Travel websites
Discussion
This thread has been prompted by Ari’s thread (Where do you search for hotels) I'm interested in how much you rely on sites such as trip advisor.
This summer, Mrs. DG3 and I spent 15 days in Vietnam, and these sites proved a good resource. However, I noticed the following
Ranking does favour expat run establishments, by nature many will seek out places they are familiar with.
These sites can make or break an establishment, business owners seemed genuinely concerned about the effect such sites can have on their ventures. At one place I was asked if I enjoyed my food, “not really” the owner became very defensive, but this was a dam good restaurant, which I ate at several times, I just didn’t like the way they cooked ribs.
For a new business it can be difficult get on the ranking table as many will just go to the top rated establishments, especially overseas, thus leaving new businesses facing an uphill struggle.
How accurate are they, a few examples, ranked 2nd in the city an expat owned Tapas restaurant, good, but by no stretch of the imagination number 2, However, bier garden type place not even on trip Advisor, outstanding Vietnamese food.
Best budget hotel ranked 1st, old décor, no lift, dimly lit basic rooms. However, the staff spoke excellent English. Following morning went for a walk, found a hotel for the same price, modern, clean, nice room and a decent pool. The staff, however, spoke limited English, I booked 5 nights, this establishment was much better on so many levels.
If anyone on here is in the hospitality business, how do you view such sites?
PH in general, how much do you rely on these sites and do you have experiences where ranking has left you disappointed or exceeded your expectations?
This summer, Mrs. DG3 and I spent 15 days in Vietnam, and these sites proved a good resource. However, I noticed the following
Ranking does favour expat run establishments, by nature many will seek out places they are familiar with.
These sites can make or break an establishment, business owners seemed genuinely concerned about the effect such sites can have on their ventures. At one place I was asked if I enjoyed my food, “not really” the owner became very defensive, but this was a dam good restaurant, which I ate at several times, I just didn’t like the way they cooked ribs.
For a new business it can be difficult get on the ranking table as many will just go to the top rated establishments, especially overseas, thus leaving new businesses facing an uphill struggle.
How accurate are they, a few examples, ranked 2nd in the city an expat owned Tapas restaurant, good, but by no stretch of the imagination number 2, However, bier garden type place not even on trip Advisor, outstanding Vietnamese food.
Best budget hotel ranked 1st, old décor, no lift, dimly lit basic rooms. However, the staff spoke excellent English. Following morning went for a walk, found a hotel for the same price, modern, clean, nice room and a decent pool. The staff, however, spoke limited English, I booked 5 nights, this establishment was much better on so many levels.
If anyone on here is in the hospitality business, how do you view such sites?
PH in general, how much do you rely on these sites and do you have experiences where ranking has left you disappointed or exceeded your expectations?
You've confused me a little, personally this is how I book hotels, if in the UK or abroad.
I search on a website like Trivargo, filter to 3/4/5 star, 2 miles of destination, and then sort by price low to high, for example.
Find one I like the look of at a reasonable price, plumb the hotel name into Google, have a look at trip advisor, if it has good reviews, I book it, the number of reviews (within reason) doesn’t matter.
So I don’t see how trip advisor can "favour" a ex-pat run place and how this will impact me booking somewhere.
I search on a website like Trivargo, filter to 3/4/5 star, 2 miles of destination, and then sort by price low to high, for example.
Find one I like the look of at a reasonable price, plumb the hotel name into Google, have a look at trip advisor, if it has good reviews, I book it, the number of reviews (within reason) doesn’t matter.
So I don’t see how trip advisor can "favour" a ex-pat run place and how this will impact me booking somewhere.
I don't use hotels because, every time I have, it is not the hotel itself but rather the other occupants who manage to wind me up.
Accordingly, I book apartments, through the various websites like House Trip, Clickstay, Holiday Lettings and so forth.
I used to rate and review some of the places I stayed at and rate them highly. Sadly, the reward for this was that, the following year, the price had gone up and someone else had booked the apartment, based on my cracking review. It has an irony to it...
As for TA reviews, I take them all with a pinch of salt and usually just go with local recommendations.
However, in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, for example, I went further away from the beach, to eat (usually cheaper) and found a very ordinary restaurant but the steaks were to die for - not even mentioned on TA - so I left it that way...
Accordingly, I book apartments, through the various websites like House Trip, Clickstay, Holiday Lettings and so forth.
I used to rate and review some of the places I stayed at and rate them highly. Sadly, the reward for this was that, the following year, the price had gone up and someone else had booked the apartment, based on my cracking review. It has an irony to it...
As for TA reviews, I take them all with a pinch of salt and usually just go with local recommendations.
However, in Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, for example, I went further away from the beach, to eat (usually cheaper) and found a very ordinary restaurant but the steaks were to die for - not even mentioned on TA - so I left it that way...
Edited by LuS1fer on Tuesday 27th September 20:13
I never use the ratings on tripadvisor; they seen easy to rig, and vulnerable to customers who obsess over random issues that wouldn't bother me. However, I do use their forums for advice from real people.
If I travel to Vietnam, I will book 3 nights at a midrange hotel with facilities I want on somewhere like Agoda, then book as I go along.
If I travel to Vietnam, I will book 3 nights at a midrange hotel with facilities I want on somewhere like Agoda, then book as I go along.
I use trip advisor a lot, I never look at the best rated but start looking at reviews around number 10, I ignore reviews from locals and usually look for well written comprehensive informative reviews. I must say we very rarely get a bad hotel/motel and think over the last 4 years have booked at least 100 places - we road trip a lot - with only 4 not coming up to the reviews or our standard. It is a great tool for finding exactly what you want and it is unusual to find people lying, some exaggerations maybe but it is easy to get a really good feel for a place.
I sue it for restaurants but this is a little harder as people's standards and tastes are very different - for example one of the best places to eat in Queenstown was a burger bar and several other places in NZ the fish and chip shops come out top. You just need to look for what you want!
I sue it for restaurants but this is a little harder as people's standards and tastes are very different - for example one of the best places to eat in Queenstown was a burger bar and several other places in NZ the fish and chip shops come out top. You just need to look for what you want!
I do understand what the op means about people favouring the ex pats, some of the places we have stayed in have been favoured that way.
I do look at reviews but mainly for the user pictures which sometimes gives a better understanding of the hotel or restaurants. One of the places we go to a number of times is playa blanca in Lanzarote, there is an English run place which used to be very good - yes it was like being in the uk but the burgers were very very good, it's changed hands and it's not so good now, it does seem a lot of the recent reviews seem fake in that they are always praising the family rather than the food. Oh and the other annoyance people rating restaurants without actually eating there just having a drink.
We are looking at going back to melonoras soon, we stayed in the loespan Costa melonoras
I do look at reviews but mainly for the user pictures which sometimes gives a better understanding of the hotel or restaurants. One of the places we go to a number of times is playa blanca in Lanzarote, there is an English run place which used to be very good - yes it was like being in the uk but the burgers were very very good, it's changed hands and it's not so good now, it does seem a lot of the recent reviews seem fake in that they are always praising the family rather than the food. Oh and the other annoyance people rating restaurants without actually eating there just having a drink.
We are looking at going back to melonoras soon, we stayed in the loespan Costa melonoras
Sidekickdmr commented
“So I don’t see how trip advisor can "favour" a ex-pat run place and how this will impact me booking somewhere”
My apologies, terminology used was a bit vague.
When English speaking people are abroad in some of the more exotic locations’ they may tend to go somewhere they are more familiar with in terms of what is on offer and ease of communication. Therefore, such establishment will receive more reviews, therefore a higher rating. A start-up or local restaurant may be just as good or superior, but will remain on page whatever, because, they don’t get the exposure.
luS1fer, commented
I used to rate and review some of the places I stayed at and rate them highly. Sadly, the reward for this was that, the following year, the price had gone up and someone else had booked the apartment, based on my cracking review. It has an irony to it...
I completely agree with you, shooting oneself in the foot. Previously thought I use the resource, so should contribute, my thinking is now changing.
Thank you everyone for your contributions
“So I don’t see how trip advisor can "favour" a ex-pat run place and how this will impact me booking somewhere”
My apologies, terminology used was a bit vague.
When English speaking people are abroad in some of the more exotic locations’ they may tend to go somewhere they are more familiar with in terms of what is on offer and ease of communication. Therefore, such establishment will receive more reviews, therefore a higher rating. A start-up or local restaurant may be just as good or superior, but will remain on page whatever, because, they don’t get the exposure.
luS1fer, commented
I used to rate and review some of the places I stayed at and rate them highly. Sadly, the reward for this was that, the following year, the price had gone up and someone else had booked the apartment, based on my cracking review. It has an irony to it...
I completely agree with you, shooting oneself in the foot. Previously thought I use the resource, so should contribute, my thinking is now changing.
Thank you everyone for your contributions
deeen said:
I never use the ratings on tripadvisor; they seen easy to rig, and vulnerable to customers who obsess over random issues that wouldn't bother me. However, I do use their forums for advice from real people.
This is true.TA used to be reliable, but it's become the victim of its' own success as it's now too easy to game - a sort of review-specific SEO.
Shortlist a handful of hotels, then use the TA forum and search for comments about them - these are almost never rigged...
I'm not in hospitality but a friend of mine and his wife have run their own ski chalet in a well known French ski resort for about 10 years. Were doing well on trip advisor rankings (iabout 30 reviews , one 4 star all others 5 star), but then got one review giving them 1 star for everything, supposedly from someone who stayed six months prior. It was the user's only review and the name didn't tally with anyone who stayed then. Their assumption was that it was written by a competing chalet host. In the long commentary they picked out 3 'bad' things from the surrounding area eg 'a stinking farm is right next door.' There is indeed a farm next door, it doesn't stink but that bit is subjective. When they asked Tripadvisor if this could be removed the request was declined when it was established the facts are accurate. So the person lodging the review probably new exactly what they were doing.
Ranking moved from #1 to #7, they feel it does affect books given many people will work from top of list and only go as far as it takes to find availability. Also worth noting that they asked friends to write reviews to help restablish their ranking. That seems fair enough given what happened but there may be others doing that with no reasonable justification.
Ranking moved from #1 to #7, they feel it does affect books given many people will work from top of list and only go as far as it takes to find availability. Also worth noting that they asked friends to write reviews to help restablish their ranking. That seems fair enough given what happened but there may be others doing that with no reasonable justification.
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