How valid are hotel reviews ?????

[NKG6002]

I went to a hotel review another review site after booking my hotel based on the reviews on a previous site...just out oif curiosity and too much free time on my hands..lol. It's absolutely mind boggling to see the extreme range of reviews on the same hotel, ranging from beautiful,clean rooms to the need for EXTREME refubishing,bugs and black rings around the toilet. I know everyone has their own expectations of quality but the ranges are so extreme that it almost seems sleeping in your car is the better bet. I have seen marked differences of opinions on the ship I am booked on but not as extreme as the hotel reviews. Thoughts ?

[Wennfred]

I never read reviews, I usually stick with the major companies that I have experienced in the past, for example, Hilton, Hyatt, wyndham, Residences, Hamptons, Marriott, Courtyard, Fairfield, Renaissance, Holiday Inn and even Best Westerns etc.

 

With those I posted you can't go wrong.

 

 

Fred

[NKG6002]

I understand your thinking but have seen some pretty bad reviews on some of the hotels in those chains.....a poster on this board recently said she booked at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami and later found bad reviews on it. I think that's what prompted me to look a little further than the first review board I went to and then booked...the second board had the extreme ranges on reviews.

 

I know people have the tendency to be sure to report negative findings on any service and not enough on positive ones but the negative ones really had me shocked.

[Wennfred]

I understand your thinking but have seen some pretty bad reviews on some of the hotels in those chains.....a poster on this board recently said she booked at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami and later found bad reviews on it. I think that's what prompted me to look a little further than the first review board I went to and then booked...the second board had the extreme ranges on reviews.

 

I know people have the tendency to be sure to report negative findings on any service and not enough on positive ones but the negative ones really had me shocked.

 

If you kept up with my Valor and Freedom reviews, both have Live from the Holiday Inn thread on here and with pictures. We love the Holiday Inn for many reasons, nice clean rooms, good customer service, McDonalds right behind it, Bayside Market right across the street, very close to the Cruise Terminal and South Beach and Free Internet WIFI. So what it doesnt have an award winning pool, but I don't go to hotels for pools unless its a Sandals or a Club Med or something like that.

 

Thats why I stay away from Hotel Reviews, if I followed what they said about the Holiday Inn, I would miss out on everything I posted above.

 

Just like those people that write reviews about the ship, if they see a stain in the carpet Look Out LOL.

 

 

 

Fred

[fireofficer5]

When reading reviews, you have to read them all. Even the worst reviews have some facts that are true.

[momofzeke]

I take hotel reviews the same way I do cruise ship reviews ~ with a very LARGE grain of salt! I do read reviews, but I have stayed in several hotels that got scathingly bad reviews and I thought they were ok.

 

Like Fred, I also stayed at Holiday Inn Port of Miami. We stayed there less than a month ago for our Valor cruise. It was perfectly fine. If you join their Priority Club (you can do it online), you will most likely get a room with a view of the port so you can see your ship the morning of your cruise.

 

Our room was clean and comfortable. Not the fanciest room I've ever seen, but perfectly fine. Being so close to the cruise terminal was great, and the Bayside Marketplace is a nice place to spend some time. We ate at Bubba Gumps and that was fun and good.

 

Unless you are expecting an upscale hotel experience, I don't think you'll be disappointed with H. I. POM. Good luck! :)

[CRUZBUDS]

Hotel reviews are as valid as ship reviews - You have to read a bunch and then do your best to sort out the B.S.

 

We've all read ship reviews where the author has a chip on the shoulder from the start. Those I usually don't give much credence to.

 

I remember a ship review where the author rated a ship as one star then proceeded to rant for several paragraphs about how the cruise line messed up his air travel. He didn't even mention the cruise!

 

I stayed at several hotels that had mixed reviews - just look at what the other folks found not to their liking.

 

We had one in the Gaslamp area of San Diego. One person's compliant was too much noise at night from the party atmosophere on the street. Since we were planning on partying - that was OK with us!

 

Good luck!

[Wennfred]

When reading reviews, you have to read them all. Even the worst reviews have some facts that are true.

 

Very True, but when you book a High End hotel, lets say like a Hyatt, you expect a very nice hotel with great accommodations because of its name and track record, on the other hand if you book a Motel 6, you should know what you're getting into.

 

 

 

Fred

[Wennfred]

We had one in the Gaslamp area of San Diego!

 

Hi Neighbor, Its good seeing more San Dieagans on here every day.

 

 

 

Fred

[Sirwinston]

Reviews are OPINIONS... If someone always stays at the Ritz anywhere else is the Pitz...

I used to worry about reviews of where I worked until I realized that is all ship/ Hotels that get completly varied review. I read them more to find out about features or not missing out on something. Like what Fred said about the Holiday Inn...

I also have known about travel writers trashing a place because they were not compted a suite, or raving just because the ship was old or classic....while overlooking many shortfalls (Regal Empress), that would be deal breakers for most travelers.

Also it is possible to randomly get either the best or worst a place has to offer. The one surley front desk person, or the new waiter...

 

 

Tom in Long Beach

Who works on that haunted ship with the bad carpet....

A.K.A. rare woods, excellent food / service and Art deco splendor...

[Kurbanfan]

When reading reviews, you have to read them all. Even the worst reviews have some facts that are true.

 

I agree!

You just need to pick a few hotels you think you would like. Read all the reveiws and look at pictures. You will know if what bothers some will bother you or not. Like one poster said that a reviewer wrote that they didn't like the loud music. Well you might like to party and enjoy the music.

We will pick a couple well known hotel chains and take it from there.

For instance we have stayed at the Holiday Inn, Hyatt and Intercontinental hotel in downtown Miami. While all of them fit our needs. We prefer the Intercontinental hotel. Why? For the same price it was the best location, decor, and service. So I figure why spend the same amount of money for just a clean place to lay my head;) When the Intercontinental was superb in every aspect.

Good luck!!!

[Brenda Bell]

I like to read the reviews and do alot of search on hotels because the most important thing to me is CLEAN!!!!

Last year, there were 6 of us taking a cruise from Miami, and we wanted to stay together in the same room. I did my searching, this hotels had very bad and some good reviews. The Doubletree Point Resort Hotels turn out to be the best hotel I have stay at.

Just like cruzbud,sort out the bad from the good. I like to see if guests post pictures because i do not always go by the hotels pixs.

[flowerchild]

We travel frequently and I actively post my reviews, whether positive or negative. I also try to include as much pertinent info as possible; restaurants in vicinity, parking policy, potential problems, rooms to request, etc. I read reviews for the same information.

 

When I read a review, I try to read between the lines and gage the type of poster. Complainer? Unexperienced? Too vague? I choose which reviews I really pay attention to.

 

Take all opinions with a grain of salt, as others have said.

[OhioJeff]

Tripadvisor.com(they also own Cruise Critic) Is a great resource, but you just cant get to caught up in the opinions. When I read reviews Im more interested in what the hotel has to offer and its location.

 

One thing I have found to be true is people that pay full price, seem to be the biggest complainers. People that book with priceline or hotwire arent usually as negative.

 

One thing you can do is pick a hotel you have stayed at recently, then see what others said about it. That can make your head spin. Some are never happy regardless of the level of service they receive.

 

One thing I like about tripadvisor is the actual room photos, and at times you get some pre and post cruise reviews. They will outline what they did before or after the cruise and give details about taxi fare, distances and local spots.

[Name game]

Another thing to remember is that a lot of people who post reviews, do so as a complaint. Read all the reviews and take them with a grain of salt. Two people can stay at the same hotel and have very different opinions.

[DEL67]

I agree with OhiioJeff. I have found Tripadvisor to be an excellent source of reviews. There are few hotels that have no poor reviews, but after checking what they are complaining about to see if the compalints are meaningful to me, I tend to ignore one or 2 poor reviews if the majority are good.

 

I have used Tripadvisor reviews to choose hotels all over the world (US, Europe, Australia, China) and I have never been unhappy with my choice!

[allgeeteredup]

You know the most important thing to me is that the bed linens are clean and there are no roaches in the room. Unfortunately, in Galveston that can be an issue due to it being Texas and the big water bugs. If I can get away with an inexpensive room and a clean room, I am one happy camper. If I want to stay at the Ritz, I wouldn't be worried about reviews. I read them and then realize that the ones who leave the bad reviews are the exception as most people don't leave reviews. We don't and we have stayed in many, many hotels. Usually when you are displeased, you look for any way to let that be known and leaving a bad review is a really good way. JMHO.

[Cruise, J.D.]

There is an art to sifting through the BS of reviews. :)

 

I look for moderate language and facts in a review before assigning credibility - too effusive praise, likely shill; too effusive anger, likely chip-on-the-shoulder.

 

I value facts over opinion. Opinions are fine, but state the facts you relied upon to form the opinion. That way, I can draw my own opinion. "The hotel was terrible and customer service sucked" doesn't help me much.

 

A lot of times, the negative reviews will not have much relevance to your situation or the reviewer seizes upon one bad experience that taints the entire review. OTOH, the shill reviews read more like a marketing pitch than an objective review.

[SpacemanSpiff]

There is an art to sifting through the BS of reviews. :)

 

I look for moderate language and facts in a review before assigning credibility - too effusive praise, likely shill; too effusive anger, likely chip-on-the-shoulder.

 

Very true. Sometimes (hopefully not too often) negative ones come from competitors. I found this out last year when looking at hotels for a night in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I started looking at reviews of a series of hotels, and noticed similarities. Turned out about half a dozen hotels had what appeared to be a cut-and-paste negative review from the same person. The only thing changed was the hotel name!

 

OTOH, pictures can be worth a thousand words. A few years ago we'd booked a hotel in LA, but after reading a review where the guy had actually posted pictures of problems with the room (major water and mold issues primarily) in a hotel that had be refurbished the year prior caused us to rethink our plans.

[maxamuus]

Reviews are just someones opinion.

Ask who should be the next President of the Unites States and why.

How many opinions do you think you would get? Which one is right ?

[sassy0930]

I agree with an above poster who says read what was wrong to them. Most of the time they will have nothing to do with your trip, or it's not something that will bug you.

 

For example, if a poster says that the hotel is in ill repair and the paint it faded and the carpet is wron, blah blah blah... I just say I don't care. Does it have a bed??!!!

 

There were bars on the windows, it was in a scary place... I say thank goodness those bars are there. They recognize there's a danger so I'll lock my door and not go out by myself.

 

The neighbors were partying on spring break... DUH!!!!

 

You just have to know what you care about and if the posters concerns would be the same as yours. I know I'll see roaches, it's florida.

[Kurbanfan]

I agree with an above poster who says read what was wrong to them. Most of the time they will have nothing to do with your trip, or it's not something that will bug you.

 

For example, if a poster says that the hotel is in ill repair and the paint it faded and the carpet is wron, blah blah blah... I just say I don't care. Does it have a bed??!!!

 

There were bars on the windows, it was in a scary place... I say thank goodness those bars are there. They recognize there's a danger so I'll lock my door and not go out by myself.

 

The neighbors were partying on spring break... DUH!!!!

 

You just have to know what you care about and if the posters concerns would be the same as yours. I know I'll see roaches, it's florida.

 

See this is great about doing research. Because just from reading your post.......the things that don't bother you would bother me:)

[OhioJeff]

See this is great about doing research. Because just from reading your post.......the things that don't bother you would bother me:)

 

I was thinking the same thing..If someone wrote they stayed at a hotel with bars on the windows:eek:....well I would be looking at other options.

[gazingm42]

One thing to remember on reviews. Is folks normally only post a review

most of the time when they need to vent. The normal population doesn't

post a hotel review because they had a great stay, unless your a CC and have

too much time waiting for your next cruise.

 

So I do read the reviews and take it with a grain of salt. If you read 20 reviews

and 18 are good. You get some high foo foo traveler who did have a mint

on their pillow in the morning. So they post a review thinking its hurting the

hotel.

 

I have stayed a hotels for work for several times. But read the reviews on how

bad they rooms, area, etc, etc is by just a few. But staying at the hotel I know

just how the hotel is. So don't get too worked up on the hotel reviews.

[Kurbanfan]

I was thinking the same thing..If someone wrote they stayed at a hotel with bars on the windows:eek:....well I would be looking at other options.

 

LOL! Seriously I would be rethinking my budget:D