Shame on you Mr Hook. Posting anonymous rave reviews of your own hotel chain while dissing the competition.
Hotel PR exec admits to posting 100 anonymous reviews on TripAdvisor
What is the world coming to? Does this mean we have to start being suspicious of what we read on the web? No – say it isn’t true. I rely on Mr Google for everything including self-diagnosis (drives my doctor crazy), driving distances and even a bit of snooping (don’t tell!). So now I am in a dilemma.
Tripadvisor is a pretty good tool. I always take the really bad comments and the really good comments with a pinch of salt and follow those somewhere in the middle. The sad thing is that it was only a matter of time before this supposedly unbiased website would fall victim to underhand marketers. Now I am wondering about the photos posted online. The huge difference between the professional photos and the travellers’ photos is sometimes astonishing. Is there a better source? It’s not complete (yet) but Oyster.com is a really good website. The photos are taken by professional photographers who are paid to portray all aspects of the hotels and resorts.
The last thing you want to see when you drive up your hotel is something like this….
The Travel Lady's Blog 
Hi, Leslie. I share your suspicions on some TripAdvisor reviews. I wrote one recemtly on B&B Cerrito, Isla Taboga Panama, properly recounting our stay. My handle on TA is Calgary68 and I have more than 70 reviews posted. Shortly after mine appeared, one from a first-time reviewer appeared, raving about the accommodation, staff, food, etc. Only a little suspicious…
Yes, we have to be wary, but TA remains a good source of information. We’re currently in Alicante Spain, working our way back to Paris by train and will have a number of new reviews that hopefully will help travellers. It’s fun to share our experiences, both good and bad.
Keep up the good work; I do enjoy your blog.
Eric
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Hi Eric, some really good points there. I agree all in all TA is a great resource to use. Just a large pinch of salt is sometimes required. Thanks for reading.
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