Deciding on a place to stay for your travels, can be
hit-or-miss. Throughout the years, I
have had several misses. I recall a trip
to Paris in 1999, when the hotel I reserved was made up of three oddly-connected
buildings, with a hodge-podge of rooms. Our first room had a kitchen (which we
didn’t like at all), and shag carpet (which we also didn’t like). We were placed in another room, with a queen
bed, and two sets of bunk beds. My
husband, daughter, and I spent our first day in Paris looking for another
hotel! How could I have been so mistaken
about the images, and features listed for this hotel?
The hotel industry is just that, an industry, and travelers
should beware of the content, including professional images, listed on a
hotel’s website. A hotel may stage one
room, the lobby, and a portion of the exterior; they may exaggerate the features
and amenities, to many unsuspecting travellers.
However, throughout the years, travellers have provided comments to
sites, expressing their experiences at various properties, and often include
images. This is invaluable!
Trip Advisor is my main go-to site for hotel reviews, by
travellers. I’ve relied on its
user-driven content since its inception, in 2001. However, in the 15 years that I’ve used
TripAdvisor, I have seen it become more corporate driven. The travellers’ reviews are structured
differently, and travellers’ photos are less prominent, and require a little
more effort to access. I’ve noticed that
many of these sites, such as VirtualTourist, SeatGuru, Oyster, and Viator, are
now owned by TripAdvisor, Inc. Still, these sites are worth the effort.
A final note of caution: because travellers are using
travellers’ reviews to make informed decisions, there are bogus reviews to decipher. I tend to discount travellers who’ve recently
joined and made one contribution, which is either extremely good or bad. I do tend to consider travellers who are
long-time members, who’ve made a number of contributions, pointing out pros and
cons in their reviews. So, now I have to
research the reviewer, but better safe than sorry.
To check out these sites before traveling:
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