I don't think there is anything contentious about your post. Anything that can result in changes members would like is great. During my time as mod I spent a great deal of time going through our review pages, deleting old hotels( well, asking Glynis to delete them ), adding new ones etc. Its a huge job and obviously easier for review sites which are not independent. But we do need members to post reviews on our site. The more reviews we have, the more potential we have for our forums becoming more busy. PLEASE, PLEASE - if you use HT, then give it your reviews.
Without mentioning other review sites by name, I'm sure you can see a lot of reviews which look as if they have either been written by those with a vested interest in the hotel, or by rival hotels. At least with HT you know that reviews are not allowed from the resort in question.
I have my own views on forum and hotel review changes but I think the team are enjoying the peace and quiet now I've left
However, it's over to you, the members. Take the chance to air your views and keep HT up there as an independent site amongst the "big guns."

Hi luci,

If everyone had the attitude that the reviews are out of date compared to commercial sites such as TA, and therefore it wasn't worth posting a review, then they will always be out of date and there would be no new reviews.

...and I guess that is the problem with the HT Review site. It's a vicious circle isn't it. If the reviews are out of date then people won't use them or return to post.

I've just clicked on to the America one. My first recommendation would be to either display in area order or allow a filter. I'm sure most people have an idea of where they want to go (Orlando rather than Dallas) and would search that way to review hotels visited by HT Reviewers rather than by hotel alphabetical order.

The third hotel on the list is the Adams Mark on Clearwater Beach. This was demolished 5 years ago. The lists need clearing up to really be credible.

Another HT Member suggested a great idea of Destination Specialist. How about we find some destination experts from the membership and make a new year resolution to spend sometime "cleaning" the lists? If the lists are up to date we might have a hope that people will have more confidence in using them and start posting reviews again? What do others think. Could we make that commitment - should only take a couple of hours if we divi it up. I would be happy to take Florida to start. Could we do that, place a plea to others to help and start adding reviews again. Perhaps get some guidance from Mods to number of current visitors and contributors to the HT Review site. Use that as a base. Measure the success in say 6 months. If visitors and reviewers are up then GREAT - if not, think again..

I'd be happy to help tidy up if I can & it's needed .I'm certainly no huge expert on the hotels there but Egypt would probably be where I would like to help. It's a vast area though with tons of new hotels popping up all the time . Might need a few of us to get through that lot..

i have used ht for a number of years now and this site is the site i really trust for honest opinions and advice. if im looking for a review for a holiday and the hotel is not on here i get quite upset so i do use the other sites but i find this a lot easier.i find a lot of sites have a facebook page now what about trying that or does that not appeal to anyone,should i run and hide.happy new year all i love this site

I'm also willing to help in any way I can- I spend most of my time on here anyway

The Admin and Mods team is small and there is no way we can know every hotel in every resort. That is where the members come in.

If you see a hotel listed that no longer exists or has changed its name, don't keep the info to yourself and quietly criticise the team for not knowing. You can post in the Add a Hotel topic at the top of the Help and Assistance forum and it will be deleted or amended.

luci

If enough volunteers come forward and we were somehow able to "clean" the lists, area by area, is there an easier way to get a list of hotel listings? I was thinking along the lines of perhaps the data being exported onto an Excel spreadsheet and the PM'ed to volunteers?

We possibly have Egypt, Florida covered. Not sure what area shirley h has knowledge in. I'm sure others would help.

Luci - if you think this is worth us taking forward can you think of an easy/quick way to screen the data and feed it back to you or the Mod who would update the reviews section?

If you see a hotel listed that no longer exists or has changed its name, don't keep the info to yourself and quietly criticise the team for not knowing.

It wasn't intended as a criticism. I know you and the Mods are giving up your time to run the site.

Of course you don't know about each and every hotel - what I was highlighting was the need to ensure the listings are up to date and then hopefully gain credibility and people might start posting reviews. To do this I think we need HT members help and to purge the task. Perhaps you can give us guidence on the best/easiest method.

I'm for all the help we can get. Maybe a starting point is to ask for assistance across the board as some members may not visit this forum due to them staying in their favourite destination.

I've often removed hotels that I've been alerted to due to closure etc & have amended due to name change & am always grateful for the information as we obviously are not aware. This is where the members help is paramount Obviously the sites owned by members of the travel industry are in the 'know'. So thanks to those who are keeping us informed

Traveller - Have deleted Adams Beach Hotel - took me about 30 seconds
Madmadge if there's a hotel you want & we haven't got it please let us know and we'll add it for you.

Traveller, as Glynis has said, we are grateful for any information members can give us on amendments to the hotel reviews listing.

I don't know if it can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet. I don't think so, but would probably need Van to answer. You can search on the Hotel Reviews pages using Ctrl + F to find a hotel.

A couple of us can add hotels, but only Glynis can delete or amend a hotel already listed so I shall leave it to Glynis how best this could be done. Perhaps a topic in Help and Assistance for deletions and amendments, separate to the Add a Hotel one. Or perhaps Glynis would prefer them all in the same topic?

luci

oh ok glynis i didnt realise you could do that fantastic.im not very good on the computer but ht is one of my favourite sites happy new year all you do a fab job

If you do find something that needs added / deleted or ammended please don't keep it to yourself, there is nothing we can do if we are not made aware of changes, please let us know in the dedicated topic http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55170

Graham

HT will always be my first home and I've always put my review on here and have occasionally posted them on TA as well. I also check TA if there are no reviews of a hotel on here, though I feel more confident with those on here as it is clear posters have no axe to grind or lily to guild. As others have mentioned, it can be frustrating when you have spent time answering questions and do not receive any acknowledgement whether the info was hepful (or even completely useless. ) We can only encourage people to contribute reviews, which I see as a small token of thanks for the help I've received on here. I do agree that it is more helpful if reviews are given under the name by which the poster is known as it makes it easier to identify them.

I particularly like 'Tunisian Tales' where people can go for general gossip about the area without fear of going 'off topic' and it might be useful if similar forums were set up for other areas if this has not already been done.

If you see a hotel listed that no longer exists or has changed its name, don't keep the info to yourself and quietly criticise the team for not knowing. You can post in the Add a Hotel topic at the top of the Help and Assistance forum and it will be deleted or amended.

I did report such a case some time ago but it took some time to get the team to accept what I was saying was correct and for a a while afterwards the hotel was listed separately under two different names.

nickmacuk wrote:

If you see a hotel listed that no longer exists or has changed its name, don't keep the info to yourself and quietly criticise the team for not knowing. You can post in the Add a Hotel topic at the top of the Help and Assistance forum and it will be deleted or amended.

I did report such a case some time ago but it took some time to get the team to accept what I was saying was correct and for a a while afterwards the hotel was listed separately under two different names. :(

Surely that's just the team being thorough ? Things must need to be checked out as people make mistakes and this work has to be done on top of all the moderating and administration, with it being only one persons responsibility it must be difficult, that person may have been on two weeks holiday when you first mentioned it then had to come back with all the catching up to do.

It's not like it didnt get done at all.

HT is always my first port of call. I know it's independant which none of the other sites are. TA is OK for hotel reviews although you never really know if they are genuine or put up by a hotelier if they are good or a rival hotelier if they are bad. Goodness knows what happened to the hoildaywatchdog site all seemed to go pear shaped on there.

I will always put up a review of a hotel I have stayed in on here, just in case it helps someone.

The forums on TA are a nightmare as they never merge things so if you go on the Egypt forum there might be 20 new posts 10 of which are 'what currency do I take to Egypt'

Can't be bothered to read such posts as half have no answers anyway and I can't be bothered to respond as the posters can't be bothered to read back to the 300 times it has already been answered on the previous 10 pages of TA.

I like the way this forum is modereated and administered, there may be less posts but they are more interesting and a lot less duplication.

I also feel its more personal and I tend to trust the answers I get here and also feel any answers I give are appreciated. I also like that we can edit posts.

Well done mods and admin. I know it must be a thankless task a lot of the time.

I like the way this forum is modereated and administered, there may be less posts but they are more interesting and a lot less duplication.

Whilst the post count is down I wonder how many hits the site gets, particularly from strangers (guests)? - Like others I enjoy browsing the site. several times most days, and it is rare that amongst all the stuff that is posted I don't find something of interest.

fwh

I wonder how many hits the site gets, particularly from strangers

as i type this we currently have 10 members and 55 guest on line

Let's hope the guests find what they are looking for and come back to join us one day.

I will also help out where I can...don't know which area would be best though..we don't stay in hotels any more in Egypt as we got action adventure liveaboard...I am sure there is some positive contribution I can make somewhere...

the forum will never die if we all contribute a bit where we can.