This past August our Family of 5 took a trip to Italy and Greece. In Mykonos we stayed at a hotel that did not have very good reviews from tripadvisor. Our agent"Bonty" really pushed this property and said this property was wonderful and her agency never had a problem. Well, she was right! The property was fabulous and I was glad we stayed there. If it wasn't for her being so strong in staying there we would have never stayed there. There were more negative reviews than positive's. I guess I will do what AL says and toss out the best and toss out the worst review and take it from there.

We wanted to stay at a hotel appropriate for families and at a reasonable price in Miami Beach. Nothing quite like asking for the world. The Essex House seemed to fit the bill - there were several reviews that said that the rooms were clean but worn and that the donuts were dry at the continental breakfast. I decided I could live with those things. We found the Essex House to be completely, 100% as expected and we were satifisfied. When looking at coastal hotel, I find that reviews give me a more accurate picture of what "just steps away from the beach" actually means.

I tend to ignore the crazed reviews too.

Any hotel can get 1 or 2 negative reviews for a variety of reasons (guests with an issue, unrealistic expectations, one person on the staff having a bad day).

But if a hotel has a pattern of negative reviews, esp if the same or related problems - or something that is a must for me, like location - then I assume they're correct and move on.

It was my only way to get it off my chest when I stayed at an awful resort: The Sunscape, MX. It was the worst, ever, and I wanted to share to warn future vacationers. We wasted our money there and if I could help anyone, it was worth it the time to post it. When I posted it, I saw the reviews from others who I had met when we were there. Their accounts were as accurate as they relayed to me! I now tend to believe what is written there after my experience. And, I put this into my consideration when making future plans.

Yes.

I try to find hotel suggestions in guide books and then I look for opinions here and on tripadvisor.com

I think it is possible for travelers to have very different experiences in the same hotel. If I book a standard room and I am upgraded to a room with an ocean view, my opinion of an establishment will probably be more favorable than if I get stuck in a small room overlooking the parking lot.

Also, if I have an unpleasant experience while checking into a hotel, that can sully my opinion of a place.

However, in general I probably give more weight to negative comments than to favorable ones.

I, like many others look for a pattern of information. If I read repeated reports that the hotel is noisy then I believe the hotel will be noisy, therefore not for me. If the negative comments are so trivial or just something that could happen no matter how good the hotel is then I tend to ignore those comments. One of two negative comments don't worry me but one after the other after the other, yes I believe them.

I would also say that you have to get a feel for the background of the poster (ie age, income, etc). Some posters who come from more affluent backgrounds may give harsh and critical reviews of a hotel that is quite decent (I have seen this firsthand). Also, a person may give negative reviews because they do not understand the differences in hotels from one country to the next and expect all hotels to be like the holiday inn, etc.

yes, Ilovetotravel29, you have to "read" the context. And sometimes that is difficult.

When I book hotels, I very rarely even look at the reviews to be honest. Because I find that it SO much more matters what is RELATIVE to the person making the review.

I use star levels on Priceline or get rec's from other travelers on forums.

Actually even when I HAVE stayed at a hotel and given my honest opinion, I find that most high end hotel customers are so jaded that they will not believe you anyway.

And honestly, I've been to world class rated in the top 20 a couple of times and to ME they were no better than some rec's I have gotten on Fodors for a fraction of the funds. Maybe a bit more beautiful. But isn't beauty in the eyes of the beholder as well!

I find it obsessive when people have to be reassured to the point of asking, and asking over and over about the same hotel to 30 people. Literally, and I've seen that here.

Peoples needs and wants are totally opposite at times, so if they are NOT specific in their negative claims, I never credit it at all.

Bugs, dirt, bathroom or bed descriptions are specific. A "rude" desk clerk, is not specific.

Ah yes, the famous "rude staff" line which is often so meaningless considering how rude some customers are.

One other thing, when someone carries on about a lot of negative stuff and has absolutely nothing good to say, I often think that they're just ticked off about something. But when I read about a major problem someone had, but then they add "but the beds were incredibly comfortable" or "it was a really clean and seemingly new furnished room" then I suspect they really are being rational and objective about both good and bad.

All of these reasons are why I prefer to use and trust a forum format, rather than posted reviews.

Because you can ask questions back and forth. What was is about that guy at the front desk? I didn't see any cochroaches. Whatever...

The Trip Advisor feature that shows everything a person posts along with an option bio they may have completed is very helpful.

But also know there is a FORUM there too, just like this one, on the same website as the hotel reviews you are referencing. Check it out.

I think I wonder about more Positive reviews than Negative. What can be awful or negative to some people does not bother me, if they use the word snobby or snooty, I dismiss the entire review :)
But the overly gushing and full of praise posts make me wonder sometimes..Especially if you are familiar with the reviewer and know that they only post about one place all the time..or it if has the sound of <i>Employee </i> about it..
And forget about photos! I have seen reviews on TA that have been posted by people who never stayed at the place, but have posted a photo of the lobby or front door.

Some. I check out different sources including forums. And sometimes it's hard to tell with different tolerence levels. Although, you can find out about different levels of rooms at the same hotel. The Sahara in Las Vegas and the Carl Hotel in San Francisco, come to mind. Both budget hotels, but they do have better rooms for a little more money.

I check the reviews but keep grains of salt handy, too. Two people staying at the same hotel can have different opinions and both be justified.

This last trip to Paris my friend had bugs and larva in her room. I had a lovely view and a nice enough room so we would have had different takes, IF I had checked out two days earlier! The last two nights I had a mouse in my room so then my opinion changed too. (um I HOPE it was a &quot;mouse&quot;!!)

if 75% or more of the people were ok w/the hotel i'd go for it. some people are prince/princess and will not like anything.

Besides the &quot;rude&quot; staff - of which I am always suspisious (from what I have seen it is more often rude or badly behaved guests) I tend to watch for unrealistic expectations.

Esp for hotels in more expensive places - like NYC - many people don;t understand the average rate structure and think they're paying for 4* - when they're paying for 2*. (I read one review for a very modest - but clean and pleasant hotel - and the guest went on and one about the sie and quality of the towels, that the decor wasn;t trendy enough and that it wasn;t &quot;plush: enough. Well - 2* aren't &quot;plush&quot; at all - either that guest massively overpaid or didn;t understand the difference in rates between NYC in December and Orlando in the middle of the summer.)

I do not even read the reviews. Take no stock in them. DH and I do not have to stay at the Ritz, we are just common ordinary folk, and as long as the sheets are clean, the toilet clean its good for us.

I do read reviews... especially if I do not know anything about the hotel.
I personally stayed at the Metropolitan in Toronto. When I checked in they put me in the most hideous tiny room. It was baby blue... the whole room with this horrid french provencial furniture that was all chipped up, to boot.
This room looked like a somewhat preserved 70's era girls room in an abandoned trailer house in East Texas. No S---. It was just awful. I wanted to cry.
Instead, I went down to the front desk and told them who I worked for (a large travel company) and that I would plaster bad reviews of the hotel all over the web if I did not get a better room. They moved me to a nice 'standard' room on one of the rennovated floors. The front desk apologized and said that they had a couple of floors that had not been renovated with the rest of the hotel.
The newer room was what I expected. It was not amazing or anything, just nice and modern.
This is a Preferred Hotel!
Ok, so now, go look at the reviews on trip advisor. Pretty darn close, IMO.

TxTravelPro - question: did you threaten the bad reviews when you first asked for a better room? Or was it only after they refused to give you one?

Good point... I was so shocked by the first room I went down handed them my card and told them that they better put me in a room that they would not mind photographed and published.
They kind of freaked out and tried to say that I had to get permission to take photos, etc... but they did put me in a decent, standard room.
This also happened to my coworker and she got moved without threats.
I was/am still appalled that this hotel has at least 2 floors of rooms that should not be rated any higher than 1 star.

Absolutely, so long as they are based upon specific info. There is one hotel in particular that gets glowing reviews and is in the top 5 most popular for its location on Trip Advisor and I found it to be overpriced and rather dated and moldy when I was there and have no desire to return. The reviews make it sound like paradise. The reality is that the people at the place appeared to be of the sort that do not get out much or have never eaten in a truly great restaurant.