What is the truth; does Tripadvisor offer sound advice or a useless load of personal opinion, sour grapes and even mischief making?
One thing we do know for sure is Trip advisor really is a very contentious subject in the travel and restaurant industry. People spend hours upon hours searching out the ‘best’ hotels or restaurants in their chosen destination only to find a completely different scenario when they arrive there!
Here are just few examples of how opinions can differ quite dramatically from one person to the next…
Along with my wife and mother in law, this week I visited the brand new D Bruno´s Restaurant on the Mijas Road in Fuengirola, Spain. I loved it. It was very spacious, very well presented, attentive staff, excellent food…What’s not to like? My wife and mother in law hated it. ‘It’s like a barn, too impersonal, not enough privacy , staff far too pushy forcing the wine down us, too expensive and food nothing to write home about…never going there again.’ Hmm, not quite the same opinion then!
We recently took a family holiday to Cape Verde and stayed in the Riu Funana hotel in Sal. The family loved it. They thought the huge buffet was wonderful with a fantastic selection, the evening entertainment and audience participation was just a bit of fun, what’s not to like? I hated it. Get me out of here! The buffet was just a cattle market hundreds of folks milling around and banging into me and spilling my drink. There was no peace or subtlety at all. The entertainment was cringe worthy and intrusive. I won’t be returning!
Clients stay in our villas and thank goodness, most of the time they love it. The sun shines, they have their own loungers, their very own pool, it’s all fantastic.
Then it rains. Suddenly it’s all change – ‘The villa is dirty, it was when we arrived, we just didn´t mention it at the time, dad has fallen out with uncle John and the kids are crying…we are going to need compensation for this nightmare of a holiday and if you don´t pay up we are going to write to Trip Advisor.’ It’s amazing how people’s perceptions of their surroundings can change so dramatically depending on outside factors such as weather and who they are holidaying with!
At the end of the day Tripadvisor is just a collection of opinions. There is no right or wrong reviews as we are all different. It is also true to say that people are generally quicker to write a review when they have been unhappy than when they have had a fantastic time as people like to vent their anger! It can be a valuable tool but it can also ruin peoples businesses based on a few poor reviews. My view on it- trust your instincts, speak to the agent before you book and ask as many questions as you like. Think about what you want from your accommodation and see if the listing appears to tick most of these boxes. Most of all…take Tripadvisor reviews with a pinch of salt because the TRUTH IS, THERE IS NO TRUTH…ONLY OPINIONS. We are, after all, all different.
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