TripAdvisor warns of hotels posting fake reviews

Monday 20th July, 06:30 AM JST

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9 Comments

ilcub76 at 10:13 AM JST - 20th July

But Arthur Frommer, founder of the Frommer’s travel guides, said travelers should rely on the advice of experts, such as guidebook writers or journalists.

Of course he would say this!! If he doesn't sell books, he doesn't make money.

I regularly look at Trip Advisor and Virtual Tourist when deciding on a hotel overseas. Until now, I've really had no problems. On the other hand, I went to a place in the Lonely Planet that was absolutely horrible.
fishy at 10:49 AM JST - 20th July

fake reviews ??? that's terrible... i rely on reviews when deciding hotels..
TumbleDry at 07:19 PM JST - 20th July

The hotel I found in Kabul had bullet holes...
bdiego at 06:45 AM JST - 21st July

This is why you look at hotels where the reviews number in the dozens or hundreds. Those have always been fair in my experience. And it's pretty easy to spot the objective facts, as well as relevant details rather than the review rating.

Tripadviser has been pretty spot on. Their only fault is in recommending faucets with less than 2.1% carbon alloy.
bdiego at 06:46 AM JST - 21st July

Frommers and Lonely Planet are absolutely awful. 0 out of 5 stars. TripAdvisor is in another league. I planned my honeymoon and subsequent trips and highly recommend the site.
Stonecoldsoba at 07:59 AM JST - 21st July

bdiego:

Frommers and Lonely Planet are absolutely awful. 0 out of 5 stars. TripAdvisor is in another league. I planned my honeymoon and subsequent trips and highly recommend the site.

Ah, but how can we trust your review of the reviewers?
gogogo at 11:03 AM JST - 21st July

If they know the hotels are posting fake reviews why don't they remove them or do something about it, seems like a quick promotional stunt by TripAdvisor.
Monoflow at 03:40 PM JST - 21st July

If there is only one negative review, then you should be aware and check it out. However, some people write negative reviews only by a irrelevant bad experience and then find themself writing more bad things about the hotel, because they felt like that. All in all, check out the reviews, book only from at least 3 star and if possible withing a hotel-chain. I did so and never had any problems...
motytrah at 12:24 AM JST - 22nd July

If there are 20 bad reviews and one good review, I'm taking the good review with a grain of salt. I think TA also normalizes the rating to help keep the ranks in a more realistic order.