Ridicuous hotel review

[Kubricklayer]

I'm due to visit Tenerife soon so thought I'd check out the recent reviews of our hotel (not sure why since it's all booked and paid for). Anyway here's the latest one:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g672806-d13290846-r1006147219-BahiaPrincipeFantasiaTenerife-GolfdelSurSanMigueldeAbonaTenerifeCan.html

Is it just me or is this a ridiculous review? Traveller unable to go due to medical emergency. Attempts to change hotel stay the day before they're due to occupy the accommodation, but hotel refuse. Then blames hotel.

Isn't this what travel insurance is for? How can you reasonably expect a hotel to find new occupants with less than 24 hours notice ('notified the night before')?

I had a laugh at a review of Brighton. Apparently it's "crap" because their child was sick on the beach and they got a parking ticket for parking in a disabled spot without a blue badge!

If you deal with the public you will get some customers who are difficult or who have completely unreasonable expectations. I have seen reviews criticising a hotel because it rained during a stay.... Personally I do look to see that there are some bad reviews as it makes it feel like the reviews are genuine. Where there are no bad reviews or only one or two I become suspicious.

@CaptainMyCaptain Yes comments of cleanliness and broken things not reputed is a red flag for me too. I do think the best places will be clean but lots of countries allow smoking. Personally I hate it but it’s very difficult to avoid.

@suki1964 I always think ‘ why don’t they mix it up then- one day just have juice and fruit and pastries, another cheese, bread, smoked salmon, ham etc and then another an omelette, mushrooms, tomatoes etc’ !! As you say at home I bet their breakfast is ‘samey’ most of the time. I’m not really sure what people expect . The only time I’ve had an issue with this was in Greece, an upmarket B&b - every morning was home made cakes , all very sweet and sickly , Greek yoghurt, fruit compote, no hot stuff at all - no cold meats, no eggs etc - what there was was indeed very good quality but was incredibly samey - after first 3 days we went into town and got omelettes/toasties/avocado on toast etc every day .

😂

'Hotel full of old people.'

How dare an establishment rent rooms to the chronologically challenged.

I've reported it to Trip Advisor as it's a false review, Totally unfair to make down on value, location, rooms, cleanliness and sleep quality when you didn't even go!

I once googled reviews of a (as it happens very good) resort we were about to stay in and there was a 1* review complaining that the hotel did not do enough to help the stray cat population on the island where it was located. WTF?

I like to go away several times a year, I only spend £1800-2000 for 3 of AI, usually Canaries or Turkey. Some of the reviews are awful, and I just can't understand what people are expecting for around £600pp for flights, accommodation and all your food and drink! I take them with a pinch of salt, the only time I've ever changed accommodation based on a review was when xh went to the same hotel we'd booked, but 6 months earlier, I trust the word of someone I actually know!

I have a rule of thumb based on the official star rating of the hotel.

A 4-star hotel should have 4.5 or above average on Google. A 3-star hotel should have 4.2. A 2-star hotel with 4.0 or above can often be pretty good. One of my favourite places to stay in a city that I visit quite often has 4.4* average because although all you get is a bed and a shower and a continental breakfast, those are all great.

For restaurants I try to go for places rated 4.0 or above. If it's trying to be a nice place then I look for 4.4 or so. I once ate at a self-styled "fine dining" place where the 8-course tasting menu was about £100 and it was really poor, and only afterwards did I discover that it was only just above halfway of all restaurants in its city on TripAdvisor. Unsurprisingly it closed soon afterwards.

For car hire, 3.2 or so is actually a decent average, because not many people take the trouble to write a 5* review ("I rented a car, it worked, I brought it back") whereas lots of people think they are getting ripped off because they don't understand how car hire works.

The other thing that amazes me is when people say something like "Very friendly staff. Close to public transport. Small but neat rooms" (this is the entire text of an actual review that I just picked at random) and then give 3. If there's nothing wrong, give 5, people!

Wonder how you could make a hotel less posh....

wet t-shirt competition in the lobby?

Have you seen this one - American leaves review of hotel in Portree criticising their soap but it was actually tablet 😂

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8095003/amp/American-tourist-blasts-Isle-Skye-hotel-mistaking-complimentary-sweet-soap.html

Some people will complain about anything. I worked with a woman who wrote a formal complaint to her hotel because

1. the waiter once brought her normal coke instead of Diet Coke (this happened once)
2. the Chinese restaurant next door charged 20p for soya sauce.

The hotel sent her a £10 voucher

Would definitely be annoyed at the lack of fried eggs! Scrambled eggs tend to be rubbery at buffets.

We've got hotel accommodation attached to our office. Some of the reviews are hilarious:

"It was dark when we checked in". Yep, it was 10pm in the middle of winter.

"We couldn't see the sea". Well .... we are at least 60 miles from the sea here.

To be fair to the hotel, hospitality everywhere is under strain so they simply cannot do it anymore

This reminds me of when I was lucky enough to stay at a gorgeous tented lodge in The Serengeti. It was stunning. Every evening we had to listen to a Texan guy puffing huge cigars complain that he hadn't seen a White Rhino that day and that it was the Rangers fault and they should do more to find one for him and his party to look at. At that time, 25 years ago, there were 2 White Rhinos left in the entire Serengeti, since extinct. I can only imagine the reviews he would have left on TR if it had been around!

Yup, you get some silly people writing silly reviews. I booked a hotel in a secluded area which states very clearly it’s in a secluded area and would need to use a car or public transport to get to the beach and town/ nightlife. The website stated that at least 3 times, yet lo and behold someone wrote a review saying that the hotel is rubbish as it’s miles away from anywhere, no shops, nothing to do and too quiet 🤷‍♀️

The waves come crashing onto the shore by the Hilton Barbados 🤷‍♀️

I once chose a hotel (in Morocco) based on a bad review that there was too much Moroccan food at the buffet and the only food the reviewers kids could eat was pizza because there was NO CHIPS AND NUGS!

There's a thread in Classics Thickos on TripAdvisor | Mumsnet

I didn’t think Americans were allowed in Cuba for general tourism?

You used to be able to go on a particular visa. Obama opened it up, but that’s stopped.

I don't understand this expectation at all. It means that they have lost a booking for the original time — yes they got the money but not all the extras that come with that (bar/entertainment/food purchases/excursions etc) PLUS they then lose a whole week of revenue for another period of time. It makes no good sense at all for a hotel that has robust bookings to give away a week of business for free because someone didn't book comprehensive travel insurance.

@Katbum I agree - we once couldn’t go to Stockholm for various reasons but reasons that were outside of the annual comprehensive insurance cover We had - we just had to suck it up - if it had been close relatives deaths etc then yes we would have been covered off . Such is life -