Anyone catch this on Channel 4 earlier? I write reviews occasionally on Trip Advisor but it was all a bit weird and shows the power of the reviewer. Some right dicks on there on both sides.

Watching on the +1 now.

My ears pricked up when the owner of The Royal Sportsman* (Porthmadog) had a one liner...but that was it, obviously other storylines were more interesting.

*It was "quirky".

I logged on and read the reviews mentioned on the programme. The view of the place in St Ives was nasty and wicked and I can't believe it was entirely truthful. The seafood restaurant place I wasn't sure if I found on Trip Advisor or not because I couldn't find a bad review regarding the food. Those two owners were waaaaay too confrontational when the bad reviewers came back for another meal.

Seems like those that are addicted to trip advisor are on some sort of power trip, thus ruining people's livlehood. What a tw*t that bloke was that had to mark the bedsheets to see if they had been changed. Apparently bullied at school ! Well trip advisor seems like his way of PAYBACK !!

It's a shame because there are always people who will use and abuse such websites, but I still think that on the whole, a busy and well run establishment will get enough good and genuine reviews if they keep doing things right for people to realise it is a decent place to stay or eat.

The male owner and "chef" at the Seaford Restaurant actually boasted about the fact that he cooked the breakfast (bacon, sausages etc etc) the night before and then warmed it up in the microwave and reckoned it tasted better

The Lake District B&B was just plain daft to have soft porn Lady Chatterley pictures on the wall to the entrance hall.

The tiger on the wall was a tad odd as well.

I'm suspicious of the places with only good reviews, though.

shouldn't we all treat reviews on products / services on line with a pinch of salt anyway?


I am always under the impression that people will generally only review something if they are unhappy. Rarely will people who get a good service go to that trouble.

A pinch of salt to a degree, yes, because you still need to make your own mind up, but I always try and review hotels now whether I am happy or not. It is just as important to tell people they are doing things right as it is when things go wrong. Trip Advisor is full of positive reviews for the good places, so people do bother.

I do a lot of research now, epsecially on Trip Advisor before booking anywhere, and if you are prepared to read through a fair bit, you can gauge the overall opinion. Those on the TV programme were from the extremes of reviewers and reviewees though, otherwise it would have made for a boring hour of TV!

I think there is a problem though, if you run a place which has less than 20 reviews, because the odd one or two bad ones thrown in can be very damaging.

Not in our experience - we ask departing guests to leave a review, and they have all been very positive -
http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p87023#reviews

Stunning property. Fiso discounts?

I watched it.

The kid who was 26 and made a small mark on the quilt with a pen to see if it was changed was a sad git of the highest order. Checking to see if all the free goodies would be replenished ?? Do us a favour.

The gay couple checking to see if the bog brush was dirty ? Who looks at that ??
And they found some water in the kettle. Big wows I felt sorry for that lady hotelier. And the extractor fan in the bathroom made a noise after the light went off. Jeez bloody hell !

That said, the hotelier in the Lake District had some bizarre furnishings - stuffed animal heads and some rather explicit art work on display.

He probably leaves a different kind of marking when the cameras aren't there! Oddly enough, I thought they had a bit of a point about the bog brush, although if I had seen one in there I would have just left it alone and not checked for cleanliness anyway. I personally hate bog brushes, especially in hotels and B&Bs. Without being too graphic, they are basically covered in somebody elses doings!

When I worked for Thomson I booked myself into the Botanico in Puerto De La Cruz, for the first two nights my Aircon was out of order and I slept on top of the Bed, on the Third Day I climbed Teide and returned to find the Aircon on full and my room like a fkn meat locker.

I was dead on my feet, had a quick shower got dried and quickly pulled back the sheets, only to find more curly Human hair than a Hummingbird would need to build a nest.

I will spare you the details of the aftermath, but I tend to be suspicious of lazy housekeeping now.

Two nights sleeping on top of that(shivers)

Brilliant!!