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Original poster

Have you gone on holiday to a hotel with bad reviews?

20 replies

Peckhaminn · 02/04/2023 22:23

Me and DP are off to Cancun in 3 weeks time and we've been so so excited to go. We've just looked at the reviews and they are absolutely DIRE. I've now got the holiday blues and absolutely dreading it. Seven saved and scarped for years to go to Mexico and now we are so worried it'll be awful.

Has anyone booked a hotel with bad reviews and been pleasantly surprised as to why there were so many bad reviews? Need a lift me up!

OP posts:
mnahmnah · 02/04/2023 22:27

Are all the reviews dire? Any good ones? Every hotel has some terrible reviews, because there are always guests who pick at everything and are born to complain. Like people who say the food is terrible, when others say it is great - meaning they serve ‘forrin food’ instead of chicken nuggets!

Original poster
Peckhaminn · 02/04/2023 22:27

There's around 5000 good reviews and 2000 awful and a few in between. We booked it two years ago, so not sure what's happened since

OP posts:
mnahmnah · 02/04/2023 22:45

Can you share the name of the hotel? I would give my honest feelings after having a look!

It is also worth cross referencing reviews on booking.com as well as trip advisor, or the reviews on the holiday company website too

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Holidays
thenightsky · 02/04/2023 22:48

I always study reviews before I book.

Netcam · 02/04/2023 22:50

Can you change the hotel or is it part of a package? I would cancel if it's not too late and book something else. I read reviews very carefully and check them from various sites. The odd one or two bad ones might be OK, as long as the majority are good. I think you also need to read between the lines and find out what the issues were and if they would bother you. For example, if multiple people got food poisoning I would not be risking eating there. Because I really need a decent bed, I would be very wary if lots of people said the beds were really uncomfortable.

TurnedOutOrangesAndLemonsAgain · 03/04/2023 10:50

We went to Liberty Lykia in Turkey and hadn’t realised they had previously had fairly regular and massive outbreaks of a norovirus-style illness.

It happened again while we were there, and there were some frighteningly ill people. Many people sued Thomas Cook; some got their claims paid, but some won their claims and lost out in the payout because TC went into administration. The court cases took YEARS to come to a conclusion.

I now read reviews more carefully before booking.

CalistoNoSolo · 03/04/2023 11:01

I wouldn't book anywhere without reading the reviews, and wouldn't book anywhere with less than 4.5/5 stars. Why did you book the hotel two years in advance?

Xjshdvf · 03/04/2023 11:05

What are the reviews complaining about? Before our most recent holiday I looked at the reviews for all the local hotels and there were always some complaints and no hotel had none. The ones for our hotel which was worried me were that it was dirty but we had no problems and there were gripes about the food but again we had no problems. Recently I went to a spa and was worried about the poor reviews but the things people complained about weren’t anything that would overly bother me.

IAmInMeHoop · 03/04/2023 11:13

Depends...are there 2000 terrible ones but the newer ones are all good....so its improving? Or are there 5000 great ones but all in the last year are terrible, so it's ging downhill?

Are the reviews sensible, so not people complaing that theres too much spanish food in Spain, for example? What about photos?

mummywithtwokidsplusdog · 03/04/2023 11:14

We went on holiday to a hotel that had mixed reviews- I think some people have massively unrealistic expectations at times…

lovelypidgeon · 03/04/2023 11:27

Are the bad points raised in recent reviews things that are a real problem for you? A few years ago we went to a hotel knowing that it had quite a few negative reviews but it was in the area we wanted and very cheap (AI for less than the price of room only in many nearby hotels). Most of the reviews were about the lack of english food at breakfast, lack of evening entertainment and limited number of food choices in the evening. None of this was a bid deal for us- particularly as it was so cheap. We had a lovely holiday but loads of the other guests were complaining a lot and writing terrible tripadvisor reviews whilst they were there. It seemed like groups of them were egging each other on to complain about more and more when in reality it as a basic hotel for a low price so shouldn't have been a surprise that the choice and quality of what was on offer was not 5*. These people were all incredibly rude to the staff so I'm not surprised that staff were a bit grumpy with them and not that helpful (another thing they complained about on tripadvisor). We were respectful to the staff and they were all very pleasant.

Im99912 · 03/04/2023 11:31

What hotel
I’ve been to several hotels in Cancun often several times and I find the Americans will write bad reviews for stuff that wouldn’t even register with me
so I look at nationality first and then decide

however TUI used to have a few 3 star Cancun hotel which would be the equivalent to Britannia style hotels in the uk and I wouldn’t stay in them I’d you paid me -££££ and it was free

Chewbecca · 03/04/2023 11:35

It depends on what the reviews are complaining about, what the positives are etc. If they were factors important to me, I would try to move hotels. Americans (who form the majority of guests in Cancun) complain more readily than us Brits IME, especially about WiFi quality for example and service not as they expect, both of which I ignore. They also don't typically value the things I do such as proximity to bars / restaurants.

Can you share?

thimblewomgee247 · 03/04/2023 11:40

I agree with some of the above. Have a close look at who has written the reviews. I stayed in an amazing place in Mexico years ago. There where many bad reviews, almost all from Americans, the where marking it one start for things like "half hour wait for the Italian restaurant". Waiter service at the pool was too slow and so on. Just seemed very picky. To clarify not being horrible about Americans, I just notified it on this occasion

THisbackwithavengeance · 03/04/2023 11:54

TBH I rarely look at reviews these days because we have become a nation of complainers and whingers and half the complaints will be made up or exaggerated because people are looking for money back.

Regarding Mexico, they cater mainly to the American tourist who - as other posters have pointed out- take no prisoners when it comes to customer service. So the hotels will be good as otherwise they'd likely go out of business.

I honestly wouldn't worry in your shoes.

LIZS · 03/04/2023 12:12

Moans normally make more noise than compliments sadly. Nationaliity and expectations can affect feedback. A lot of people do not research so things like proximity to beach, airport noise, size of complex, buffet meals etc can be avoided if they had realised. What is the nature of the complaints? I'd be concerned if it was cleanliness, lack of service, facilities out of action, food poisoning.

pauline987 · 03/04/2023 18:31

We were in this same boat last summer. Trip advisor reviews were absolutely awful. Complaining about the food and staff being rude, the entrainment not being great, bars not serving certain drinks etc. it was a holiday village quite far out of the main town so wouldn't have been able to leave and eat out easily

We were trying to change the hotel but hadn't thought to check the reviews until very close to travel date and couldn't get it changed.

We went anyways and there was absolutely nothing to worry about. It was lovely. My friend said to me that people will always leave a bad review if they are disgruntled or something hasnt lives up to their expectations but most people wouldn't think to leave a good review if they had a good experience.

Turned out in our case that was true. I hope it is for you too 😃

Movinghouseatlast · 03/04/2023 18:36

Yes. I went to one in Barbados that had awful reviews but reading between the lines people were expecting champagne on a lemonade budget! For the money it was fantastic but if you had gone wanting the lap of luxury then yes it would be disappointing.

gabsdot45 · 03/04/2023 18:51

We went to a hotel in Majorca which was described as "It's like Jeremy Kyle bought a hotel" in one Trip advisor review.
I didn't see that review until we were already there though and it wasn't all that bad. I think there had been a rough crowd there a few weeks earlier,

CharlotteStreetW1 · 03/04/2023 18:52

We stayed in an apart-hotel in Sydney which had some bad reviews. It was an incredible place!

Also went on a beautiful day excursion in Kenya and another couple were talking about what they were going to complain about on Trip Advisor. I told them I would counter their review. I was so cross (especially as we ran a B&B at the time and every "you have a new review" email had my stomach in knots!).

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