What is "tripadvisor"...
 

and how do I access it? (Sorry to be so ignorant. I see it listed often, but am just now planning my trip.)

Thanks!

www.tripadvisor.com

It's an online travel site and people can submit reviews and comments on accommodation and sights, and can ask questions on forums.

The are several different parts of the website. Most people are familiar with the hotel "reviews" section where people post comments and sometimes photos on various hotels.

And separate from that the "forums" similar to here on Fodor's but divided up into more specific destination categories (by cities and countries).

Also other parts of the website like Insider Pages where people contribute to existing pages on a specific subject (i.e., Cheap Eats Waikiki).

And now members can send private messages... :-)

I didn't know about that until just recently when I received two emails, different people, who I was happy to help with their questions.

TA forwards it to the email address you registered under with a subject line "someone is looking for you" or something like that. If you don't want this feature you can choose not to participate. But I think it's great.

If you go to Google and type "tripadvisor" and the name and city of a hotel, the top link will take you directly to reviews of that hotel.

Example: For reviews of the Ritz in Paris type "tripadvisor ritz paris"

I love it... the hotel reviews have never steered me wrong and the forums have some great features (e.g. local experts, ability to request alerts on new posts, etc.).

You can Private Message right on the TA forum, without any messages arriving at your email addy.

suze, I should send you a PM :)

The editors are on hand almost all the time, so things don't go downhill on weekends as they do on some other forums lol.

They do run a crisp ship there, don't they? I like the destination divisions...have to check out Insider Pages. Thanks for bringing it up Sarge, happy trip planning.

Their website has the strongest censorship rules I've ever seen - netnany has nothing on these guys

They even ban "Dick" which is a problem when you are discussing pantomimes

A private company's ToU are not "censorship;" last we heard businesses can write their own plan.

Does it tell you how many people reviewed a particular hotel? (I'm thinking if I owned a hotel, I'd send in several good reviews for myself, under assumed names. So what is to prevent this on tripadvisor?)

Two more questions: Is there anything at the site that actually lets you "build an itinerary" that you can print off? And do they review restaurants too, or just places to stay? Thanks all!!!!

I find that you have to take their hotel reviews with a pinch of salt.
We have stayed once or twice in a hotel in Northern Italy which is family run and very friendly.
A reviewer found the owners rude and hated the fact that you had to walk along the lakeside to get into the middle of town.
It takes us about a 1/4 hour and we love the walk.
Somebody complained about another of our favourite small Italian hotels that they only served local Italian food!

Sarge56: one way to get your questions answered is to go to the site and see for yourself.

MissPrism: Many reviews are informative and helpful. You need to read them with some judgement.

I find myself giving little weight to some negative reviews because of what I can infer about the reviewer: unreasonable expectations, such as 5-star service at 2-star prices, or holding a hotel responsible for things outside it control, like other guests. The more useful negative reviews ar generally not wholly negative, but balanced, something like "rooms too small, but clean" or "hotel generally okay, but breakfast awful".

Similarly, some positive reviews look as if they have been submitted by the hotels themselves. They are, I think, easily spotted. Of course, if they are very well done, they might get past our suspicious eyes.

Local Italian food in an Italian restaurant, Miss P?
Whatever next?

Just a note to remind folks that Tripadvisor is part of Expedia, which explains their default search/photo module when looking at hotels. (Expedia is also the parent of Hotels.com and Hotwire, by the way.)

When I plan my trips, either in the USA or Europe, I will check TA for months. I have my own specs. I was lucky so far. The only one that failed me is the one in Villefranche. I checked out to another hotel which was ranked lower. However, there was one person who kept on praising what I disliked. It had me wondered that may be he/she is the owner or friend of them.

Trip Advisor and Fodor's are my favorite boards but they have very different personalities.

TA can be sorted right down to a specific city or grouped into an area, like "The Black Forest". TA has the most entries and is more of a direct question and answer board. You do have to compare answers and reviews to your own criteria.

Fodor's seems more conversational. I more often enjoy following lines of thought of regular posters.

Long live variety.

Regards, Gary

As above, I think if your pair Fodor's and Trip Advisor (throw in a dash of Thorn Tree and Frommers) you get a well balanced internet dose of travel information and good conversation.

They take their "report an inappropriate post" button that shows on every single posting at TripAdvisor very seriously.

Scarlett~ you bet, drop me a line ;-)

Ditto Gary
Hi gg! :-)