Next month, I am taking my daughter to Europe -- more specifically France, Italy and Switzerland. I'm looking forward to the trip but thinking about how much it will cost sends my heart racing.
Yesterday, I was finalizing some of our accommodation, reading users reviews on Trip Advisor, which is a trip in and of itself.
You'll be reading about some place that everybody's loving and then someone will come along and say it's the worst hotel ever. You almost need a psychology degree to decide which reviews to accept and which to blow off.
I found myself asking, OK, is this person a total clean freak or do they have a point? I mean 79 out of 80 people say it's clean and one claims it's filthy.
And what about the guy who expects a large hotel room in Zurich at 2-star prices? Got to be an American, right? Wrong. StereotyIrish! Hmmm, guess all that stuff about the booming Irish economy really is true. And let me tell you, there are a whole bunch of discontented travellers from Toronto.
And so it went. Tales of rude receptionists, small elevators, plastic wrapped croissnts in Italy of all places. My Gawd, how did we ever manage to do anything before the internet?
Oh yes, now I remember. Time was I was constantly fleeing sketchy hotels in Paris or putting up with them.
Really, I just require clean, well ventilated and safe. On the kind of vacation we're on, we won't be spending much time in the room anyway. I think I picked some winners but we'll just have to wait and see whether Trip Advisor delivers.
9 comments:
Did you book all your places already?
Is it crass to put a link to my trips blog so you can browse some of the places we've been?
All except in the Cinque Terre but I'm not committed so if you have better and cheaper, I'll be over to check it out along with the baby pictures.
In Europe the hotel star system is not standardized. The older the hotel the less standardized. Or so I found.
And you know what people who comment on feedback forums (and blogs) are like: undisciplined, indecisive and unreliable. Isn't that right, Espanya?
Tearfree, I almost didn't recognize you under your other handle. I haven't been to the Cinque Terre, so I have nothing to offer you (Tanya hanging her head in shame and despair).
Yeah, GT, those people are freaks!
I have marvelled over the same thing when using Trip Advisor, and have come to the conclusion that the one naysayer in the sea of those raving about a place is the type of person who would bitch and complain in a Ritz. Some people are just never happy, and some North Americans, I realize, expect North American-sized rooms with mini-bar, indoor pool, porn channel, Nintendo, etc., or for them the hotel is a spectacular failure. And for me it is the absence of those things that can often make a hotel fabulous.
Hmmmm...my In-Laws....Justkidding!
When traveling, Sarge and I only complain about food. Not the expense, because hey, you're traveling of course it's expensive. We like to complain about quality, because well, honestly, we like to eat good food.
And I wouldn't say we complain often.
Tearfree, this trip to Europe with your daughter sounds delightful. Hope we get some posts on it.
My 10-year old daughter is suffering a case of early on-set teenager. Not sure I could stand such an adventure with her...
or maybe that would just be the thing.
GT: That will end in about seven years. Enjoy!
Dear God
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