Can we trust hotel/R.V. Park reviews on TripAdvisor? For Sounds of the Sea R.V. Park and Cabins.
TripAdvisor, the popular hotel review site, which in theory is a gold mine for shared information, boasts some 25 million views a month, and although it isn't responsible for writing positive reviews to promote any one property, its messy, user-generated system is increasingly under fire for fomenting propaganda.
To the site's watchdogs, which include Arthur Frommer and BeatofHawaii.com, it was like an admission of guilt. TripAdvisor, they allege, has fallen victim to desperately self-promoting hotels (RV PARKS?) that have successfully learned to pad the reviews, trashing the purpose of the whole site.
Last summer, I gave my advice about how to interpret user-review sites such as TripAdvisor, and the Web site's defense has done nothing to change my prescription, so here it is again. My advice boils down to learning how to read between the lines:
Read as many reviews for a given place as you can and ignore the most glowing and most angry postings, which could be either from the owners or their rivals.
If an entry reads like it was written by a PR person (vaguely ecstatic, wording that sounds like a brochure, details no normal guest would notice), it just might have been. Sometimes, fake reviews will toss a few minor complaints in to lend credence. Likewise, the more professional a photo looks, the less trustworthy it becomes.
Post regular reviews of your own on the sites you like. The more people post, the more the sites' phony write-ups will be diluted, and the more useful the databases become.
For some destinations with legions of fans, like Walt Disney World, read carefully
to determine whether the reviewer is truly appraising or unduly starry-eyed.
If a hotel's management consistently responds to negative reviews, take it as a promising sign that testifies to their attention to service.
Always consider the source and account for cultural differences. For example, American tourists frequently complain bitterly about the small hotel rooms in Europe. That doesn't mean the hotel's bad. Don't reach conclusions — either positive or negative — about places with only a few reviews.
If possible, temper your findings with write-ups from a newspaper or guide book, but remember that most publications only publish recommendations and they won't even bother printing a hotel listing if the review would be awful.
Http://www.walletpop.com/blog/06/23/is-tripadvisor-com-one-big-joke/
If websites like TripAdvisor are riddled with fake reviews, where will the traveler
Go for authentic advice, asks Charles Starmer-Smith.
Http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/7129475/Can-we-trust-hotel-reviews-on-TripAdvisor.html
THEY PREFER THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAT THEY GET MORE HITS FROM THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS,
http://www.travelchatforum.com/suggest-new-forum/16968-tripadvisor-reviews-verified.html
Is Trip Advisor paying for bad reviews?
Http://www.travelblog.org/Topics/12462-11.html
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