Goodness knows what happened to the hoildaywatchdog site

It was bought out I believe by guess who

And Holidays Uncovered seems to have gone a bit strange as well ..............

I like your original post Traveller I think it's well worded and offers good suggestions and asks reasonable questions. I too have seen the 'Thanks' buttons too on other forums a fellow member game me a forum DIY name to help me with an emergency and in their posting box, it had a 'thanks' button too - I think thats a great idea.

The hotel reviews - I have posted mine on here and do feel that it appears to be a bit of a thankless task it seems folks don't take the trouble to look anymore and on TA there are more reviewers, however I have noticed they do have their fair share of one line reviews that manage to get through - their forums are not IMHO as friendly as ours - although I do find it a bit frustrating at times when you go to trouble of posting and then you see your post has been viewed by a billion people but not one person has said replied. Now I know not everyone will or does have an answer/or opinion but it does put you off a little on posting.

Alsacienne wrote:

And Holidays Uncovered seems to have gone a bit strange as well

That too was bought out by you know who I believe

Well, I have finally managed to do one review, but when I looked down the list of accommodation there are only a couple listed out of the 15 places I have stayed at in the last 2 years, so that would explain why I haven't done any others.

Athensfan wrote:

Well, I have finally managed to do one review, but when I looked down the list of accommodation there are only a couple listed out of the 15 places I have stayed at in the last 2 years, so that would explain why I haven't done any others.

Let the mods know the name and location of the hotel and they will add it. Then you can be the first to leave a review

Well, I have finally managed to do one review, but when I looked down the list of accommodation there are only a couple listed out of the 15 places I have stayed at in the last 2 years, so that would explain why I haven't done any others.

Hi Athensfan

As already mentioned if you do find something that needs added / deleted or amended please don't keep it to yourself, there is nothing we can do if we are not made aware of changes or additions required, please let us know in this long established & dedicated topic and we will gladly add a hotel for you to review http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=55170

Graham

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

Alsacienne wrote:

And Holidays Uncovered seems to have gone a bit strange as well

That too was bought out by you know who I believe ;)

OMG thats a bit scary really. Wonder if they have ever approached Van to buy us out ?

It does make you wonder. I am sure there are independant reviews on the other sites but how on earth do you know which ones are independant.

I found this site due to my dad about 9/10 years ago. I was only a teen at the time and eventually signed up a few years ago. I don't think my dad uses it now though.

I always come here for advise, even when friends tell me they have booked to go to so and so a place I come here to look around.

I know a good bit about Costa Brava as does Cider Monster (he hasn't been on a while) so I could try help out there.

Helen

I have put in a request for 5 properties to be added so I can submit reviews, I will do them as soon as I can!

All added for you
Graham

My offer stands to help clean up the HR Florida site and it seems others happy to pitch in to cover other destinations. If we are to do something to tidy them up, it would be helpful to have in an easy (excel) format as scrolling through long lists is not very productive.

1. Personally I think to spring clean it would be best to clear off all that are set up but don't have any reviews.

2. Why not also remove all that have not had a review for say the past two years? I clicked on one as I didn't believe it still existed under its name and it last was reviewed on 2004. Would anyone take on board those posters comments from that long ago and book a holiday there?

3. I still stand by my comment that resort order would be better than hotel alphabetical order.

I just had a quick glance at Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Just those areas need the following changes;.

Best Western Plaza International - changed name to the Econolodge International Drive last year. Changed
Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista - now the Clarion Lake Buena Vista Changed
Doubletree Club Lake Buena Vista changed name about three years ago. Unsure of new name. Removed

Grosvenor Resort Lake Buena Vista changed its name to Regal Sun (there is another posting for that one as well) - now changed name again to the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista.Gosvenor removed Wyndham added
Holiday Inn International Drive - now called the International Palms Resort
Holiday Inn Nikki Bird closed four years ago. Opened as an Extended Stay type property. I don't think any UK customers likely to travel there.
Orange Lakes - now called Holiday Inn Vacation Club at Orange Lakes
Orlando Grand Plaza - closed. Rebuilt and opened as Coco Cay Water Resort. Hotel not as it was before.
Regal Palms - see previous comments for Grosvenor Resort.
Rodeway Inn International Drive - now called Rosen Inn International Drive
Sheraton World - has not been that for years. Currently the Doubletree Orlando resort.
Sheraton Yankee Trader - closed, remodelled and now the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach
Travelodge International Drive, 5859 America Way - now the Blue Palm
Villager Premier - closed two years ago. Building still stands but empty and boarded up.
Walt Disney Dolphin - correct but you also have a entry for Walt Disney Swan. Two hotels, one complex, the WDW Swan and the WDW Dolphin. Share many facilities.
Wynfield Inn Orlando - the old name before the Villager Premier. See previous note as closed.

I don't think this will work piece-meal. Do the Mod's want to decide on the best approach and enlist help from members? Let's either do it properly or not at all. My fear with the latter is the Review site won't really work for the reasons previously mentioned.

Anyway - Happy New Year.

Hi,

Some great ideas and thanks for the offer of help.

I'l look into the ideas more tomorrow when the world gets back to normality and will contact those who have offered assistance personally.

Keep the ideas coming...

You can also find us on twitter @holidaytruths

Van

I think HT TV has been a good addition however I don't think it is particularly user friendly.
It maybe easier said than done but I think it would be great if there was a link from the Hotel and Resort review that would bring up all the photos and media that had been posted by members who have stayed there.

Traveller all above hotels sorted. Either deleted, name changed or new hotel added. I tried to edit post for each hotel explaining what had been done but the page kept jumping.

Thank you for your time

I'm thinking maybe a sticky thread in each forum maybe the answer with volunteers coming forward to assist in each destination.

Without making things complicated but whilst we all have our own personal views about the facilities in hotels, I wonder if if we could not devise some simple check list. Things we find unimportant to ourselves may be otherwise to someone else. My wife always asks if their is a haidryer. Strange as it may seem I have stayed at hotels where it has been provided but does not mention it in the brochure. Another hotel the safe was inj the reception area. The brochure simply said that they were available at a local extra cost. Silly little things I know but useful information.

fwh

As much as I enjoy using this site and reading the forums, TA is usually my first port of call when checking out a hotel but that's just because I enjoy looking at the photos people post up aswell as reading reviews. I am not impressed by the glossy brochure pictures anymore because every hotel looks wonderful in it. I prefer to scan through the 'typical family' photos and like to get an idea what the hotel bathrooms are really like, the pool on a busy day etc. So I think Nick made a good point if the reviews and photos could be linked in some way on here too that would be a really good feature.

I do like the set up of the Hotel Review section on here because it is simple and easy to use. I always return the favour and post a review on my return as I'd like to think I was helping others the same way it did me when researching a holiday.

Long live Holiday Truths!

Thanks everyone for your input.

I have discussed in the past, with Van re making the hotel photo's accessible from the hotel review site but am not sure if it was possible or not Maybe Van will clarify when he pops back into this thread.

Some excellent ideas here. I particularly like FWH's idea of a checklist. I often wonder whether the hotel provides a hairdryer, iron, safe etc so I'm sure a simple checklist that would be easy to find would benefit lots of people.

BTW, I volunteer to help with some of the Greek Islands to start with.