Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sites—which often charge fees for good placement or photos, and tack on commis-
sions if users book through the site instead of directly with the hotel.
While these sites work hard to weed out bogus users, my hunch is that a signi-
ficant percentage of reviews are posted by friends or enemies of the business being
reviewed. I've even seen hotels “bribe” guests (for example, offer a free breakfast)
in exchange for a positive review. Also, review sites can become an echo chamber,
with one or two flashy businesses camped out atop the ratings, while better, more
affordable, and more authentic alternatives sit ignored farther down the list. (For
example, I find review sites' restaurant recommendations skew to very touristy, ob-
vious options.)
Remember that a user-generated review is based on the experience of one per-
son. That person likely stayed at one hotel and ate at a few restaurants, and doesn't
have much of a basis for comparison. A guidebook is the work of a trained research-
er who has exhaustively visited many alternatives to assess their relative value. I
recently checked out some top-rated TripAdvisor listings in various towns; when
stacked up against their competitors, some are gems, while just as many are duds.
Both types of information have their place, and in many ways, they're comple-
mentary. If a hotel or restaurant is well-reviewed in a guidebook or two, and also
gets good ratings on one of these sites, it's likely a winner.
Drivers like the 400-space Semley Place NCP
parking garage,
near the hotels on the
west—Belgravia—side (£40/day, possible discounts with hotel voucher, just west of Vict-
oria Coach Station at Buckingham Palace Road and Semley Place, tel. 0845-050-7080,
