TripAdvisor

Too many fakes

Researchers at Cornell University have recently developed a software programme that they claim can detect a fake hotel review 90% of the time, nearly twice as accurate as the average person.

Such a programme is certainly needed. I posted a totally over-the-top review on TripAdvisor about a truly terrible hotel, using a false name and false email and postal address. The review was put up word for word unchanged. TripAdvisor says that its users read its reviews with “the right level of scepticism”. They need to. Earlier this year, it published a list of what it called its “top 25” hotels in Britain, one of whom, the Broad House near Wroxham, was in administration and had closed.

Does any of this matter? I believe it does.  Four out of five travellers consult hotel review websites before making a reservation. TripAdvisor, by far the most popular review website, covering 450,000 hotels in 80,000 cities, is wide open to abuse because of its failure to screen out collusive and malicious reviews.  

No doubt, this criticism will be dismissed as self-interested. I plead guilty as charged. I believe that there is a demand for reliable information about hotels and B&Bs. The Guide tracks every review that is sent to us, and has been doing so for more than 34 years. We know, who the writers are, where they are coming from, and most important, how sound their judgments are. When readers disagree, we send an anonymous inspector to spend a night at the hotel at our expense.

TripAdvisor, by contrast, operates in a way that can only be described as shameless. Replying to a hotel complaining that a critical report had been planted by a competitor, it wrote: “Since reviews are posted by our members on an open forum, and we do not verify the information posted in this, we are unable to provide you with proof that this member reserved, stayed or actually visited [your] hotel.”

Hotels complain that they are often the victims of malicious reviews. TripAdvisor is awash with serious allegations. At last count, there were 19,208 references to food poisoning, 22, 236 to theft and 42,418 to bed bugs. These unchecked accusations, which can be devastating to a small hotel, are made by anonymous reviewers who may not have even stayed at the hotel. Hotels have little redress. They can put up a management response, but it usually requires the threat of legal action (and even that may not work) before TA will remove the review.

Not surprisingly, hoteliers have begun to fight back. Many reviews on TA are now put up by owners’ friends, and relatives and public relations companies. One US company is emailing British hotels: "Reviews about your hotel can make or break your hotel's success. We will assist you in getting more positive reviews......If you don't have enough positive reviews on Expedia, TripAdvisor, Yahoo Travel, you are losing the game." The Bloomsbury Hotel in York was approached by a guest who said they had just put an appreciative review on TripAdvisor and wanted to know what the hotel would do in return. The guest said that the Edinburgh guest house she had just left was offering three free weekends for the three best reviews.

Why is TripAdvisor so careless about its reputation? It could do a much better job if it made a number of simple changes. The first is to insist that all its reviewers identify themselves by their real name. Ending anonymity would stop much of the collusive and malicious reviewing that is going on. It could also check that the email addresses of its reviewers were genuine, and that the reviews were not obviously bogus. Yes, it would take a bit of work. But until it takes these elementary precautions, anyone using its website should beware.

Adam Raphael

Special offers

To the wilds

This is the time of year when we head for the country.  Here are some excellent special offers to tempt us.

Tudor Farmhouse, Hari and Colin Fell's converted farm, parts of which date back to the 13th century, has a mid-week getaway break for £250 for two nights. Staying in the best available room and dining in the award winning candle-lit restaurant you get a complimentary glass of sparkling prosecco each before dinner, full English breakfast delivered to your room and a 10% discount from the lunch menu on each day as well as the day of departure.

The Prince’s House in Glenfinnan, a traditional, white-painted coaching inn (1658) is run by chef/proprietor Kieron Kelly and his 'welcoming' wife, Ina. They are offering a two-night summer break with a three-course gourmet dinner each night in its restaurant, and full Scottish breakfast. Cost for two people sharing a standard room are £155.00 per person, £175.00 for a superior room or £195.00 for a four poster room. Stay a third night at the same rate and they will throw in a bottle of champagne.

On a scenic stretch of Derwentwater, Swinside Lodge is owned and personally run by Mike and Kath Bilton. They are offering a dine-free three-night  Lake District escape break. Pay for room and breakfast and dine free on the first two nights of your stay. On the third night pay for room, dinner and breakfast and you get £20 towards a bottle of wine of your choice. Available on three night stays Sunday to Thursday until Thursday 30th June.   

More special offers are below, and there are many more are on our Special Offers page.

Hotels, inns and B&Bs with a special offer (click and see)

Send in a Review

Win a free night!

This month's prize is a free night dinner and breakfast for two at Gilpin Hotel, Windermere. An elegant Edwardian country house hotel, it is run as hands-on family affair by John and Christine Cunliffe with son Barney and his wife, Zoë. It has extensive grounds with terrace, pond, waterfall, croquet lawn and llama paddock.

All you have to do to win this splendid prize is to submit a review which catches the eye of our editorial team for its wit and insight. We welcome new reports on hotels that have never been in the Guide or have been dropped. The winner of last month's prize, dinner, a free night and breakfast for two at Mount Vernon, Co. Clare, is Mary Milne-Day from London. An 18th-century villa, it has been beautifully restored by Mark Helmore and Ally Raftery, who run it as a private country house and home. It won a César award this year as Irish Heritage Hotel of the Year.

Hotel Tales

Basil Fawlty

1. This hotel is at least imaginative in its ability to find new things to do really badly. On this occasion, my wife was eating alone in the restaurant. They contrived to leave her alone for a full 30 minutes before anyone came to take her order. When I later tried to raise the matter, the general manager demonstrated his elusiveness, and the operations manager seem totally uninterested.

2. Billed as luxury bed and breakfast, this establishment failed on all counts. On arrival, the house was deserted. After waiting for over an hour, I managed to find someone who had a mobile number for the owner - he was not happy that I had called, and said his wife was probably visiting some way down the road - I managed to find her, but there were no apologies or suggestion that this was unusual. The room, essentially a converted garage, was grubby, with numerous unspecified hairs etc, and the bathroom was also filthy. I considered leaving there and then, but did stay for one night (rather than the two I had booked). Breakfast, predictably, was not good.

3. I chose this hotel for a peaceful holiday after a testing 18-months of illness and bereavement. Imagine my horror when I arrived at a building site. I had booked a garden room. When I arrived I was presented with a rabbit hutch looking on to a main road and the foundation works of a new car park. I was moved into a bigger and better room next day, but it was on the side of the building, looking over the construction of a new extension. My plans for quiet reading in the gardens were scuppered by the sacrifice of the garden to building work.

        

BUY tHE gUIDE

The 2011 Guide

The 2011 print edition of the Good Hotel Guide to Great Britain and Ireland makes a great present. Discount vouchers worth a total of £150 are included with each copy. They enable a 25% saving off the normal B&B price at participating hotels. A copy of the Guide costs £18 (including £3 p&p), compared to a retail price of £20. If you wish to buy a copy, click here or write to: The Good Hotel Guide, 50 Addison Avenue, London W11 4QP.

The new Good Hotel Guide gift voucher scheme, an ideal birthday or wedding present, is attracting lots of interest. For more details, write to: editor@goodhotelguide.com.

The GHG Iphone app is also available from Apple's Itune store. It costs £2.99 in the UK, $4.99 in the USA. An E-book version of the Guide is available on Kindle price at £8 in the Uk or $13 in the USA.

The Good Hotel Guide, founded 32 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, no hospitality and no advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed edition. Hotels pay to be on the GHG website, but only those hotels which have an entry in the printed Guide are eligible. Selected hotels are recommended by readers, backed where necessary by an anonymous inspection. The British edition of the Guide is published each autumn. Adam and Caroline Raphael, who edit the Guide, are award-winning journalists. Caroline, a former BBC researcher and a travel writer, is editor-in-chief. She has worked on the Guide for more than 30 years. Adam, who previously worked for the Guardian, the Observer, the BBC and the Economist, is the Guide's marketing director. Desmond Balmer, formerly travel editor of the Observer, is editor of the British guide. The Guide specialises in small owner-managed hotels, inns and B&Bs in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and Ireland. It includes budget B&Bs, good value hotels as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price.range.