Are really old resort reviews all that useful?

[Space Coast Laurie]

I've noticed that a number of resort have quite a few very old reviews and not much in the way recent reviews. Personally, I don't consider anything older than about two years to be all that relevant due to the changes that may have taken place. Having been timesharing many, many years, I question of the value of keeping very old ratings and reviews, and am wondering if it might be more useful to purge ratings and reviews after about five years or so, for the following reasons:

1) In a 5-year span, a resort may have done some serious refurbishments and may be in much better condition than what was reported in old ratings/reviews.

2) In a 5-year span, a resort may have done just about nothing in the way of refurbishments and with 260 weeks of usage, may be in much worse condition than what was reported in old ratings/reviews... this would apply to the units themselves and the furnishings therein, common areas, exercise equipment/clubhouse area, etc.

3) Management (even the management company) may have changed over that time, and a change of management can affect everything from the "vibe" of the place, to staff attitude, to policies, to activities, to charges for onsite amenities, etc.

4) Significant staff changes may have occurred. This can be good, this can be bad.

5) Onsite amenities, activities and policies may have changed dramatically. For example, an onsite laundry room may have been added or removed or made pay-per-use or made free, internet quality may have been improved or degraded or increased in cost or made free, they may have been charging for things like bicycle rentals which are now free or added charges that weren't around a few years ago, there may have been organized activities that have been eliminated or the resort may have added a rich activities program, etc.

6) Nearby restaurants, shopping, amusements and activities may have significantly improved or degraded.

7) I think people may sometimes not bother writing a review if there are already a large number of reviews on a resort (even if most of those reviews are older than dirt).

Thoughts?

 

[TUGBrian]

only reviews from the past few (I believe 7) are actually counted in the ratings, the rest are left there for historical purposes.

after all, someone took the time to share that information with the group, I see no reason to remove it...and many folks enjoy reading the transformation of a resort from good to bad, or from bad to good as the case may be =)

 

[sue1947]

I say keep them all. The old reviews may have info that is not included in the newer ones. While the decor might have changed, the area activities, the unit configurations and kitchen info will remain the same. Everybody travels differently and that old review might have been written by the only one who travels like I do.

Sue

 

[csxjohn]

I say keep them all. The old reviews may have info that is not included in the newer ones. While the decor might have changed, the area activities, the unit configurations and kitchen info will remain the same. Everybody travels differently and that old review might have been written by the only one who travels like I do.

Sue

Where's that like button we keep looking for? I agree with this post

 

[Ty1on]

I've noticed that a number of resort have quite a few very old reviews and not much in the way recent reviews. Personally, I don't consider anything older than about two years to be all that relevant due to the changes that may have taken place. Having been timesharing many, many years, I question of the value of keeping very old ratings and reviews, and am wondering if it might be more useful to purge ratings and reviews after about five years or so, for the following reasons:

1) In a 5-year span, a resort may have done some serious refurbishments and may be in much better condition than what was reported in old ratings/reviews.

2) In a 5-year span, a resort may have done just about nothing in the way of refurbishments and with 260 weeks of usage, may be in much worse condition than what was reported in old ratings/reviews... this would apply to the units themselves and the furnishings therein, common areas, exercise equipment/clubhouse area, etc.

3) Management (even the management company) may have changed over that time, and a change of management can affect everything from the "vibe" of the place, to staff attitude, to policies, to activities, to charges for onsite amenities, etc.

4) Significant staff changes may have occurred. This can be good, this can be bad.

5) Onsite amenities, activities and policies may have changed dramatically. For example, an onsite laundry room may have been added or removed or made pay-per-use or made free, internet quality may have been improved or degraded or increased in cost or made free, they may have been charging for things like bicycle rentals which are now free or added charges that weren't around a few years ago, there may have been organized activities that have been eliminated or the resort may have added a rich activities program, etc.

6) Nearby restaurants, shopping, amusements and activities may have significantly improved or degraded.

7) I think people may sometimes not bother writing a review if there are already a large number of reviews on a resort (even if most of those reviews are older than dirt).

Thoughts?

I like reading through old reviews up to the newer ones just to see if the resort or its surroundings have changed over time.

 

[tashamen]

I say keep them all. The old reviews may have info that is not included in the newer ones. While the decor might have changed, the area activities, the unit configurations and kitchen info will remain the same. Everybody travels differently and that old review might have been written by the only one who travels like I do.

I agree. The other side of this is that someone like me who repeatedly goes back to the same resort does not submit a new review every time because the basics are still the same. For example, I've been to the Club Intrawests in Tremblant and Sandestin numerous times over the last several years but only submitted one review of each.

 

[MichaelColey]

I agree with the ones who say to keep them. I definitely pay more attention to the new ones, but sometimes the old ones are helpful as well.

There are already things in place to encourage new reviews for ones that don't have recent ones (like the 6 month membership extension for a review of a resort that doesn't have a review within the past 6 months).

 

[presley]

While I personally don't pay much attention to any that are over 3 years old, if there aren't any recent reviews, I am glad that there are at least some available. I try to compare those old ones to the newer ones on Tripadvisor. And if there are only really old ones on Tug, I try really hard to remember to write a review after my stay.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Where's that like button we keep looking for? I agree with this post

I'd like to hit the like button as well,I totally agree

 

[geekette]

I say keep them all. The old reviews may have info that is not included in the newer ones. While the decor might have changed, the area activities, the unit configurations and kitchen info will remain the same. Everybody travels differently and that old review might have been written by the only one who travels like I do.

Sue

The part here that resonates is "everybody travels differently". I don't see any reason to purge older info as people are free to skip what they don't want to read. A brand new review all about kiddie activities would be pointless for me and not a good trade in replacing older review.

What's the problem with keeping everything around?

 

[TUGBrian]

youd be hard pressed to find any website period thats been around 20+ years (yahoo is one that comes to mind)...much less an online community that has survived and thrived that long. it amazes me every time I think about it.

 

[DaveNV]

I am one who writes updated reviews of resorts I've visited before, but my first review tends to contain the most info. Subsequent reviews tend to take on a "what's different about this visit" kind of tone. If I previously reported on amenities and such, about all that makes my review different is how my latest experience was good or bad for me.

Dave

 

[geekette]

youd be hard pressed to find any website period thats been around 20+ years (yahoo is one that comes to mind)...much less an online community that has survived and thrived that long. it amazes me every time I think about it.

Agreed, Yahoo is about all I can think of. Motley Fool started on AOL but became an ad-ridden crap trap, so thrived then sighed.

 

[pedro47]

I agree with the ones who say to keep them. I definitely pay more attention to the new ones, but sometimes the old ones are helpful as well.

There are already things in place to encourage new reviews for ones that don't have recent ones (like the 6 month membership extension for a review of a resort that doesn't have a review within the past 6 months).

I agree keep them; this give you a gauge if the resort is trying to maintain some good standards.

 

[MichaelColey]

I launched my first web page about 20 years ago, but didn't move it to an actual domain until about 16 years ago. It was hosted as a subdirectory on my web host's site before that (which was actually pretty common back then). In fact, eBay started out that way (also in 1995). eBay was actually a different web site, and "Auction Web" was hosted as a subdirectory "ebay.com/aw".

 

[TUGBrian]

I only remember yahoo existing because in 93 in the computer science lab at FSU...all the sun microsystem workstations had that as their homepage(although at the time, i dont think the term homepage existed...nor did the concept of a web browser...i dont even think netscape/mosaic existed or was available at that time)...it was the only access to the "internet" that existed at the time.

amazing how far things have come!

 

[CubaTravelExpert]

Reviews of resorts = Newsletters are a GREAT resource

First, thank you TUG for existing.

By keeping the old reviews here on TUG it is a single 'historical' place to access the changes, news, etc.

Recently I found a 'professional" bound notebook in the street that someone had compiled on the Oakland car company - old news paper clippings, drawings of factories, models of cars, stats, etc. - and when I tried to track down the owner, the ability to even find a website or facebook group on said company was hard enough. Once I did locate a resource, I was amazed at was in the notebook compared to little online. Hence TUG is an invaluable resource by keeping the old reviews.

In addition, you want to know more than you ever expected about a property, go to their site and find the 'owners' section or call and find out if they have an owners newsletter in PDF or similar that you can read. This gives some great insight and makes one appreciate the place they are going to, esp reading about the pride and effort that the management goes to in upkeeping, renovating, etc. Plus when you visit and meet owners, you can have a better sense of belonging. Then go, enjoy, and treat it gently for while you are visiting, someone else is trading into your unit doing the same ;-)

PS "TUG KEEP CALM AND BUY RESALE" - tshirt... does anyone have one of these available on the RESALE market?? just kidding... Carry on