How much attention do you pay to reviews?

[Kayzr]

We've been looking at a hotel in Cancun for our honeymoon next year. It looks amazing, DP has stayed at a hotel in the same chain in Cancun and says it was brilliant.

The only problem is that there are some reviews saying it is very damp and smells very mouldy. There are 57 terrible reviews compared to the 1500 excellent ones.

Should I just read the good reviews?

Hmmm well if 57 people have said its damp and smells moldy it probably does! But if you know that in advance and aren't bothered by it and you have a realistic view before you go - and 1500 other people love it - then you may decide to go for it. Alternatively if DH has stayed somewhere else brilliant, perhaps could go there?

Yes. 1500 are too many to have faked, though if the the bad ones are are in a rush recently there may have been a change of management, or other sudden decline ... there is always a certain percentage of hotel guests who have an inflated sense of entitlement for their budget and throw tantrums went they don't get it IMHO

Pinch of salt - reviews are like wading through custard. I check to see of the reviewer's posting history on TripAdvisor to see if it looks fishy! Also the US market has different (higher) expectations that us in the UK, which doesn't mean we complain less, just that we don't expect the Ritz if we have booked a Holiday Inn.

it depends on what the reviews say tbh.

e.g. recently I was looking at hotel reviews and one reviewer had given it 1 star on the basis that they didn't like the noisy children there and felt they were "less well behaved than other hotels I've visited." well that's not the hotel's fault is it?

Equally though I've seen reviews where the food/cleanliness of the pool/safety of the water sports etc has been widely criticised and I would pay more attention to those esp if there were several with similar complaints.

I always look at how many other reviews they have posted - if they only have 1 contribution then I take what they say with a pinch of salt.

Also, when the bad review were left - if there is lots recently I would worry.