TRIPADVISOR

The perils of bad advice

No one in their right mind would ask the advice of the person sitting next to them in a bus about the merits of a particular hotel. But five million people every week, in effect do just that. A few days ago, I posted a glowing, totally bogus review on TripAdvisor of a luxury hotel which the Good Hotel Guide is omitting this year year following a series of bad reports. Unlike TripAdvisor, our reviews can be relied on because we track all those who write to us.

The fake, the malicious, the inspired and the collusive cannot get through our screening system, though hotels often try. Trip Advisor claims that it has 'zero tolerance' for fake reports, but all it requires from its reviewers is an email address. There is not even a check as to whether the person has actually stayed at the hotel. The review I posted was under a false name and came from a non-existent email address. TripAdvisor says that a review is not put up on its website until it has been 'moderated' and that algorithms are used to check against fraud. But these defences are useless judging by my own experience and recent articles in The Times and the Sunday Times.

Does it matter that millions of travellers are being gulled? TripAdvisor claims that its website is self-policing and that its viewers read the reviews with 'the right level of scepticism'. That's just as well, because the opinion of the man on the bus would probably be more reliable. Adam Raphael.

New!
Special offers

Our Special Offers Page is proving popular and many of our selected hotels are offering great discounts. The Hotel TerraVina in the New Forest has a unique special offer. Ever fancied the idea of removing the top of a champagne bottle with a sabre, just like the cavalry officers of Napoleon’s army? Gérard Basset, the TerraVina's owner, is a Chevalier Sabreur and therefore can show you how to do it with the hotel’s golden sabre. Once you’ve mastered the art, removing a Champagne cork by hand will seem tame. The cost is £60.00 including tuition by Gérard and a bottle of house champagne on which to practice.

Hotels with Special offers

von Essen
'Incandescent'

Andrew Davis, the owner of the von Essen group, which has taken over a large number of country house hotels, is said to be ‘incandescent with rage’ that so few of his hotels are included in the Good Hotel Guide. The Daily Mail, which quotes Mr Davis, suggests that he believes that we are conducting a vendetta. Nothing could be further from the truth. Four von Essen hotels have a full entry in the 2009 edition, several others are on our shortlist.The fact that more are not included is due solely to a lack of positive reports from our readers. Luxury hotels which charge fancy prices, have to be judged by the highest standards. And the reports we receive from our readers on some von Essen properties do not inspire confidence. Our experience bears out our preference for individually owned and managed hotels.

Travellers Tales
No stars

The Null Stern hotel, located in a former nuclear bunker, at Sevelen, near Zurich, is doing well. Up to seven guests share a room that has no windows, television or heating. The guests are woken at 7am and then have to queue for the only shower. The price: £5.99 per night.

A London banker arriving exhausted in Sydney, Australia after an all-night flight was told his room was not ready. “I’ll just settle down here”, he said, heading for a lobby sofa and starting to undress. Before he got his shirt off, he had a room. If he had got as far as his pants, he might have been offered a suite.

What do you do if you have an unwanted visitor in your room? It took two chambermaids and two kitchen porters to dispatch one mouse in my French hotel bedroom. Not even a drink was offered as compensation. Just a chilly gallic smile from reception.

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Buy the 2009 Guide

If you haven't already got a copy of the 2009 Guide, now is your chance to buy one for £15 including p&p,a discount of 25%. Vouchers worth £150 are included. They enable you to save 25% off the normal B&B rate at participating hotels. The Guide covers over 800 hotels, many more than the website, and it continues to be rated by both travel journalists and hoteliers as the best on the market.

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The Good Hotel Guide, founded 32 years ago, is totally independent. It receives no payments, hospitality or advertising from hotels selected for an entry in the printed Guide. Hotels pay to be on the Guide's website, and some also buy copies of the printed Guide. 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 and B&Bs as well as grand country houses and chic city hotels, all offering value for money in their price.range..