Tripadvisor is obviously subjective and not all people have the same standards and expectations of hotels. And I'm not sure what you mean by "mixed" - how many good vs bad - and how much the issues matter to you.

But - perhaps if they all sound really awful to you you need to consider raising your price point. In most cities you're not going to get almost all good reviews (and even then there will be some complaints from the very picky) unless you do 5* or upper 4* properties. (3* places may be charming and pleasant - but there's almost always something going to be worn or tired or loud or inconvenient or something.)

Perhaps you're just expecting too much for what you want to spend.

AAA gives its diamonds based on services offered. A wonderful, clean interstate hotel with a friendly staff that doesn't have many ammenities will score lower than stink-o places with 24-hour room service.

Read what the entries say with a grain of salt. I researched hotels for Paris and Amsterdam recently on their website. Most people that complained about things seemed to want a 3 or 4 star hotel with a 2 star price or they weren't aware of things that are standard in Europe for example- small bathrooms and rooms compared to the US. Look closely at what people remark about in a positive way. ARe those the things that are important to you too? Do the same for the negatives. And don't pay attention to the overall rating of the hotel. I have no idea how they derive at that number. Our hotel in Paris was rated #338 when we booked it and now 2 good reviews later it is #170. Go figure!

As a responsible Fodorite and travel professional, I have decided to review every hotel I visit.... which is maybe 25-30 a year.
I bought a good digital camera and take lobby, room and view shots.
I write a fairly brief summary of the stay and post it along with photos.
Most of my reviews are pretty positive.
I may say something negative about a hotel but I balance it out with the good points.
I post the same review on tripadvisor.com, igougo.com and travelocity.com
Takes just a few minutes because I do not write much more than necessary for someone to make a decision.
You should try it!

Here's a thought: I wonder how many of the people here who say they check Tripadvisor before their trip, actually come back and post a review upon their return home?

I bet it's a very small percentage. (Obviously excluding TxTravelPro)

I do. As someone else pointed out, an old review is pretty much a useless review, as things can change even on a monthly basis with many properties.

I do. One on favorite in Mexico I posted my email and have gotten several personal correspondence with questions about that particular hotel.

I just got back from San Antonio and posted a trip review on Tripadvisor first thing (Fodors review to follow) :-)

I've found Tripadvisor to be right on the money every time I've relied on it. If I see five people complain about hard beds, for example, I can be pretty sure that the beds are hard. One person griping about the beds, though, and I don't really take that into account.

I heart Tripadvisor.

knute,

Here's one method whree tripadvsor might actually be of some help (think Olympics):

1)Look at places that have plenty of reviews

2) Throw out the top and bottom ten percent.

3) Average the remainders

I loved the message about the guy who didn't like the "airport" hotel, because it was too far-1 mi.! She said he must have wanted room on runway-felt good to laugh again!
I saw a post on one particular property from TWO DIFFERENT people giving a very nice review of a hotel in Arizona until they both raved about the same name hair product! That's too much!

Someone mentioned that lower * hotels may get worse reviews because people expect too much. I find that I am more particular when I review (online or just mentally) the high end places.

If I find a nice place that is really clean, charming, in a good location, etc and is very cheap, I tend to be more forgiving of its flaws.

On the other hand, if I'm paying top dollar, I expect a lot more..a room service meal delivered late or dirty bedspread will really irritate me here.

Expedia, Travelocity, and Yahoo Travel has user reviews of hotels which are not as biased as Tripadvisor's reviews. I wouldn't totaly rely on Tripadvisor. Compare the review of a hotel on those sites to Tripadvisor's. Then, make a decision. Expedia dosen't have many hotels that are reviewed, but check it out. Travelocity and Yahoo Travel have more hotels that are reviewed.

I actually look to see where the reviewers are from geographically. Not to say this plays a major role in my decision making, but if someone is from my part of the country, I like focus on that review. Maybe it's silly. But I have found tripadvisor to be helpful. (Radisson Aruba, Couples Negril, soon to be Grape Leaf Inn..also popular on this site).

I agree that you should check several sources.

On a forthcoming trip to San Diego, I check biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com and read the user reviews of the hotels offered by Priceline. Those reviews tend to be a lot more accurate.

I also check Yahoo, Travelocity, and - just last night - ran across another site: mytravelguide.

Mytravelguide gave me so many reviews, my head is whirling (410 reviews for one hotel!). The comments tend to be short and succinct. There are plus and minus signs beside each review.

All these plus tripadvisor, too, and I still can't decide! My problem is that I don't want to be too near the freeway or the train tracks. My conference will be downtown and all the big hotels seem to be near one or the other. OR near/on the beach, something I don't need while being stuffed away in dark conference rooms all day. So, it looks like a commute would work best, and, of course, the price cannot be expensive, as I'm only going to be using the room for short sleeping nights.

So, you see, you need to narrow down your preferences, then the possible hotel locations, and then find a few choices there. THEN, read the several websites for reviews on the hotels of your choice. Otherwise, tripadvisor isn't of much help.

I like tripadvisor and use it extensively but cautiously. Find it good about 80% of the time.

Good luck! :)

I've been a travel consultant for 35 years. Our office cannot figure out why people try to book trips themselves, but having said that----we will refer to trip advisor ourselves to get an up to date review. We have a rule---we throw out anything from a European review (they tend to be too accepting) and anything from a New Yorker (impossibly demanding and picky). Read all the reviews and get a sense---a hotel like anything else is subjective. My favorite place in St. Barts would be out of the question for most of my clients...........

<cannot figure out why people try to book trips themselves>

Oh brother. You do realize you're posting your remark on Fodors, home of self planning travelers extraordinaire?

Yikes - TC -you can't truly mean that.

I've been planning our two family vacations each year all by myself and have no idea how a travel consultant could do better than I've done.

Your criteria seems no better than sifting through tripadvisor.

And knute, I relate to your dilemma. I get nuts sometimes after reading tripadvisor reviews!