Do you trust online travel reviews?

We recently had a “Leisure Break” with a well-known operator who had, we assumed, a fairly good reputation for quality and value. We had not checked any reviews in advance of booking nor while we were anticipating the holiday. We do not assume that the expectations excited by the brochure will be fully realised but neither do we expect a serious shortfall bordering on deception. In this case the stay disappointed us in several respects, mainly to do with accommodation, some significant [spoilt the holiday] others minor [get over it]. After returning home we looked at the Tripadvisor reviews and reactions were split roughly 50/50 – people either semed to have enjoyed their holiday very much or have had a lot to complain about and even cut short their break in a couple of cases. Guests on inclusive coach tour packages seemed to have got what they expected but independent travellers seemed to fall into the latter category. In our opinion all the reviews were genuine, honest and trustworthy and we could see the justification for the comments in each case depending on the priorities for the holiday. What seemed strange, however, was that no action appeared to have been taken by the company over three or four years to rectify or ameliorate the things that had provoked adverse reviews – they were still evident [and sometimes worse] during our stay. The company had not taken the opportunity provided by the website to give feedback on the reviews; perhaps they do not read them or just do not care because they clearly do have many happy customers [but the guest demographic for these adult-only leisure breaks is ageing rapidly and declining in health and mobility so the operator should use these reviews as a wake-up call for attracting the next generation which might no be so tolerant]. Travel reviews are a very useful medium for researching and selecting a holiday and should not be at risk of litigation. They are a valuable part of the process for consumers to make sure they get what they want or at least be aware of what they might get. They are also a very good way to give feedback on a holiday that is impersonal [but not irresponsible], does not embroil the customer in contentious correspondence, does not expose the customer to the risk of any sort of retribution, and both emphasises good features of a hotel or tour and alerts others to potential drawbacks. After all, if operators took comments, criticism and complaints in a good spirit at the time and dealt effectively with deficiencies they would have nothing to fear from travel reviews. So far as I can judge, over the hundreds of reviews I have read [and in many cases compared with the reality], the overwhelming majority are fair comment and in terms of negativity are understated rather than otherwise, decent people having a tendency to give credit where it is due and not exaggerate trivial complaints.

I’m told – how true it is, I don’t know, that competitors do write unflattering reports, so tend not to accept reviews written by people who live locally, especially if it’s a small, individual hotel or B & B. I write a personal message to one or two reviewers to ask for more details, as I can’t understand how there can be so much disparity e.g. room filty versus room spotless!!??