So… you have
decided you are travelling to Tenerife and have some pretty good deals in
front of you with some tour operators. Where do you choose to stay? You are not sure, so
you do what everyone else decides to do and Google -Tripadvisor to read up on the reviews for
the hotel you think you want to stay in.
You are part
of millions of people now who use Tripadvisor as part of their decision-making plan
for where to stay and eat for their holiday; unless you decide to travel and
stay at the same hotel and eat at the same place, year after year.
Trusted
Tripadvisor has become part of the ‘norm’ and as humans, we tend to believe
what we read and what is published. Tripadvisor is a great tool for
looking at holiday maker’s photographs so that you can compare them against the
hotel's website photographs or find out if building work is currently in progress.
Confused.com?
Have you
ever really been geared up to book the hotel you like but after reading Tripadvisor, suddenly you have become confused or
unsure? Well it has happened to me many times and although Tripadvisor does have many advantages, so I am not saying it doesn't, it can bring with it many disadvantages of allowing personal opinions sway others holiday makers from choosing a good place to stay or eat. It can also be a bit of a nightmare for businesses who receive some bad reviews, through no fault of their own but basically through personal opinions.
The Good Review
You can spot a good review from a mile off. It will be short, to the point and gives the reader an insight to identify if their experience was either positive or negative. The good review will not concentrate on the one bad experience or a small problem which could have been improved on.
Let's be honest, it would be great if a business could have 100% performance, 365 days a year. If they did, then my opinion is that it would be a pretty boring place to be, and there would be no room for 'lessons learned'.
The Bad
Review
It is important to write reviews than can
reflect genuine negative instances but in the right context. If it is a single
incident, then should this really downgrade the score to Average or Poor? Don’t
use this as a complaints process and a way to ‘get stuff off your chest’. Remember, this is someone’s business or
livelihood and what you say can have a damaging affect on what people perceive.
There is a quote in the UK “we often are quick to complain about something but take less time to
offer praise”. So on that note, think about your reviews and the impact it
can have to others. Consider if it is genuinely a real issue which
justifies a bad review or if it is just a general moan where there is no pleasing
you. Whatever the decision, try to be fair on Tripadvisor.
Here is a genuine review from Tripadvisor which
created an ‘average’ score for the hotel in which they stayed.
So… lets
look at what the hotel offered this holiday maker and let us see if the score
they gave reflected their trip.
✅ the hotel
was immaculate, friendly and helpful staff
✅ rooms were
massive with 2 bathrooms
✅ free buses
to all the theme parks with collection and pick up points directly outside
❌ all
inclusive is not worth the extra money
❌ adult buffet
was not to their taste, except for Saturday BBQ
❌ evening
entertainment is woeful, so they went out every night and this person ate out
everyday
✅ non-smoker
then it will be a great hotel to stay in
❌ smoker, then
the hotel is a right pain as you have to go all the way to the front of the
hotel to smoke
❌ cannot enjoy
a smoke with a coffee or a drink
✅ there is
lots of bars and restaurants 100 yards away
✅ if you go
self-catering, there is a supermarket up the hill and a short distance away BUT
❌ self-catering,
you still cannot have a cigarette with a coffee and drink and need to walk to front of
hotel
In the UK, we now followed a law which
stops us from smoking in a public place so this is no difference to what this
person has to do at home. Why do you think this is an average holiday when you
have to do this anyway on a day to day basis? This legislation was implemented over 11 years ago in Tenerife which makes the UK a little behind in the Smoking Law. Maybe I just don't get the issue this reviewer is not happy about as I am a non-smoker.
Oh dear!!! I just really feel so bored and tired as soon as I start reading these types of reviews. You know it is coming, you can picture the scene in your head. You want to learn about the experience of their holiday and BANG their first opening line just finishes you off…
The reviews that really get me feeling so
frustrated and bored are the ones that like to describe in detail:
- The ages of the children and how many they have
- What each plate of food consisted of and who ate what
- How they wished they had ordered what their partner had or someone else was eating
- The exact time it took for their food to arrive
- The staff were miserable and not interested in their job or customer
- Bacon, beans, butter etc were not English (you left that country to go on a holiday, try something else)
- It wasn't proper Vodka not like at home (meaning what? not Smirnoff, don't tell the Russians)
- Weather was too hot, too cold
Unfortunately, there is more of
these types of reviews on Tripadvisor than what you would think and so this then brings the
rating down for the hotel or restaurant. It gives a false review and is more of
an opportunity to moan than create a true reflection of their holiday experience, let alone how to give the reader any idea of the if it is worth visiting. They probably had a
great time but just wanted to say a few things (which happen to be negative).
Don't get me wrong, there are 'holidays from hell' and I do not dispute this but I do think Tripadvisor is not the best tool to gauge our decision if looking at the statistics chart only. Unless you want to scroll through the dozens of reviews and hopefully not be put off with the opportunists who will never be happy or want to give you their food descriptions, then by that time, your holiday deal could have been snapped up!
So the moral of the story is:
- Be fair with your comment as what you say has impact and influence on that particular business
- Speak about your holiday review as an overall thought and not one or two negative ‘niggles’
- Be clear, concise and leave all the boring talk for your friends and family; we do not want to know every item on your plate, the drinks you ordered and if it was a euro cheaper in the bar down the road
- Offer negatives as lessons learned by suggesting improvements and give praise often and where needed.
- MOST OF ALL… be fair and think of the people who work extremely hard on a daily basis, in some blistering hot conditions, just to make your holiday as happy as possible. Does the staff that put all this effort in really deserve what you have to say or could you just email the place direct and ask them to look at your complaint and learn from it. I am sure they would really appreciate an opportunity to put this right. I think sometimes, hotels, restaurants and bars become a silent voice when it comes to Tripadvisor as there is nothing that can be done to change the review... one sided comment.
Thank you for reading my review and please join me soon for my next blog post.
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