RCI's published "Reviews" of resorts-- do they do more harm than good?

[geekette]

I don't pay attention to reviews.

We don't tend to care about the same things as most people. Also you cannot always determine the perspective of the writer - is this guy used to Hyatt's or Motel 6's?? Out of context, review info is meaningless to me and even in context, what is anyone's definition of "Nice" or "plush" or "luxurious"? Somehow I think we all have different definitions!

I remember someone posting on this board about a resort not meeting their standards because there were no granite countertops. This is absolutely not going to impact my stay at all but that reviewer knocked the resort for it. That's fine FOR THAT REVIEWER but skews the score for those of us who don't care about that. Were I to find a negative score and not know that it's based on lack of high end materials, I could easily remove that resort from my list of potential stays. which would be the wrong thing to do For Me. So, I don't pay attention to reviews.

I can call the resort for specific information on amenities, distance from wherever, number bathrooms, whatever. I'll find out the rest when I arrive. Haven't been disappointed so far.

all that said, I believe review systems are a good thing for most people.

 

[Twinkstarr]

I remember someone posting on this board about a resort not meeting their standards because there were no granite countertops.

You've only read one review that mentioned granite countertops?

My DH will go through the reviews(when we are trying to get a feel for an area) and granite countertops or lack of them color many people's view. :hysterical: It's one of those things he finds amusing because he's seen it quite a few times. And it tends to come mostly from owners of one of the "major" TS companies.

We're used to going up to Northern MI, where to rent a summer week with or without granite tops is probably going to run you $3000+.

 

[laura1957]

I don't pay attention to reviews.

We don't tend to care about the same things as most people. Also you cannot always determine the perspective of the writer - is this guy used to Hyatt's or Motel 6's?? Out of context, review info is meaningless to me and even in context, what is anyone's definition of "Nice" or "plush" or "luxurious"? Somehow I think we all have different definitions!

I remember someone posting on this board about a resort not meeting their standards because there were no granite countertops. This is absolutely not going to impact my stay at all but that reviewer knocked the resort for it. That's fine FOR THAT REVIEWER but skews the score for those of us who don't care about that. Were I to find a negative score and not know that it's based on lack of high end materials, I could easily remove that resort from my list of potential stays. which would be the wrong thing to do For Me. So, I don't pay attention to reviews.

I can call the resort for specific information on amenities, distance from wherever, number bathrooms, whatever. I'll find out the rest when I arrive. Haven't been disappointed so far.

all that said, I believe review systems are a good thing for most people.

I feel the same way - I LOVE reading a detailed review, whether positive or negative. I don't really care about the "ratings". I have read really positive reviews and knew that I would NEVER want to go to that resort, I have also read extremely negative reviews and thought that the resort sounded perfect - for us. I don't pay any attention to the rating at all, without some detail about why they rated it that way.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

But you can also say the opposite that some reviewers see things through "rose" colored glasses. One resort that we stayed at a few years a go was a dump. Everything was old probably from the 1980s. They even sewed the holes in the sheets instead of buying new sheets. The carpet was worn everywhere. Everything just needed to be dumped and replaced. Anyways... all the reviews around my review gave it glowing reviews.... But the reason it got glowing reviews is that it was located in San Francisco. I think, most of the reviewers were just so excited to stay in SF that they could look pass all the faults of the resort. It annoys me because this resort gets a premier rating in II which it is clearly not but that just my opinion. I don't understand the premier ratings vs the pineapple. If you look in II you'll see all the SF resorts get premier ratings while in Hawaii not all the resorts get premier. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out these ratings...

That said I love reading reviews and I give a review for every resort we visit. However, we tend to stay at the name brand resorts most of the time. We have children so for now the resort type amenities are important but as we get older I'm sure the location with play a bigger role in our choices in exchanging...

 

[Keitht]

Reviews are bound to be coloured by personal preference. Some people love resorts with 'Activity Managers' and virtually everything organised for them, but for me that's the exact opposite of what I want. Some people demand that everything be of 5* quality whereas to me, as long as the place is clean and comfortable, location is far more important.
The bottom line is that it's highly unlikely that any resort will appeal to everybody. All I do is read the reviews to get a general flavour for the place. If all reviews are positive that's great; if all reviews are negative that would certainly sound a warning. The reality is that most times there will be a mix of good and middling reviews with the occasional bad one. As long as people are honest with their opinions I think reviews, even bad ones, are actually beneficial to exchangers and the companies. The exchange company can use bad reviews to beat the resort round the head with for improvements

 

[dukebigtom]

In an earlier post, someone said: I wasn't necessarily talking about cpomparing a new resort to an old one....I just thought it was interesting that the established resorts (which have had 1000s of visitors) had only 2 reviews while a resort less than a year old has managed to get 7 reviews. There seems to be a disparity in the reviews/visitors ratio. Just found it interesting....

If I am not mistaken, RCI purged their system recently so there were no reviews for any resorts for a while. Hence, it is very possible that an older resort may not have as many reviews as a new one.

Some good points were made throughout this string. I think the most important one is that we ALL should try to be diligent in reviewing every resort we visit. I usually look at RCI reviews and TUG reviews before booking anything. However, I must admit I have relied more heavily on TUG. What I have noticed lately is that in some cases, there are newer reviews on RCI than on TUG. So, in that case, that is all I have to work with.

The other thing I have noticed over the years with rating systems of all kinds is that often I look at a negative review and read between the lines and think to myelf.............this person wouldn't be happy with anything.........then I move on.

However, in the end, that Gold Crown does hold weight for me.

BigTom

 

[skimble]

The other thing I have noticed over the years with rating systems of all kinds is that often I look at a negative review and read between the lines and think to myelf.............this person wouldn't be happy with anything.........then I move on.

However, in the end, that Gold Crown does hold weight for me.

BigTom

I read between the lines too, but the snapshot synopsis is the unfair analysis. After two reviews, a resort reviewed by a sour person giving 1 star for every category, balanced by 5 stars gives the resort 2.5 stars total-- not even worth looking at for many (maybe even most) people. This has the potential to do real harm.
AND, this is a micro-example of the greater problem. Considering the vast majority of posters are either ecstatic or disappointed, the balance may not be a fair proportion. Even if you have a 50/50 mix of good reviews and bad, you still end up wtih 2.5.
[Of course, when you consider this, it says a lot for resorts that get 5 stars.]