Hotel Reviews - General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips, Holiday Forums

Hotel Reviews

Sanji

2007-10-21 19:37:28

Holiday Reviews

I'm going to sing the praises of HolidayTruths here and hopefully gain some brownie points.

I booked a holiday with Travel Republic to the Costa del Sol in September and I have no problem with their booking procedure, as everything went off ok at both the airport and when presenting the "printed off" document to the reception on arrival at the hotel.

However, on my return I received an e-mail from them asking me to post a review of the holiday and as I had already posted a lengthy, detailed and accurate report in HT, I thought why not.?

I had saved the HT review in a word document, so it was just a case of extracting certain important points and pasting into their "boxes" and then hitting the submit button.

I didn't give a favourable report in HT and certain issues especially dogs allowed in what is supposedly a 4* hotel, I thought this was a very important point, particularly for people who have an allergy to canines, in fact it was only by a stroke of luck that I found out after I had booked the holiday by scouring the t'internet on the Spanish sites and my husband has given me some ear bashing ever since.

The existing reviews for the hotel on TR website are very favourable and based on the reviews they give it the thumbs up and an overall rating of 4 out of 5.
My review is not there and I left it for a few days just in case they wanted to vet the contents .still not there.
So, on their website in the Q &A's it gives another method of contacting them to forward a review .
I did that a few days ago and tonight my review is not on the website.

I realise that they are flogging holidays, but why do they ask for a review whether good or bad and then decide not to put the negative reviews on their site.?
How can you believe anything that is written against a hotel in the future by tourists and make a decision and believing they are genuine.?

Well. HT don't flog holidays and everything that I have ever written whether good or bad, has always been posted in here.

So, IMO for truthful reviews then there is only one place to look in future and I'm pretty peed off with Travel Republic for holding back my informative report.

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiii

Chivas69

2007-10-21 20:08:27

also I find holidays uncovered has true reports!

Wizard

2007-10-21 20:16:36

Sanji... HT it does what it says on the packet :lol:

robbyw

2007-10-22 09:35:53

Tripadvisor is also good http://www.tripadvisor.com/ ......

.....and surprisingly for me to recommend this, but Alpharooms have lots of reviews as well as lots of info regarding the hotels http://www.alpharooms.com/. It's just a pity their Customer Service isn't as good. I always use their site to review, and book elsewhere. It's one of the best all round hotel booking websites, very informative.

Robby :wink:

Jay Trip

2007-10-22 10:27:56

post subject

I read an interesting article at the weekend,titled "Whose review can you trust?".Trip advisor is owned by Expedia and TUI have just bought Holidays Uncovered.The article asks how can the advice be totally impartial if the company that owns the site has a vested interest in good reviews?Last year a owner of a hotel in Scotland admitted writing a glowing review on TA about his hotel.I have seen a glowing review amongst really bad ones on TA so I now wonder if these could be submitted by a fake guest.Like Sanji I wrote a review that has not been printed.It was on the Alpha rooms site after they sent us to a holiday from hell and I am still waiting for it to be printed,after 2 years and submitting it about 6 times.Its good to know on HT the member reviews are genuine and if anyone seeming to have a vested interest in a hotel the mods soon sniff them out!.

can't think of a username

2007-10-22 12:04:01

I had the same problem this year with dogs allowed in the sa coma player hotel. At the time it was proturs top hotel with a spa, and I only found by chance reading a holiday review.

I am allergic to most animals except horses but very allergic to dogs. I contacted the hotel who said they will give me room where no dog had stayed at least 3 months. I will not stay in any room where a dog has been in the last 12 months.

I phoned thomsons who said they could do anything and if I changed hotels they would charge, but after a long discussion I finally conviced them it was a medical problem and I wouldn't of booked the hotel if the brochure said dogs allowed. My a threat of legal action if I was forced to go to the hotel might of done the trick as well. That is the only hotel I have come across that allow dogs.

On leaving holiday reviews I leave reviews on 3 sites.

Holiday truths
Holiday watchdog
Holidaysuncovered

I find trip advisor can give a distorted view because very fussy americans post on there, as well as the other very fussy group belgium's.

I tend to find holiday watchdog have a better way to rating hotels, you can leave a rating from 1 to 10. I think it gives a more a accurate view of what the person who left the thought of the hotel. Maybe holiday truths can add it to their hotel reviews as well as rating in stars.

Jay

I always take bad reviews as being most honest, they are down to earth and point problems the glowing review don't mention.

MarkJ

2007-10-22 12:48:02

When reading reviews, I usually omit the really bad and the really good ones (those that are obviously written with somebody either having a grudge or having a vested interest respectively) and concentrate on the remaining ones.

I read the ones on HT first then go over to TA but always look at the location of the person posting a review as our American cousins seem to have different standards to us when it comes to holidays :wink:

Mark

Aslemma

2007-10-22 13:00:37

HT first and foremost. If I can't find the hotel mentioned, or there are not many reviews, I check on Trip Advisor and the others. I try and read between the lines, as some people are easily satisfied, some have unrealistic expectations and others appear to have been peed off by the holiday in general, possibly simply because the weather was bad, they'd fallen out with their family on holiday or they had chosen a destination which was clearly not their cup of tea.

qatarman

2007-10-22 13:25:32

Having stayed in hotels that get some really bad reviews I wonder if I have been in the same hotel.Or its maybe we dont have unreasonable expectations, if you want the best dont go package pay and go to the best.

Sanji

2007-10-22 13:57:37

I'm very wary of Trip Advisor because as it has already been pointed out, the Americans and Continentals have a very different view on what we expect from a hotel and what they accept.

I read one recently where an American was moaning at the size of the reception in the hotel :roll:

like you live, sleep and eat in the reception.? :roll:

I also read the reviews in the Benidorm section and one particular hotel was being given glowing reports against a page full of disgruntled holidaymakers. It turned out that it was the owner of the hotel and a few friends who were finally exposed by several posters who live in Benidorm.

I wouldn't trust anything I read on TO's websites, they'll tell you anything to flog the holiday and it wouldn't suprise me if they hold back negative reviews, It's logical to do so although morally wrong, but TO's have no morals as some of us find out at our cost.

if you want the best dont go package pay and go to the best.

I would disagree with that, I've gone package and stayed in the best, I've just gone DIY and slept in a bed that a mangy dog could have slept in the week before...4 star I might add and not cheap.
But that is the point, Travel Republic are holding back information that would have altered my decision to book the hotel and it certainly would change the decision of a person with an allergy to canines.

I must add that dogs were not the only issue and I like dogs, :lol:

...... but not in my bed and not someone else's dog or paying over a £1000 for the privilege.

Sanji

Edited by Sanji 2007-10-22 14:13:33

Sunbear

2007-10-22 14:11:28

When checking reviews TA is my first point of call. I like the fact thats its international in its review base, as the hotels I visit tend to have many mixed nationalities. Many of the reviewers are well travelled and so have a good idea what constitutes a good hotel.

Wizard

2007-10-22 14:53:24

some of you may not realise but Trip advisor is also owend by a travel group [expedia group]

Jay Trip

2007-10-22 15:14:00

post subject

I just found out Trip advisor was owned by Expedia after reading the article at the weekend.I did think they were involved somehow as on the photos on TA after the customers candid photos the hotel photos are on an Expedia page.
The hotel I was in Portugal where I had the holiday from hell allowed dogs.On Christmas day a lady checked in with her Yorkshire terrier and left it to defacate all over the lounge floor while she went off in the lift to her room.I ran to reception to tell someone and they just told me not to worry she would clean it up when she returned from her room!The small was dreadful!I also encountered a poodle dog in the Aqua hotel in Icmeler,and the lady owner even had the nerve to reserve it a sunbed!

Judith

2007-10-22 15:15:18

Jay Trip has already posted that Trip Advisor is owned by Expedia.
I use it extensively, pretty much for the same reasons as Sunbear. I have lived abroad for for many years so possibly have different expectations from hotels(though maybe someone could tell me what the dfferences are)but on TA reviews you can usually tell the nationality of posters as the country where registered is normally listed, so if you feel that American/Continental posters have different expectations to yours you can ignore their posts. On the whole I find TA an excellent tool in planning holidays.

lynwestie

2007-10-22 15:25:34

if its a beach type holiday my first port of call is alwys HT. if its a city break I lean towards TA only because there are many more reviews there for cites. I agree about american reviews tho as not only do they have different expectations on decor etc but they require a lot more customer service from hotels than we do in the way of recomendations for visiting,eating,tours and having these things booked for them by the hotel.Us brits tend to not like bothering people and we just get on with it and follow our noses armed witha trusty guide book :wink:

. our last 2 breaks i have booked hotels high on TAs reviews. both times b+bs and we have been the only english there

Jay Trip

2007-10-22 15:35:57

post subject

One review that Trip advisor has correct is the hotel Hemera,No 1 in Side!.

Sanji

2007-10-22 15:36:53

though maybe someone could tell me what the dfferences are

No offence Judith, Talking to a group of Americans doing the grand tour of Southern Spain and to them some of the 4 star hotels are not on the same scale as the hotels in America, although I can only speak from what they tell me, as I've never been to America.
What they were moaning about, I don't think we would....like the reception size for example.
I think they have experienced grander hotels in America and nothing in Spain would get any where near what they are used to, but surely they come to Spain to experience the culture and I suppose even the Americans have whingers in their society.

Sanji

Pippa

2007-10-22 15:37:45

I tend to look at all review sites and then make up my mind from there. If you take a balanced view and bear in mind that what is one persons holiday of a lifetime may be anothers holiday from hell then you won't go far wrong.

Pippa

Judith

2007-10-22 15:56:31

No offence taken Sanji

Having worked with Americans for over 20years (and part of that time as a tour guide) I know what a load of whingers a group of Americans can be but I have taken Americans and other nationalities to Prague/Budapest etc., where we have encountered groups of british stags/hens or just brits on a city break ( and not always young people) and I have had the thankless task of trying to convince my tour group that the behaviour they are seeing isn't the way normal british people behave. I'm sure they haven't believed me and have gone back to their homes convinced that the british are a nation of drunks who enjoy being sick and stripping off in public. So that will be their impression of the British whilst we generalise that the Americans are a load of whingers
But don't we get whingers on HT also, how many times have I read ' the hotel is classed as a 4* but would probably be classed as a 2* in the UK.

can't think of a username

2007-10-22 15:59:12

jay

I couldn't find a bad review of the hemera on any of the review sites.

There are some people who will have a bad holiday and say it was fantastic. For this reason I look more at the bad or impartial reviews. Where I have stayed in hotels that weren't upto scratch and left reviews, all the bad reviews have said more or less exactle what I had said about the Hotel.

Yet the people who gave the hotel a fantastic review were in the bar over the road until 3am and were part of the noise problem. I think most of these people were drunk most of the time to notice what was wrong with the hotel and come home saying its a fantastic place and had a great holiday.

The other thing I do is if a hotel gets 95% good reviews and the 5% bad reviews I over look the bad reviews because unless there is something major in the review, I see the posters as being overly fussy.

General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips

Post a Reply

Get the best deals!

from our cruise, ski and holiday partners