Wishing you a mime-free New Year!

K.C. Summers of the Washington Post is, like me, a little dubious when it comes to the TripAdvisor site - where anyone can say anything as they rate hotels and the like. Check out the TripAdvisor ten funniest comments of 2007. Here’s my favorite:

“The neighborhood is filled with aggressive mimes, including one sitting on a toilet bowl (how creative). Room cards are changed for no reason and you cannot understand why you can’t get into your room. All in all it was a very unpleasant stay.”

Maybe any trip involving a mime encounter would be unpleasant. Quoth Summers on the TripAdvisor experience:

What inanities have you noticed on the site? And do you find it useful, or are you (like me) sometimes flummoxed by the wide disparity in opinions, and come away more confused than when you started?

Comments

[Paula S]

....."aggressive mimes"....??
Must have been Paris! LOL!

I've been a contributor on TA since Nov 2004, not only answering questions on forums but reviewing hotels etc. I found the site one day when searching for hotels around the UK and Gibraltar. I agree the amount of reviews and the types of opinions given are a headache to sort through but I've developed a method for separating the 'wheat from the chaff' - looking for keywords i.e. clean, free of bed-bugs, good location, friendly staff, proximity to transport.
Room size I discount unless every reviewer has mentioned the rooms are tiny. Reviewers who go on about dated furniture / decor must stay in their rooms for far too long and aren't getting outside enough being tourists.
I've had the satisfaction of being told that my hotel reviews have been very helpful and the person has stayed there based on my opinion / factual review. A good reviewer will or should provide good detail of the hotel room, amenities, staff, reception, restaurant, location, price, local shops / transport etc.
I must say I have discovered some fantastic places, shops, restaurants and helpful tips on Tripadvisor. The downside is reading some threads where a regular poster has decided to jump down someone's throat just because they're having a crabby day, those we can all do without and they do get put in their place by other regulars or destination experts.
I have met some TA contributors in person, if anything it promotes global friendship when a group of travellers from all over the planet can get together over a drink in a quaint London pub and swap travel stories.