Online Reviews

The purpose of posting a review for a product or service is to attest to one's personal experience with said product or service in order to assist another person in making a decision regarding said product or service. 

So why do reviews so often seem to make it more difficult to make a decision than less?

Getting ready for our trip to Florida I researched several potential stopping points along the way. Specifically, I was looking at various hotels we might stay in overnight. This is a process that begins for me prior to the trip and continues often to the very moment we are ready to check into the hotel, especially when we're not sure exactly what city we will end up stopping in. I like to have the flexibility to decide to stop early or keep going on a trip.

It's always hard to know where to stay if you're not familiar with the area. You have to balance the cost (I'm cheap, so that's important) with the amenities. For instance, most of the time we are looking for a place near the interstate and after we've been driving all day it's nice to have a treadmill to get some running on (or at least get to our 10,000 step goal) as a lot of times running in the area is kind of a sketchy deal. So with a variety of variables to consider, I always turn to online reviews.

Unfortunately, when it comes to hotels at least, the online reviews seem to make the process more difficult, not less. I think it's because the people who post reviews are often the disgruntled customers wanting to strike back at the hotel. Or they're the entitled customers who freak out because something isn't exactly to their snooty high standards. Regardless, there have been many times we have stayed in a particular location and found it to be perfectly acceptable, but to read the online reviews you would think they were horrid pits. Or you get the occasional, particularly unhelpful "we had loud people next to us" comment. Not usually something the hotel can control unless there are structural issues with soundproofing.

I think the big problem is the relative anonymity of most of the reviewers. A review would carry a lot more weight if it was from someone I knew personally, rather than Anonytraveler_347. 

That's one of the reasons I post "Rob's Recommendations" regularly on this blog - to help my friends (or readers) make a decision about a particular item. It may be that our relationship carries some weight and would help people find or avoid a particular items, service, place, product, tv show, movie, etc. Plus it may eventually generate good conversation in the comment area of this blog if anyone ever ends up commenting.

All that to say, if you find a good place to stay on the road, let me know! I'll do the same. Maybe we'll develop our own network of places to visit on our travels.