6.

bilboburgler

I'd like to use hotels but they never seem to have hotels where I want to go, while I find their "app" next to useless, it falls over if used by a blueberry.

NYCFoodSnob

<i><font color=#555555>"The ranking numbers on TA are useless"</font></i>

I would say the ranking numbers anywhere are useless.

No two people are alike, therefore, their expectations for travel will be unique, and the varied tastes of individuals will differ dramatically. Unless you know a reviewer who travels like you and thinks like you, it's all a gamble.

Most people come to a thread like this with personal bias. TripAdvisor fixed long ago many of the complaints you still read on this thread. Folks don't care. They cling to their bias.

I would argue 99% of the reviews on both sites in the past two years are reliable, but if you go back too far, don't expect any of the named employees to still have their jobs.

Reliability is only part of the research. Matching your tastes and expectations to someone else is a more difficult task.

IMDonehere

On Booking, if the Brits complain about the breakfast, usually the temperature of the tea, then I know it is a good place.

suze

Trip Advisor has a PM feature so you can email people and ask about their reviews. Also note for the screen name how long they've been registered, how many reviews they have posted, and so on. I don't go by the numbers, but by what I read in the reviews.

And as DebitNM said, I use the actual Destination Forums to ask specific questions. Those are 1-to-1 posting, just like here on Fodor's.

Never used booking to comment.

Underhill

Several booking sites use T/A reviews; booking.com does not. I find that T/A reviews go into more detail, which I like.