Trip Advisor

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

Anyone here use/contribute to TA

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I try to post reviews there when I remember.
I think I've attained some kind of Star status with them.

I read the reviews there but you have to weed thru alot of them cause people sure do complain about lots of insignificant issues. Maybe I'm just easier to please.

[SherryS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SherryS]

I use Trip Advisor all the time to check reviews of places/activities. I've contributed only one review. I've found that overall, the reviews have been mostly accurate, only a few seem to be from people who are "the complaining type". (JMHO)

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

I use them all the time. It is pretty easy to weed out the whiners and ignore those reviews. It has been a great resource for us.

Kurt

[Hostelling Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hostelling]

Use it all the time. Find out which one of those sky auction deals are no deal.

[PHILL12 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PHILL12]

I use it and have many times but have cut back for few reasons. Once we lost one of our forum friend KenK few years ago who was a great help on Trip Advisor it went down hill in the forum. Seems he answered many questions and was alot of help to many including me. After his passing others came in and the timeshare talk changed and not always for the good.

I still give a review on the forum but don't spend much time on there any longer as I have found that most will take the time to knock or nit-pick a timeshare resort. These same people love to knock but hate to do a review with nice parts of the resort or stay. In our worse vacation choices we still found things that were good at all resorts and try and be honest in our reviews. People need to understand the reviews are not so they can dump or blow off steam but to try and help others with their choices.

I did list for airline tickets to Dallas on there but have found it a waste of time. I have had e-mails from TA and checking to find flights are booked or its a two stop plane change making a 3 1/2 hour flight into a seven to ten hour flight.

PHILL12

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I have been a member of TA for many years posting several reviews and participating on the forums. I also use the reviews frequently for picking hotels. You just have to read between the lines. I find the forums very valuable for information about localities. Their forums are very specialized right down to the city or locale.

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

i use it all the time and answer a lot of questions about our area.

[SoccerMom Member Find all posts View Profile Close SoccerMom]

I use it all the time, it has been a valuable resource. I especially like to look at photos taken by the guests rather than hotel promotional photos, which might not be an accurate representation of the condition of the hotel.

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

I use the reviews and have posted some. Haven't used the forums much but sometimes Google in. I particularly like it for the pictures people post (which sometimes tell you way more about the poster than what they're supposedly posting about ). You do have to sort of filter it some, particularly with the complainers, but I'm also amazed at the reviews of some of the Disney resorts where they rate it five stars and then proceed to report problems that would have knocked it down to two stars in my book. Rabid fans, I have to assume. Of course, some of the one star reviews are the reverse -- they expected Disney to give them the world and only got good service, shame on Disney.

Which is to say, the reviews are terrific; the star-ratings, not so much. And I don't pay much attention to the separately scorable stuff like "sleep quality" for a resort -- what does that even mean, anyhow? People knock it down for anything from hard beds (I like hard beds) to soft beds to too much noise to too much light to who knows what.

[Jeanne Sz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jeanne Sz]

I've been a viewer and contributor for a few years. I use it to plan and look for places to stay, and then review when I get back. I agree with those who think there are too many whiners about trivial items, especially those that are obviously no-brainers ("omg! and there was no maid service at that timeshare!"). I like contributor photos and comments about extras, like where to go and what to see.

[vinolover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vinolover]

Read it all the time and have written dozens of hotel reviews. I don't usually write reviews of timeshares for that site however. I think generally timeshare owners understand that the experience is completely different than a person who only occasionally rents a timeshare or books it as a hotel.

Like everyone else said, I love reviewers photos. I always post photos of the hotel room, bathroom, view from the room. I not only use TA to help choose a hotel but also to help know what room to request when we check in. We often get a better room, location or view just by knowing what to ask for.

I like the forums too. Not just for more info on the hotels but on sightseeing ideas, local transportation advice, restaurant suggestions, etc.

[gandalf252002 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close gandalf252002]

I try using this in additional to other sites in order to obtain an overall average. I notice that some people can be overally critical and personally I find expect to much.

[pkyorkbeach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pkyorkbeach]

I use it...found it a number of years ago. The site helped me with a trip to Vegas, Cape May, Old Orchard Beach Maine, Cape Cod etc...Great for hotels and restaurants.

[zee Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zee]

Good experience with TA

I have used them to plan trips with local guides and hotels to out of the way places, specifically Vietnam and Syria. I found a Vietnamese travel guide who planned a tour for 4 ladies from the border with China in the north to the Mekong delta in the south, She was absolutely wonderful (name was Ha) and so much cheaper. Guess Syria is a nonstarter for Americans now, but we went in January, 2011, and had a great experience. Syria has a wealth of archaeological sites from the ancient to Roman to crusader castles. We stayed at the Damascus Hostel and they got us a car and driver. The Hostel is very basic and we were nervous when we first saw it, but felt like family before long and really hated to leave it. Once again, it was much cheaper than an American tour. In fact, we actually ran into a Grand Circle tour at one site and really felt like natives compared to them.