There are only two (2) consistently reliable travel review sites: AAA and Fodors. AAA conducts annual on site reviews of of every lodging establishment rated 4-diamonds and above, and, on occassion, AAA inspectors spend the night.

As for tripadvisor -- beware. I suspect that many of the glowing reviews are bogus. Several years ago I compiled a comparison chart that I sent to tripadvisor regarding the unusually high number of reviews (all of which gave the highest ratings) for a five unit lodging establishment in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Interestingly, it had twice the number of reviews posted than the 550 room Fairmont Chateau Whistler. How could this be? Also of interest was the fact that almost every review review was posted on a Tuesday or Wednesday by a "first-time reviewer." And better yet, how could it be that it remaied NUMBER ONE on tripadvisor even after it went out of business?

As an owner of a lodging establishment, I suggest that you read the article about travel reivews in Budget Travel Magazine. It recommends that you knock out the high and low reivews. It also rated AAA and Fodors as the most reliable.

Another interesting fact is that tripadvisor, which has no problem publishing negative reivews, will at times, refuse to publish positive reivews. Interestingly, this problem does not exist when a property is picked as an annual award winner.

As to how bogus positive reviews get by tripadvisor's so-called review process, I suspect that some lodging sites are using "ghost surfing" programs that hide the true identity (ip address) of the reviewer. Bogus posters are also getting smarter -- they post numerous reviews, thus giving the impression that the review is legit.

My advice to you is before deciding on the highest rated property, read the reviews to see if they sound too alike. For example, does ever reviewer review refer to the innkeepers as "Jim & Linda" and never "Linda & Jim"? If the content and style are similar, chances are that they are written by the same person.

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