Using TripAdvisor reviews to pick out a hotel is more art than science. In order to find out the real story about a hotel, you need to dig a little deeper into those reviews. We’ve come up with a list of things you can do to sort out the reviews that aren’t relevant to you, so you can focus on what’s important for your trip.
Before coronavirus, we had a pretty good system and usually ended up at a hotel that lived up to our expectations. Now that everything’s changed, I have a new thing I’m looking for in reviews. I want to see if the hotel is following the COVID-19 guidelines that are currently in place. I’ve said before that you can’t trust that a hotel is going to do things correctly just because a chain sets up some rules. It’s up to the hotel management and employees to follow through.
When looking at TripAdvisor, I’m now only looking for reviews from the past few months. Then I’m going to see if there’s any mention about the hotel either following or ignoring COVID-19 rules.
I was very happy to see that one of the hotels I was looking at got great reviews in this area.
There is one thing that you have to remember when reading TripAdvisor. The reviews have to be taken in context. Take a second to look if the person writing the review is a first-timer or do they have multiple reviews on the site. You also have to consider where the hotel is and where the reviewer is from.
One negative review I read was because there were guests were sitting in the lobby without masks on and the manager didn’t do anything about it when notified. The reviewer is from New York and the hotel is in North Carolina. The hotel politely explained in its reply that in NC, people are not required to wear masks while seated and eating or drinking (and the lobby includes the bar and restaurant). I’d see how the guest and manager’s actions would be aggravating for someone coming from NY where indoor eating has been prohibited up until now and mask-wearing is more prevalent. You just have to understand that the rules aren’t the same everywhere and sometimes you’re going to be the “ultra” pro-mask person in a geographic location that isn’t as stringent about wearing masks as you are.
Final Thoughts
TripAdvisor can be a helpful tool when you’re trying to pick out a hotel. I think it’s even a little more useful today, with its constantly updated reviews. With them, you’re able to get a sense of how a hotel is handling things like cleanliness and attention to masks and spacing that you just won’t find anywhere else.
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#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
