Do you use TripAdvisor or other review sites?

Oh man I hate tripadvisor. It pops up for almost every travel query I enter. Not that the info it provides are not good. I don't know, I just don't like the site. What I do when planning a trip and doing my research is to look for personal blogs. Most of the time, you'll get "honest" reviews and recommendations from the blogger, whereas review sites usually just say all positive things even that's not the case in reality.

 

primalclaws1974! I am also a traveler and I always remain in the search of the new sights regarding to the travelling. According to me the Trip Advisor is the best website which provides the actual reviews of the visitors. I like to use it before going to anywhere.

 

I do use it for referencing, but it is important to use multiple sources of information as some of it could be outdated or inaccurate. I always borrow a guidebook as well before travelling. The best option in my opinion is to ask local friends to show you around, if you have any

 

I use TripAdvisor and contribute to it whenever I travel. I am cautious about the reviews, but generally it can give you an insight to things. I do like the genuine photos because they do help and also tips like how far away things are, things that the hotel don't think are important. For example, all hotels assume you will drive there and don't give you directions from local public transport or if there is any. These are the things you find in reviews. I stay away from the ones that are too long, as a review should highlight points and isn't a platform to complain.

 

I don't use TripAdvisor to plan for trips. I use it to check out what is happening. Some of my friends are writing reviews for TripAdvisor and they appear to be very active. That is why I do check TripAdvisor for the trends. It does take up some time to browse and follow the directions from the website. Reviews are plenty and I mean up to thousands of them are available from the website. I usually pair it up with Yelp! Since Yelp provides reviews of businesses, restaurants, and it has recently gone international. It's an exciting time to be planning.

 

Yes, I use TripAdvisor to read through reviews, but I don't really use it for booking because their prices are obviously more expensive than when I do the booking directly from the website of the hostel or hotel I want to stay in. During my trip to Singapore, I did exactly what I just told you here. First, I browsed through TripAdvisor reviews and looked for the right hostel. I found one and went directly to the website. I did the booking there. As far as accommodations were concerned, everything went smoothly. I go to hostel.com or airbnb.com to read other reviews.

 

xTinx ! You are absolutely right TripAdvisor is costly then the other booking sites. I also often read the tourists views on it but prefer for booking to hostel.com because I found it much reliable and useful. But I never consult the airbnb.com.
Next time I will check this site too.. Kind regards!!

 

Yap! Absolutely right roki123! Being a traveler I used to book many online tours. And for my personal satisfaction I do use to check reviews and details about different places, hotels and other area details. I must say some sites are working really appreciable. I have taken benefits from Trip adviser many times and also from GBT site. They do advise me in a good way....

 

I like TripAdvisor but like some people have said, it's best used as a guide and not taken as the absolute truth. It's a great platform for people to give their honest reviews, but sadly some people see it as a tool to slag off and tarnish service providers. What annoys me is that some of these people can't be bothered to remain civil in airing their grievances, but then again some people can never be pleased.

I saw this documentary that focused on these self appointed "professional TripAdvisor reviewers", and I was so appalled at the way they behaved. They went so far as to plant things like strands of hair in their bed to trip up the hotel they were staying at. -and then slagged them off for having missed the hair when their bed was being made!! I mean, just spiteful. Then there was one who wasn't happy about the street light streaming into his room as the curtain was too flimsy, but rather than speak with management he went on TripAdvisor to moan about this?!?

Whatever you read there won't always be accurate, so I also like to speak to actual people, find more review sites and then make an informed decision.

 

yeah i am totally agreed with you! While we are looking for a online tour or searching for a place to stay, we should be more careful and check outs more then one sites reviews info. so make sure guys! Be careful and stay safe and happy....

 

I believe that using this website is really not worth it. I think it is not really easy to believe one these websites very easily as you never know who exactly have written the comments. JHence I always prefer to get all the information from real people by talking to them. I prefer it that way and I believe one should not worry about anything else.

 

Yeah akiii! that's true that all reviews or site comments are not trust able. But it doesn't mean that all would be wrong. I mean there is some good sites, you could trust on them.

I also prefer to meet or to talk with the peoples how personally explored my desired destinations. Because that is one of best ways for getting massive and accurate knowledge about any region or state. But it is not possible for me to find such people around me whole the time who visited already to my next destinations. That's why i joined this community for sharing my and others info.

 

I haven't tried TripAdvisor, mainly because I haven't had a reason to. I have not been on a vacation in a long time. Whenever I want to try out something new, whether it be a restaurant, or a store, even a coffee shop, I try to find it on Yelp. If Yelp doesn't have anything on it, I look for something online and see if there are any reviews about where I want to go. I've found that I just don't like to make it a point to try out something new if I don't research it first. To me, even a little bit of research is better than none.

This thread has me seriously thinking about planning some type of vacation. That would be nice. Have to get the funds up first though.

 

I always look at TripAdvisor when I'm looking for hotels. It's not so much about the reviews for me (though I do read them), it's more about looking at the tourists' photos of the hotels and resorts. You get a better sense of how good or bad a hotel is by their amateur pictures than you do from an airbrushed professional portfolio.

 

Yeah i would really appreciate to your suggestions Onionman...!! I do prefer to check TripAdvisor's reviews and comments because i found it most beneficial for me. But i also prefer to stay where some one who closes to me, would be personally got any experiences. But if i haven't so i prefer to check about it's reputations and check different sites reviews or comments.

 

I definitely use TripAdvisor every time we're about to go to a new city to check out all the best attractions and things to do. For booking hotels I mostly just use booking.com, and then I might cross-reference one or two hotels that I liked on TripAdvisor to see the ratings and reviews. It's definitely a great tool and has helped me a lot over the years!

 

Yeah I will use trip adviser just for user reviews, and especially for places I am unfamiliar with. I also use other booking sites to compare reviews. I knew want people to tell me I under-planned! I find trip adviser most useful for hotels. There is nothing worse then planning your trip and then arrive at a dirty rundown hotel because you didn't research thoroughly.

 

Yes, definitely. Research is a very important part from traveling and it has saved me a lot of trouble. This type of sites are an amazing resource and a completely recommend them, specially TripAdvisor