goddesstogo

Thanks so much, schmerl!

suze

schmerl's way is more direct I guess but you can also put in the destination name, for example "Honolulu". Then under "About Honolulu" there's a drop down menu that starts with:

Honolulu Touristm
Honolulu Hotels
etc. etc.
Honolulu Travel Forum (is about half way down & click on that)

goddesstogo

Good. Thanks!

lonestarbc

I agree with some of the remarkd, there isn’t enough differenciation between types of user. I usually don’t use Tripadvisor to find what I want, but I post to help other travelers by trying to give a clear idea from my persepective as someone that travels the world 6 months a year for over 30 years. I post on cafés up to 3 star restaurants and 7 star hotels. I don’t like that Tripadvisor can’t be contacted and that you must write 200 characters when there isn’t that much to right. They say they believe in the right to right, but they obviously don’t. They make money on our posts and then force you to write more than you want to write

suze

Nope, no one can "force" you to write anything on Trip Advisor -lol!

lonestarbc

I didn’t have enough to say about a place but Tripadvisor wanted 200 characters so I finished my post with ‘can’t get to 200 characters and they refused to publish with the the statement about protecting the right to write which I think is hypocritical, but I found it impossible to find a way of writing an e-mail to them or a simple comment form! A one way system!

suze

Just post your "reviews" in the Destination Forums rather than the official review section. There's no rules about how long posts need to be there. More freedom to say what you want to say as well.

dreamer320

I use TA for every trip I take, but with a practiced eye. I read hotel reviews and generally throw out the horrible and the fantastic, unless there's enough of either to make it a trend. I pay attention to why people give a place poor ratings ("they wouldn't give me a free cannoli even though I referred four couples to them the day before"). I also cross-reference TA reviews with reviews on other sites - I'm a spreadsheet nerd. I don't generally bother with restaurant reviews, since food is so subjective. I look at the attractions and their reviews, to get a lay of the land, so to speak, but don't generally care what something is ranked at. And I peruse the destination forums, but tend to pore over them first to get a feel for the atmosphere and any prejudices the DEs may have.

I post reviews myself on almost everything after a trip, and I'm careful to note if something sucked or was great due just my idiosyncrasies, and not necessarily a reflection on the establishment, and rate accordingly. But still, I mention it, because someone else may have the very same idiosyncrasy or need. I think in all my hotel reviews, I've given one absolute rave and one horrible "run from this place."

suze

You can click on any other Trip Advisor members profile and see their posting history. That's very handy in judging reviews.

Macross

I like trip advisor. You can't believe everything you read on any forum. People here will tell you they don't like Dublin where I love the place. I am glad I didn't follow all the post here or there about which champagne tour to take in Reims yesterday. I enjoyed the one we took so much because of the historic caves. Someone told me to go to St Remi on another travel site and we were so happy we did not miss that gem. I love many of the posters on TA, very nice and not so much snark. Snowing here in France so in for the night but had a wonderful day driving the country visiting WW1 historical sights. Staying at the best place in Verdun. letempleverdun.com I have never slept in a church but will be tonight.

lonestarbc

My only comment was I don’t like my post being refused with less than 200 characters and one can’t contact them: such an arrogant stance! As for all the rest it’s obvious isn’t it? Champagne and all the Roman caves, Verdun the Ossuaire, the fortress, the villages that are no more etc etc. So sad, millions died. The valley where Patton first saw service, the village wherr he’s buried, not to mention Bastogne, the Maginot line....so much to see on the WW1 and 2 trail,

emmazarah

Personally, I had good experience with Trip Advisor Forums. I asked for hangout spot suggestions in Dubai before I moved to Dubai and I got a useful response.

alwayssouth

I do spend a little time catching up on a few Trip Advisor forums, until Fodor's it's been the only forum that I've utilized. I think the info is often good real time stuff.


But Trip Advisor has it's problems. There is arguing, poorly texted posts, and a few posters who post ad nauseum all day long cluttering some of the forums until everybody is sick of them and they don't get why, not to mention people who don't know how to use paragraphs. So if you can sift past those, you can get some good information.

boots08

So much for TA's role as trip "advisor":

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/t...criticism.html

Boots

suze

That link is old. TA made a significant change in their policies on reporting negative issues since (and because of) that report.