Tripadvisor

Do not stay at Tahoe Valley RV Resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA. I had reservations made through their reservation phone # in April. Got there on Aug. 3 to check in. They had me in a 24' site and I have a 26' Travel Trailer. It was a back-in and the hookups were on the wrong side. Then they tried to put me in another site that also was not large enough. The place was dirty, crowed and not friendly at all. Got my money back and left. They are only interested in selling vacation sites and looking out for their bottom line, NOT your comfort.

We had booked a stay through TripAdvisor in May 22. Full payment had been made. Two weeks prior to our stay we received a call from Vacation Strategy LLC at 3:30pm informing us that the owner of the facility had cancelled and they would try to find a place for us. They further stated that in order to get a full refund we had to do it by 6pm. There is no ability to contact TripAdvisor in a timely manner in order to get problem corrected. We had to jump through hoops to get a replacement through another vendor. Due to short time and peak season we ended up paying more money for inferior facility. This took over three hours of time that we needed to be be doing something else. TripAdvisor to their credit issued a refund within three hours. There needs to be a contact number at TripAdvisor that can handle situations like this without the onus being put totally on the customer to rectify the situation. We will never use TripAdvisor or Vacation Strategy LLC for anything in the future.

Trip Advisor is owned by Expedia.com! The practices of both of these companies is very questionable. While staying in a 5 star all inclusive resort in Cancun, my entire family got sick, because of the poor health practices of the resort! Water that was not safe to drink and no warning labels posted on the mirror. The maids washed the same glasses every morning in the unsafe water and then wiped them off with a rag that was hanging on her belt clip! I submitted a review 3 times that never got posted!

Trip Advisor is 100% pro customer and could care less about the damage being inflicted on the business! They didn't care that people made a reservation at our hotel with a bogus credit card number that was declined three times! They didn't care that these same people never stepped through our hotels front door! They didn't care that these people called us every name in the book, when we refused them service! I will not spend one single cent, advertising with Trip Advisor!

Everybody can review everyone. That might sounds good but in reality is different. Your rivals can write about your business and literally everyone that might not actually had the chance to use your services. Even your friends. Therefore Tripadvisor has many fake reviews and it is a site that cannot be trusted. On top of that even if you know that one review is fake is almost impossible to conduct them and therefore delete it. There is no real use of this site in my opinion and is definitely the worst advisor for holidays. I am no longer using it.

After having great satisfaction with other areas of Tripadvisor I attempted to use the vacation rental area for an upcoming trip.
After making 4 attempts at rentals and not hearing back from any of the owners I chose to use VRBO and got a booking within the hour. Tripadvisor needs t hold the owners who list with them accountable. Inquiries should be answered and booking made, otherwise the owners should be dropped from the database. Period

I have noticed over the years that trip advisor seldom posts negative reviews. I have tried to post several three star reviews and they have been taken down or not been posted despite them being objective. My only conclusion is that there is a conflict of interest somewhere in their business model.

Jan 12,2019 - Our stay was therapeutic at Homewood Suites by Hilton, Florence S. C.
1st Floor King Suite: High Quality, Spacious, Perfectly Clean; Shower - Therapeutic/Soothing! King bed - Woke up so refreshed. Didn't want to check-out! Kitchenette - Over the top! Fully loaded, Wow! Customer Service - Very professional, knowledgeable, genuine, highly accommodating after advised of health challenges! Hotel - Absolutely beautiful! Great home away from home! Thanks for such a warm welcome and a genuine come back soon!
Elizabeth R.

An absolute must to consult when organising any trip. Look up an area you plan to visit, and check out some of the reviews posted on the main hotel/guesthouses, or just type in the name of the guesthouse you have already selected to read what previous visitors said. But you need to use some judgement: some reviews can be posted by "friends" (you will notice that the reviewer has never posted a review elsewhere) or "enemies" (some competitors use the site to malign a place they feel is taking away business from them). Also, some negatives for one person (ie "no night life" or "not child friendly") can be a plus for another person ("calm and peaceful"). Note also that this website belongs to Expedia.com (as does venere), so places working with these discount sites will be listed prominently.
With these caveats in mind, an absolutely indispensible tool for any traveller.

My experience is that TripAdvisor provides very useful information, and has steered toward terrific sites and opportunities, and away from real losers. I've submitted the most honest and helpful reviews I could, especially featuring places we've really enjoyed in our home town and away. But I'm sure some reviewers are on a vendetta, or have competing businesses (this is the web!), so read reviews carefully and in context.