Trip Advisor Review

We have a love hate relationship with Trip Advisor. As owners of a resort we live in fear of those hard to please people who feel the need to pile on their crankiness with no regard to the harm caused to a small business. What we do appreciate are the people who take the time to post constructive reviews of lodging facilities, ours or others.

Rule of thumb: 
Ignore half of the negative reviews and about a third of the positive ones.

Assume that at least half of the negatives are based on traveler's expectations that were out of line with their choice of property. Then assume that at least a third of the positives are from friends of the property owners, even though that is officially against the website's rules.

How do you tell the difference to help you find your perfect Travel Happy lodging facility? Look for harsh language in the negatives and little or no constructive advice. Read any owner's responses to the negatives. Often they provide insight into the reality of the situation. Oddly, length of the review can provide a clue to its authenticity. Really long negatives with no positive comments are often written with people who have an ax to grind. Conversely, long positives are most likely the genuine thing, especially if they contain words like, "the only thing that would be better..." or "almost perfect..."

Can you use Trip Advisor to benefit you?
The absolute best way to use Trip Advisor is to find places that you might miss otherwise. Search your destination on the site to find B&B's, small inns, and non-chain lodging options. Look for properties that have predominately positive reviews, then dig deeper by finding the property's own website. Trip Advisor charges fees to the properties for linking their review listing to the property's site so you may not find a direct link; it may require a Google search.

The bottom line is to keep in mind that review sites thrive on train-wreck reviews that get spread around the Internet and that the people most likely to take the time to post are Unhappy Travelers.