tripadvisor.com

Advantages: EXtremely wide and useful information
Disadvantages: Site is a little bit busy, and sometimes it is confusing

...food and location Overall, wherever you are booking a hotel, I would say that a quick visit to tripadvisor.com for some independent feedback from ex guests is essential. Recommended. Note, not all the criteria below apply, as you cannot make purchases via this site. ... Read review

Advantages: Great research tool for holidays
Disadvantages: A bit american and hard to navigate

Well another holiday related review... OVERVIEW ----------------------- I found tripadvisor by mistake and strangely a lot of my friends have never heard of it. Thought I'd spread the word as its a fantastic tool to help you research before your hols (if you are lucky enough to have one coming up!) So what is it? Tripadvisor calls it's self a travel forum. It'sa huge site with lots of different features, so I'll try to summarise the main features ...
...this is by far the most helpful part. Tripadvisor seems to have listed almost every hotel in the world, and invites people to write in and review them. The reviews tend to be short, and have a written part followed by a mark out of 5. It's a bit like a 'Mini Ciao' for hotels! Amazingly, there are so many reviews, people seem very keen and willing to share their experiences. They list all types of accommodation from Luxury 5 star mega hotels in Hong ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent, honest reviews of hotels all over the world
Disadvantages: No photos, just written accounts

Those of you who have read my other reviews will have guessed by now that I'm a serial mini-breaker. There's nothing I love more than packing my bag on a Thursday evening ready to scoot off straight after work on a Friday on another weekend adventure. The vast majority of my trips are booked on-line, usually combining budget flights with budget accommodation, or taking advantage of online special offers at luxury hotels if it's a special treat! ...
...me quite nervous. Unlike friends of mine who get into the holiday spirit in the cab on the way to the airport, I can't settle until I've checked in. I’ve come to the realisation that this is because I live in constant dread of finding myself on a holiday from hell, in a hotel that resembles a building site, where the service is appalling and the room is filthy. Thankfully, this has never happened to me, and I put this down to hours of careful ... Read review

Advantages: Unbiased independent hotel reviews
Disadvantages: None

I love the tripadvisor website and use it solely for finding somewhere to stay when I am planning a holiday. My advise is to find the name of a hotel/bb that you are considering staying at and then type it into google. Then click the tripadvisor search result and have a look at INDEPENDENT traveller reviews. This is particularly useful as it cuts out all the misleading information and choreographed pictures that you find in the glossy travel brochures. ...
...from people that have actually been there, but also candid traveller photos which show the "real" holiday you will be getting. I have never been let down by the site and recommend it to friends and colleagues when they are booking holidays. The idea is perfect and despite it being owned by expedia, I have not seen any bias in the reviews published. Another good aspect of the site is that the owner/managers of a hotel can respond to consumer comments ... Read review

Advantages: Honest, easy to use, a wealth of information
Disadvantages: US bias, but still valid opinions

This site is fantastic for those of us who like to know what we're buying. Exactly the sort of people that use Ciao.co.uk in fact. I first discovered Tripadvisor when looking for a honeymoon destination. Simply go to the site and type in the place, hotel etc that you want to read reviews on. There are also forums and general information available so you really can get the full picture, however good or bad. First of all, we booked to go to Cuba after ...
...fantastic, detailed reviews and user opinions on the actual food served and its quality, facilities etc that the shiny brochures seem to gloss over. In our search, we were able to reject a fair few hotels that seemed amazing in the brochures! Anyway, the Cuban honeymoon fell through thanks to Cosmos (but thats another story!), so we had another look and opted for clubhotel Riu Negril (See seperate review). It looked amazing (some tripadvisors had ... Read review