Reviews are a personal thing and holiday reviews by holiday makers more so, you need to look beneath the written word and between the lines, the ones that annoy me most are.. the food is all foreign ***** or nobody spoke English, in both cases what do you expect you are in another country, or particular to the eastern med.. we didn't have a bath [not a surprise as most local use showers] and wet rooms are common in traditional hotels, or you can't put paper down the loo is this a third world country, again its a different culture and in many older areas the main drains are only small diameter and cant cope, but the funniest are it was too hot/cold, the seeweed on the beach , mozzies/wasps, they drive on the wrong side of the road

wiz

One reason you don't find HT reviews misleading is that we are independent. We are not selling any hotel. We also will not allow reviews from the same place as the hotel( with the exception of UK ones). This cuts out either the hotel writing its own glowing reports, or rival hotels submitting bad ones.

As has been stated, reviews are a personal thing. My bIL has much higher expectations from a hotl than us, hence what is 4 or 5* to us, would probably be 3 r 4 to them. I do try & write an honest & impartial review, as to location, facilities, food etc, but of course one's enjoyment or otherwise of your holiday will also play a large part.

As Wizard says you have to read between the lines with a lot of reviews. I think if you look at the facts within a review (eg hotels location, whether rooms have balconies, the price of food and drink at the hotel etc) rather than those aspects of the stay that are down to individual opinion (eg the attitude of staff etc) the reviews can be very helpful.

If theres the odd negative review in amongst a lot of positive ones I tend to disregard it, but if theres a few bad reviews I always think theres no smoke without fire, especially if its the same thing that keeps cropping up eg the hotel is dirty.

I've seen some people rate hotels 1 or 2 stars out of 5 because the weather was poor, the tv only had 2 'English' channels, the pool was cold and my personal favourite there was no microwave. I also tend to trust the reviews of the people who have reviewed a number of places, rather than that of a first time reviewer. I always think that they are more likely to be genuine.

There are nit wits on all the review sites, there are the ones who write on the sites and go on and on and on and on about the same 1 or 2 hotels, and if anyone else dares to go against their opinions, then..............Hanging offence, and the poor poster is too terrified to go back on to ask for advice...........I class these people as Clipboard kings or queens.I choose to only come on HT now, because of the constant cat fights on one or 2 of the other advice forums........quite nasty at times.

Then the ones who moan about being ill and getting food poisoning................Forgetting to mention they have quaffed 10 pints of Efes with voddie chasers, tied a hankie round their head as their only means of sun protection, and blame their listless, burned and very ill body on "A dodgy meal" yeah right mate.................Not your turn for the brain cell then?

Also the ones who complain about everything and anything, Not enough international branded drinks in the hotel, had to queue to get served, air conditioning wasn't cool enough, air conditioning too cold, balcony not wide enough, view was not what they asked for, walk into the town was further than anticipated......................the list of the moaning fraternity is endless, and, dare I say it.......clueless.

We all go on holidays with different ideas of what makes a perfect holiday for us. Whilst we choose AI, we would never critisise others who do B&B or SC, it is a personal choice.

We all like different resorts, different food, different drinks, but the one thing we should all have in common is the ability to share our experiences good or bad with others, and give honest opinions. Pointless scoring a hotel low because it had too many steps, and again pointless scoring a hotel high because it has a 24 hour bar..................look further than the obvious I think.

I thank everyone who try to help people and give informed and relevant reviews, and no matter how much we hate to admit it, we will still keep coming on the forum sites, just to have a wee peek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vive' La Differance'.......

Take care, and Happy Holidays.

I think as long as you don't get a long stream of reviews stating a place is disgusting, dirty, dangerous, food was awful, place like a buildiong site etc, then you can ignore all the petty gripes people come ups with. you cannot satisfy everyone and there will always be some who will complain about anything. I read one once where someone complained about a cockeral crowing nearby and another where she said she saw a flea on the floor - I mean, a flea, how could anyone see a flea unless they were crawling about the floor

I work for a travel agent and some customers take reviews as gospel and if they see 1 or 2 bad reviews they won't go to a particular hotel. It can be an absolute nightmare as theres bad reviews on pretty much every hotel. One thing that I say to people is look up a hotel that you loved and you'll still find bad reviews from people. Everyone has different requirements and expectations. Someone who is used to 5* hotels in say London or New York etc would not rate a 3/4* hotel in Spain very highly. Or someone who is used to 1/2* in Greece will think a 4* in the Dominican Republic is amazing.

... and there's always those people who pay 2 star prices and expect 5 star standards!! And I agree, it amazes me when people complain 'cos the food was "too foreign" or the staff couldn't understand English or you couldn't put toilet paper down the loo or there were too many "different nationalities" at the hotel. I always thought foreign travel was in order to experience other cultures, see different countries and meet new people.

JAK xx

I agree with what you have said, but the reviews on this site are made by personal preference and not to a strict set of guidelines as a professional review would be.

I well remember a hotel we stayed in which had, in our opinion, excellent food. One evening we shared a lift with another couple and remarked "Nice hotel, isn't it?" to be subjected to a diatribe for the rest of the ride on how disgusting the food was and how they had been eating out despite having paid for the hotel food because they found it so bad. I suppose one man's meat is another's poison, in this case quite literally. We would have written a completely different and opposite review of the hotel, at least as far as the catering was concerned.

I also have lost a lot of faith in reviews - HT generally excepted

The only way to get a balanced view is to review HT and two or three other review sites - then take abroad brush approach - if say 7 or 8 out of 10 good then probably is so.

Also look at what the gripes seem to be - if someone is blaming the weather on the hotel then tend not to give their review much weight

As we have been spending last few holidays in Turkey we have also been searching on Dutch and German review sites that probably are a bit more sensible

Opinions are like ar$*holes, everybodys got one, a review is only someones opinion and we all have different tastes and expectations. i would like to think that i concentrate on the factual aspects of the hotel and provide more information on what was good rather than harping on about one thing i didn't like. i always look at reviews before i book and make my own judgement from the varying reviews. From some of the reviews i've read on other sites it seems that some people don't do this and then complain about their holiday from hell, if they had read the reviews they may have chosen a different hotel/resort that would have suited them.

the one thing about reviews that annoys me is the same old cliches, like "it's not really 5* " without being able to say why! " the food was bland and repetitive" because other reviewers said the same. "the airline food was rubbish" as if they expect Marco Pierre White on board to whip up some cordon bleu for 200 people in a kitchen the size of a rabbit hutch.

i do look at the hotel reviews on here, but sometimes there are not many to get a good idea, but you can always send a PM if there is something specific you want to ask, i've had a couple of people PM me and ask for further details and its good way of finding out the nitty gritty details of the hotel in depth which aren't really covered in general reviews.

I think the whole point of a review is that it should be based on fact. I understand that people will rate it according to thier opinion and that what is one mans paradise is another mans hell etc..but the core of a review should be based on fact. I always read the reviews on a hotel before I book there and I always try to write an honest and factual review of any place I have stayed..good and bad points. I think some people tend to concentrate on the negative points rather than something positive as it is alwasy easier to say something negative rather than positive. I also think sometimes people go on holiday with unrealistic expectations...eg: they might say the food got abit repetitive..but forget to mention they stayed in an AI and never ventured out of the hotel for the entire 2 week stay..so then their review is not really balanced.

below is one of my reports from last year.... i always try to keep to the format [the way the ratings are arranged] and as accurate as possible[bearing in mind it is my opinion]

Our room..
Larger than average in an excellent decorative condition furnished with wardrobe, twin beds, casual table with 2 chairs, dressing table, bedside cabinet and case shelf [with draws] carpeted T/V [local channels and a Lebanese Chanel showing films in English 24 hr a day] AND FREE air-conditioning

Bathroom of adequate size with toilet,Vanity basin,full-size bath with overhead shower, tiled floor

bedding changed mid week towels a couple of times a week

Communal areas... in good order, of ample size for the hotel pool with more than enough sun beds [makes a change]

Cleanliness... the house keeping staff do a first rate job rooms and public areas as clean as we have seen anywhere

Food... Breakfast take your pick cereals,fruit, continental or fully cooked [and alternate days English style pork bangers]
Dinner not traditional [except on Cypriot night] is of the international style with soup, salads and a multi choice of cooked dishes and cold puddings or fruit

Staff... those we met were very friendly and helpful and well turned out speaking between them many languages

Entertainment... although advertised the only entertainment was on the Cypriot night, the reception bar had a large screen t/v showing mainly sports

the down side to this hotel is three fold, the big mac in front of it, [ugly but as others have said not smelly] the dancing fountain show at the back, brilliant to watch but Loud [but with the double glazed windows shut it was an annoyance not an aggravation]. And the bar over the road which was determined to be heard all over Protaras,with second or even third rate acts blasting out till 2 am

If we were to visit Protaras again would we use this hotel? well it would be highly considered

I do regularly check the reviews but look for the facts rather than the opinions it might contain. One of my best experiences in Tunisia was in a hotel that had been slated by a number of previous visitors but I knew that it would be just up my street because the complaints were along the lines of:

- there were too many 'foreigners' staying there/it's not geared up to British tourists
- there was no familiar food for the kids
- it was so boring/there was nothing to do/the animation team was nowhere to be seen
- it was too small
- nobody spoke English
- they only had local alcohol brands available
- there were no water sports available on the beach
- the disco was lousy and there was never anybody in it

I think you get the picture? I've also learnt to steer clear of the hotels that have rave reviews because all the above things were catered for. I also tend to pay very little attention to comments about whether it does or doesn't live up to the 'star' rating because in my experience most of the complaints are based on very little knowledge of how the systems worked or totally unreal expectations of what your money was actually buying you. Such as the couple in the bargain priced studio in the Algarve who just like us had paid little more than what the charter flight to Faro alone would have cost but complained that the cooking facilities weren't up to cooking a decent roast dinner. Or the young women in The Gambia who insisted that she'd been expecting a 5* hotel despite everybody else she encountered being adamant that the TO brochures made it quite clear that it was only a 2/3* and complained bitterly and constantly that she wasn't getting what she'd paid for (I thought that it was actually great value for the money!).

So my advice is - ignore the opinions and whether people liked the hotel/resort or not and instead concentrate on why they didn't like it. It could be that the very reasons why they didn't like it would make it the ideal place for you.

SM

Exactly! It's like when the wife read a review and this couple were appaled because there were loads of women topless around the pool! I read it and said 'Honey, thats the holiday for us'

you made a good point there sma,
i think i will take your recommended approach from now on-read between the lines and don't imagine every critisism is a genuine observation of reality! personally i love the idea of a burger-less hotel restaurant fully staffed by non english speaking waiters and a bar stocked with local tasty beers and long drinks, but i suppose many people don't go on holiday for the culture and change of scene...

personally i will be coming back from my next trip and really trying this time to provide a factual review, rather than just having a good old whinge and commenting on how many times the room floor got swept in 2 weeks!

chivas

When I read the reviews I always look for the ones posted the previous year in the month I am going.
Reviews can vary greatly from month to month.

I honestly think that you have to read as many reviews as you can on a particular hotel, then weigh up the good vs the bad, that tells you a lot, mind you, I had to laugh when I read one of the reviews for the hotel we are going to in mexico, the title was ' awful, would never go back ' only to find that their gripes were ' the beach was too windy ', far too many mosquitoes' and 'we always got splashed in the swim-up bar ' , now, c'mon, if you are gonna write a review about the hotel, make VALID comments !!!!

I too enjoy reading the reviews, particularly as some of the things which people rate so highly are just the sort of things I'd pay good money too avoid! Things I particularly look out for are distance from the beach/shops, etc and any mention of 'hilly' as I know my limitations. People who complain about the attitude of staff are probably those who don't know how to treat them. I try to give an honest review, warts and all, and as I never stay in 5* accommodation don't expect the facilities they might offer. You really do need to read between the lines but I can honestly say I've never stayed anywhere which was terrible, though some hotels have been better than others.