happytrailstoyou

This may be a reliable way to find out if there is a recurrent fault with a hotel.

I recently stayed at Riverside Motel in Stanley, ID. It is a good place with a great location that has received much praise on TripAdvisor, including from me in 2009. However, when we stayed there recently, the experience was marred by an extremely disagreeable encounter with the owners.

When I got home, I studied the TripAdvisor ratings for the place carefully and in doing so I found that virtually all of the "poor," "terrible," and "average" ratings for the motel where not about the facilities but about unpleasant experiences with the inept people who own and run the place.

I checked out my theory on other properties. For instance, Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, WA, is a place we used to spend a night or two every year but stopped when the rates increased so much it became a poor value. And, it turns out that most of those who posted poor, terrible, and average ratings for Sun Mountain Lodge on TripAdvisor describe why they found the place not worth the price.

MmePerdu

I'm always interested in the worst reviews on Trip Advisor. Most of the time it appears to me that something out of the ordinary occurred or the reviewer was just having a bad day. I look at the graph and if the vast majority of the reviews fall in the top 2 catagories I tend to discount the bottom 2. But you're right, if the worst contain similar complaints it's definitely a bad sign.

gail

When using TripAdvisor I read the most recent reviews and then ask it to sort from worst to best - and read the bottom reviews, paying attention to dates oomplaints. Content rather than rating is important to me - so if the place needed renovation in 1812 this is less important to me than what it looks like today. And some writers give very negative ratings over things I would consider trivial or partly their fault.

Dukey1

Take the TOTAL number of poor, terrible, and average ones and divide that by the total number of all reviews

happytrailstoyou

Take the TOTAL number of poor, terrible, and average ones and divide that by the total number of all reviews

This works when reasons for dissatisfaction are various such as random complaints about cleanliness, customer service, reservations, unrealistic expectations, etc. I am suggesting one be on the alert for the instances when the preponderance of less than favorable ratings focus on one recurrent problem or dissatisfaction.

HTTY

familythattravels

Like others I click on the "poor" reviews to see if it seems like an isolated or habitual issue. Also note where the reviewer is from. For instance, if reviewing a pizza place I check for reviews from the Northeast - if someone from NY or NJ gives it a good review I take that over a mid western review of pizza. I take a lot of things into consideration.

Sukie488

I am a former DE from Tripadvisor, I was a DE in Colorado for over 3 years, call me a Tripadvisor ex-pat. We shall never post there again, they are now really deleting more and more negative comments, no matter how succinctly stated. I look at the totality of reviews, but have lost all faith in the overall reliability of Trip Advisor, given how they are now zapping posts with reckless abandon.

musicfan

I have spent a couple of nights in Stanley the past couple of summers, but never at this property. Now I never will!

I know the OP is about the larger issue of Trip Advisor deleting negative comments which is too bad. I too try to weigh all the comments, good and bad, and attempt to put some kind of context with them, but deleted negative comments make that almost impossible.

spirobulldog

if you use vrbo.com, they only allow positive comments only. I have never understood that. Sometimes I look at reviews on expedia too. They are usually about the same as TA, but sometimes a huge difference.

spirobulldog

It seems that yelp and urbanspoon both cater to more of the local opinions(restaurants). I like to do the normal tourtisty places first, then go a little bit off the beaten path, if I have time.

suze

I love Trip Advisor. I don't use the review section or read ratings for hotels or restaurants because that system is lame.

But there *forums*, same format as here at Fodor's, is excellent for many destinations.

I'm surprised a former DE wouldn't know that.

sylvia3

NO, VRBO.com does allow negative comments; the owners have the option of deleting. However, when they delete a bad comment, ALL commments (good and bad) are also deleted.

5alive

Sometimes one review is all it takes. It really depends on why they got a negative review.

If I open up a negative restaurant review and the reviewer posts a valid link showing the restaurant flunked the health inspection, I am going to choose another restaurant.

happytrailstoyou

We travel a lot, and I find TripAdvisor extremely useful for locating the best places to stay in small towns. I've had very good luck finding properties that are new or well maintained and professionally operated.

I've been less satisfied with the advice I've gotten from TripAdvisor for mid-range properties in large cities and resort destinations. (An exception is Signature at MGM in Las Vegas, which is quite amazing and sometimes available at bargain rates.)

I post reviews of hotels on TripAdvisor, under the name wonderfulworld. They take longer to post my negative reviews, but they always post them. When the owner/manager of the Stanley, Idaho, property wrote a reply that described me very unfavorably and inaccurately, I complained to the TripAdvisor staff and his comments were deleted promptly.

PaulRabe

I read reviews at TA, and also try to post intelligent ones after staying at a place. Like HappyTrails, I take a look at the really negative reviews in order to find out if there is a specific problem that more than one person noted. I always ignore ANY review saying something along the lines of, "This is the worst motel in the world" or nothing more than, "Don't stay here." I can also overlook certain things that some people would find a deal-breaker -- for example, I don't expect much from hotel breakfasts; if they're edible, to me that's a bonus.

But if certain complaints keep coming up, I'll make a note of that.

suze

If I do read reviews, I pay attention to concrete things like "you can hear the trains on the railroad tracks going by all night". Specifics that are most likely not someone's opinion only, but actual facts.

Camporico

I have been a Trip Advisor member for many years; I've made nearly 5000 contributions on the forum and I have written over 60 reviews. I have written both positive and negative reviews and I have never had a negative review rejected or deleted.

I have found many, many good properties by reading Trip Advisor. I read mainly the most recent reviews, but I also always read the "terrible" and "poor" reviews, no matter when they were written, to see if there are problems that would concern me. I also tend to give the most weight to reviews by people who have already written a few reviews, especially if they have something negative to say. (I don't pay much attention to bad reviews writtten by "One Time Wonders".)

If you do your research well on Trip Advisor, it can be an excellent tool.

happytrailstoyou

Camporico, Your experience is similar to mine.

(I don't pay much attention to bad reviews writtten by "One Time Wonders".)

I am also dubious of positive reviews written by people who have posted only one or two reviews.

HTTY

suze

The other plus over at Trip Advisor is there is a PM system, so you can directly email any other participant. I get notes now and then from people asking something about one of the hotel reviews I have posted, and I'm happy to write them back directly.

Keith

I use Tripadvisor a lot, and give no weight to reviews by people that have done only a handful. I still use Google to find the properties, then jumpt to TA for the reviews.