Tripadvisor reviews

Tripadvisor can be very misleading as far as ski resorts go, because it will only feed back on those places that subscribe to their advertising programme. In the resort where we have our small holiday apartment, TripAdvisor shows less than 5% of the actual accomodation that's available. The only reviews are for those chalets and the few privately-owned apartments that subscribe. And as you point out, even those aren't very consistent. An acquaintance of ours fed back on our apartment, as they enjoyed their stay a lot, and their review has never appeared. That's when I discovered the issue.

taking all on board that has been said I must confess that I find tripadvisor mildly addictive :)

I'm loathe to put much store in what TA says to be honest: as a nation we Brits are more disposed to speak out about (perceived)bad experiences than to praise good ones so TA is, inherently, biased in a bad way

As people have said you need a good number of reviews to get a meaningful sample but, IMHO, you'll still get a higher percentage of people who had a problem make a comment than those who didnt so the view will be skewed

I've just returned from a work trip to Arizona and the hotel, conference centre and the golf course all got very mixed reviews from the US citizens but we Brits who were there all loved it!

There is the lesson with TA. Don't take anything seriously written by an American.

andyoneil wrote:I'm loathe to put much store in what TA says to be honest: as a nation we Brits are more disposed to speak out about (perceived)bad experiences than to praise good ones so TA is, inherently, biased in a bad way

As people have said you need a good number of reviews to get a meaningful sample but, IMHO, you'll still get a higher percentage of people who had a problem make a comment than those who didnt so the view will be skewed

I've just returned from a work trip to Arizona and the hotel, conference centre and the golf course all got very mixed reviews from the US citizens but we Brits who were there all loved it!

Not sure I totally agree with this Andy. I've left 4 reviews so far, 3 excellent (5 out 5) and 1 poor (2 out of 5). One of the reviews was for a B&B in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Just checked and they have 86 reviews, all of them being 5 out of 5.

We are returning to the same Ski Bonjour chalet in Val d'Isere this coming season (Bivouac). They also are highly rated with 24 of the 25 reviews being 5 out of 5.

Actually, this has just reminded me that I need to leave a review for a dreadful night in a Brighton hotel from last year!

fair enough BB but I did say that we are "more disposed" to comment on bad - not that we are exclusively doing so

the review I'll be writing of BA after getting me stuck in Arizona for an additional 24 hours will be a case in point.....

I give reviews on TA..I try to be fair and objective..I use it myself and if I can't leave a fair review how can I be informed by others opinions...Usually you get an objective picture the more reviews there are...check mine out ..they're under N3DSD

It sounds like there are a few consistent opinions here

1. Take it with a piece of salt remembering that everyone shares bad experiences rather than good. Remember the saying, one person will tell 5 people of their bad experience but maybe only 2 or 3 of a good experience. Bear that in mind when looking at reviews

2. Look at the number of responses. If somewhere has 2 out of 5 stars with 10 responses may be different to a place with 2 out of 5 with 150 responses.

3. Look at visitor photographs rather than 'official'.

4. Read between the lines

5. If you fancy it, go there. You are an individual. Use it to help your decision, not MAKE your decision ;)