Lettie Goes Travelling

I’m going to take a bit of a punt here and say you probably have the TripAdvisor app on your phone. I do. NB Other comparison apps are available 😜

If a friend says how about meeting here, or I’m given a hotel recommendation I will be straight onto the app to see the rating. And I used to take the star rating at face value. 4.9 – must be amazing.

And then a friend said something which just stopped me in my tracks – those reviewers aren’t you, how do you know their opinion is relevant?

I kinda didn’t have a response for that.

The next restaurant I looked up I dug a little deeper into the ‘bad’ reviews, the low scores, and found that everyone was complaining about the lack of high chairs and limited children’s menu options, whilst also saying that their food was very good.

Reviews and recommendations are all about perspective and expectations.

And when I travel its the same. In previous blogs you’ll have seen i have a favourite travel company who actually incentivise clients to recommend them by sending you a box of Prosecco if the person booking mentions your name… a have a couple of boxes chilling waiting for a special occasion. But it could have been more.

Why? Well because a couple of my friends and colleagues have asked me about my travel experiences, I’ve extolled their virtues but have caveated it with – I don’t think it would suit you. For people I know, who I strongly suspect it wouldn’t be a good fit for I would tell them – they can obviously decide for themselves. And even for casual contacts I have, I would always give a balance view. Otherwise it could bite you on the bottom.

I recently used an agency to help me with a long weekend away in March. I only wanted a hotel booking, but they took their time to ask me various questions about what was important to me, what I was really looking for before suggesting a couple of different options. One of which I had previously looked at but had to discount due to being over my budget.

I found their approach really refreshing, I was being offered options, but all based around my core requirements, think of it like the filter option online but as a conversation with a real person!

I was more than happy to book my preferred-now-in-budget option with them. Watch this space for how the trip goes.

Reviews and referrals can be really helpful.

But they only ever tell you part of the story.

The important thing is understanding what matters to you, and using that as your filter.

Because at the end of the day, you’re the one taking the trip.