Aww thanks Shirley as I'm sure they are well out of date also. Many thanks Judith too I started adding/checking Algarve before Christmas but as you can imagine its a long job if your doing it on your own. I snooped on 'other sites' and saw what they had but of course that only helps with adding hotels and not what's been demolished/changed name.

So if I'm right & haven't missed anyone so far:-

Traveller - America
Shirley - Greek Islands
Judith - Italy

I can help with Greece too, particularly Athens & the Peloponnese. Some islands I know quite well too & I am travelling around as much as possible to see all the bits on my very long wish list! As I now live in Greece it's relatively easy to check some details if necessary.

When I did my hotel reviews, which all came under the general Greece heading, I found it confusing as some hotels are known by a couple of slightly different names, so I agree that islands/resorts/cities should be listed alphabetically rather than the hotels for most of the country in one long list.
Examples for Athens: I was looking for the Airotel Parthenon, it's sister hotel (Airotel Alexandros) was listed under A & included Airotel in the name, the Parthenon was listed without the Airotel attachment. Neither name is wrong as both are used, but if the list was grouped for Athens ( & each island) it would be so much easier to find! It could still be one long list, but grouped differently. When I was checking for the 3 Lesvos properties I stayed at I had to keep picking out Lesvos on the right, then look at the hotel. It is particularly confusing as there can be a hotel with the same name in several resorts. For instance, in 3 of the resorts just in our small corner of the Peloponnese there is a Panorama in each one!

We haven't forgotten all your input we are having some discussions

Hmmm some interesting points.

I have been using HTs for a fair few years now. I have posted reviews in the past - but in recent years have stayed in a rented villa so that's not much use to anyone. I think the reviews section on TA is better to be honest - the photos are useful for a start. That said, when I come back from Goa I will post a review here too - probably exactly the same as the one on TA - and also on Holiday Watchdog (although their reviews tend to be fewer and further between).

Of all the holiday sites I have used this one has the best forums by FAR. Everyone I have encountered here has been very friendly and in the most part very polite too. I don't like the TA forums at ALL. I use hisaronu.co.uk forums for Turkey and while they're okay - and the restaurant reviews in particular are very good - the admin there is awful. They are abrupt and have a "this is my site I'll do what I like with it I don't care what you think" attitude - which is not very conducive to making people want to use it! They censor stuff for no reason and it really gets on my nerves. I once had a restaurant review removed because the admin has a personal beef with the restaurant owner! The admins/mods here are helpful and friendly and will take comments on board and I am grateful for that.

I find the .tv site not very user friendly. I would prefer to be able to post photos in a thread on the forum and/or on reviews.

I would welcome a "like" button on here

As you are having a chat about things at the moment, perhaps you might consider having a 'sticky' Welcome to HT thread somewhere easy to spot giving a few pointers, on what or how to post. I know that seems obvious, but there are quite a lot of first time posters and (and exisiting members also come to that) that post one liners asking for help without saying much, ie. 'can anyone recommend a holiday in the sun'? - just think that a few pointers could be budget, ages, how far willing to travel, type of holiday etc

just think that a few pointers could be budget, ages, how far willing to travel, type of holiday etc

that is a good idea Pinky..and to expand on that a little it could almost be like a set tick list page or even spreadsheet to fill in the basic questions..even going as far as saying how long a flight time. How many requests have we had over the years for summats within say 4 hours flying time?

How about:

when you would like to go eg: May or June
type of accomodation, eg: Hotel, Villa, SC, AI etc eg SC Hotel/Apartment complex
budget eg: £2000 + spends
any children/ages eg: 2 children ages 9 & 11
how far willing to travel eg: no more than 5 hours from Gatwick or Heathrow
any other information eg: partner has mobility difficulties so not somewhere too hilly

and so on, I am sure there are other things people could think of to include..

Justval wrote:

just think that a few pointers could be budget, ages, how far willing to travel, type of holiday etc

that is a good idea Pinky..and to expand on that a little it could almost be like a set tick list page or even spreadsheet to fill in the basic questions..even going as far as saying how long a flight time. How many requests have we had over the years for summats within say 4 hours flying time?

How about:

when you would like to go eg: May or June
type of accomodation, eg: Hotel, Villa, SC, AI etc eg SC Hotel/Apartment complex
budget eg: £2000 + spends
any children/ages eg: 2 children ages 9 & 11
how far willing to travel eg: no more than 5 hours from Gatwick or Heathrow
any other information eg: partner has mobility difficulties so not somewhere too hilly

and so on, I am sure there are other things people could think of to include..

Thats sounds even better and would get a far better response from folks with lots of information I think

Yes we're still in talks about a lot of these things...so don't think we're ignoring you.

The hotel reviews are taking priority at the moment and once that is sorted we'll move on to other things...

I'll hopefully be able to update you regarding the hotel reviews early next week...I've got a lot of programming to do but should get it finished by next week.

Van

Thanks for keeping us informed Van. Good luck with it all. Look forward to seeing the results

It's gonna be worth the wait from what I've seen so far.

luci

No truth in the rumour that you are being sent on an "all expenses paid" trip to visit these hotels and compile new reports then

fwh

Don't need that on my Mod's pay.

luci

Don't need that on my Mod's pay

Now there's a good idea Pay the Moderators

don't know how I missed this thread HT is my first love and first port of call when I'm looking a holidays. I do look at the reviews on TA, but also find the site very impersonal. Fwh - the idea of a checklist is great. I'll willingly help out with some of the Greek Islands and city breaks sections.

Cheers Helen

Some interesting reading in today's Guardian on Trip Advisor prompted by the Government's proposal to abandon the official tourist agency star rating system for hotels and B&Bs in the UK because there are now so many websites providing consumer reviews of them!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/jan/25/tripadvisor-duncan-bannatyne

SM

A very interesting article.
I also read the comments and one suggests the hotels should be able to comment on guests who are bad.
I have been following the thread on the Egypt forum of guests being moved to the Reef Oasis Blue bay because the Thomson Sensatori not being open yet.
I read the latest reviews of the ROBB on TA and one guests review would put off anyone going to this hotel which must be alarming to people booked to go there.
However the manager has replied and really goes to town stating how awful this guest behaved.
They wanted to go in the sea despite the warnings due to shark attacks,wanted the feed the fish and spent most of their time drunk!

Hmmm But if someone posts under a different name then the hotel can't really reply, which is unfortunate for them. You also could get into a battle of words. 'That wasn't me' - 'Yes it was' Where do you draw the line in such circumstances?