A while back, I posted an article about why travel agents are so skeptical about relying on consumer reviews on sites such as Trip Advisor. Please be aware that I have posted reviews on these sites before and will continue to do so and I do use these sites as one component of my research on hotels (if I have no personal experience with them).
In a recent opinion article in a Travel Weekly magazine written by hotel editor, Jeri Clausing, this subject is discussed again.
To paraphrase the article, a certain hotel chain in Manhattan has launched a program to boost their consumer ratings on Citysearch and TripAdvisor and due to this program, they were able to increase their very favorable rankings to the #1 spots on both websites.
How did they do this? The hotel marketing director shared an idea that she got from a hotel in Florence, Italy. Upon leaving the hotel, she received an email. This was as "warm and personal note saying, 'It was great having you...and if you wish to make a comment, you are very welcome to click here and make a comment on TripAdvisor.'"
This hotel marketing director thought that this was such a great idea, they started sending similar emails to those guests who booked online. This hotel marketing director went on to say that they had very high rankings to begin with but this program managed to get them to the #1 spots on both Citysearch and TripAdvisor. She mentioned that hotel managers scan these websites for "sensible suggestions" and where they can make improvements.
Yes, this is a smart marketing tool for hotels. It is cheap and shows a great return on their investment. This hotel marketing director was using this program legitimately to help boost their rankings but please note that this is a MARKETING PROGRAM. Just as a hotel has great pictures on it's website, I would trust a guest's personal photos to show the a more accurate depiction of the property.
I, again, am not saying not to use these websites. What I am saying is to use them with a grain of salt. If every single review in the last 2 years has been wonderful, it sounds like you have a winner. If the reviews are very varied, ignore the ones that say "I loved it and want to live here forever" and ignore the ones that rate it poorly for things like "the toilet paper was scratchy or I left a camera out on the dresser and it was stolen."
Above all, ask me to recommend a hotel for you. I have resources that you might not have access to in helping plan your vacation.
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