A Travel Agent's Review on Travel Reviews

Pull up a place you want to stay at on tripadvisor.com and find poor reviews?

Use this guide to see which reviews are justified and which to avoid basing your own opinions on. And, learn how to make sure you don't end up writing a negative one yourself by seeing how to get exactly what you are looking for.

Keep in Mind Where You are Traveling

I see complaints from travelers about service staff not speaking their language or an environment they did not expect. Please remember that if you are going abroad, even to Cancun, Mexico, you are traveling to a country in which a different language is spoken - and that should be half the fun! While we assume Cancun caters to the North American population, it is in fact a true international destination with many European and Asian patrons who come at various times of the year!

While a handful of staff, especially at the front desk, should speak sufficient English to get you what you are need, it should never be assumed as a guarantee or expected! Secondly, many countries south of the border find marble and other stone-work to be their prevalent building material.

Please do not be surprised if your resort, with this beautiful decor, is more noisy and has echoes that travel throughout. It is just a by-product of this coveted resource! Lastly, keep in mind where you are going. My personal favorite is are those who travel to a more rustic destination, such as Costa Rica, and are surprised by the muggy climate and the critters (i.e. lizards, insects, etc...) throughout. Sorry, but this is their natural habitat and in Costa Rica their culture does not include spraying pesticides. Remember, if you don't want to experience ALL a place has to offer, please do not go, or don't let the fact that you didn't know this would be what awaiting you ruin the experience for more educated travelers.

Food & All-Inclusives

I don't know why people who pay $1,000/person for a 3-star all-inclusive resort complain about the food. Can someone explain to me how they expect a resort that houses 400-500 rooms on average can feed 800-1,000 people on any given day at mutliple locations throughout the property and get top of the line food?

If you want really good food, you are going to have to pay for it or book at a smaller resort that is able to focus more on quality than quantity. Along those same lines, please know that there is no true definition a resort must follow to be labeled 'all-inclusive.' Each resort is very open about what their individual package(s) include. Some booking websites online may not give you all the information, but it is your choice how much fine print you readn and not the resort's fault that your booking avenue did not give you all the information. Chances are if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Grounds & Activities

There are a lot of reviews that give resorts negative marks for the beach and the excursions/activities they do. In regards to the beach, please know this is a piece of nature and hard to be controlled by people! If you have seaweed on the beach, this is because you are at a plave with seaweed beds offshore...kill those and you have no more reefs or wildlife for those who want to snorkel, scuba or fish on vacation. Certain destinations, and parts of destinations will have seaweed, rocks, shells, etc.. and for a lot of things, it can be ever changing based on season and weather patterns.. again do your research! They are not everywhere, but these factors exist and it is not the resort's fault that you did not see this was going to be the case. Also, weather is not controlled by the resort either - if you have poor weather or travel to a destination recently gorged by a natural disaster, please do not complain about it even if you got a swimmingly good deal! Also, excursions tha tyou may choose to go on are not offered through the resort, even though they allow vendors to set up shop on their properties. If you are not satisfied with what they give you, then please remember this is seperate and you shouldn't be judging the resort on your experience. I always see people complain aobut the lack of beach and pool-side chairs available for use. Blame your fellow traveler for this as they are the ones who lazily reserve a sunny spot and don't use it, or get up at 7AM like they do to reserve your own spot. There is really nothing anyone can do about it, except have other travelers be more respectful and mindful of their resort mates.

Be Cautious of How You Book

Many complaints indicate that their reservations were not waiting for them, or not communicated properly to the property.

As a travel agent, it's really difficult for me to address this, as I am obvioulsy biased; however, there are many booking agents that don't communicate well with the resorts and the resorts are the ones who end up getting blamed!

If your information isn't on file, chances are you will need to call your booking venue, and if you can't get through or get someone to help you, then I think you will know who to blame.

Typically, when you are asked the type of bedding you prefer, it is a preference and not a guarantee! A lot of booking sites don't even ask your preference; assumption is what will give you different realities than what you expect!

If your hotel is under construction, or there is construction in the surrounding area, this is also not the resort's fault, but something that you should have been made aware of a head of time. As a travel agent, we are privy to this knowledge and inform our clients of any potential renovations or changes to the property that could affect them.

If you didn't know, this is not the resort's fault but instead you did not do your research or booked through a site that decided not to inform you. Also, please know that by requesting certain things from a property you are asking them to do something out of the ordinary.

Asking to have an upgrade because it's your honeymoon is a great idea! In fact, there are certain resorts that indicate they WILL grant honeymooners special perks such as an upgrade, spa discounts, free room-service, etc... but that is not guaranteed by sending an e-mail to the resort.

There are proper ways of letting a resort know you are celebrating a special occasion, would like a certain type of room, or are traveling with another party you woud like to be near.

Unfortunately, if your request cannot be granted, please know this is probably because the services you are looking for are unavailable and may have been taken by those who either paid a premium for these special amenities or reserced them when they booked.

Typically, resorts will not adhere to special requests from clients (can you even imagine how many of these special e-mail requests a given resort gets in a day? How many do you think they are even actually able to honor?), but if you go about doing it right at the time of purchase, you will be pleasantly surprised how it turns out in your favor!

It is not the resort's fault that how you bookd the trip did not notate that you had special requests, but always remember; a REQUEST is not a GUARANTEE and the property should not be judged poorly because you didn't go about getting what you wanted in the correct manner.

Especially during busy travel times you should be prepared and expect that upgrades may not be available due to the dact that all higher room categories may be taken.

Should these people who paid for a better room need to give it up just because it is your anniversary? If you want a romantic anniversary, you will need to pay for it or make sure that the resort you are travelling to has policies for anniversary trips and also ensure that they get the message correctly.

Along these same lines, please remember that any given property is going to have check-in and check-out times for which you should be aware.

If you book a flight that gets in at 10 a.m and the hotel has no room available, why are you surprised?

The property clearly states that check-in begins at 3 p.m. and check-out is at 11 a.m.- so again, if you book your flight out at 6 p.m. and they ask you to vacate by 11 a.m., why are you surprised?

This is the same pretty much across the board, so please adhere to the resorts' advertised times (if how you booked doesn't give them to you, it is not the resort's fault).

As Always, You Get What You Pay For

If you want a 5-star resort, you are going to have to pay for it. Otherwise, please do not get huffy at a 3-star resort for not being what you originally wanted.

Certain Things that DO Deserve Negative Reviews

If things being promised by the resort and not followed up on, things being dirty or not well-kept, items being stolen, etc.... However, please remember that someone who has a poor experience is MUCH more inclined to write about it when they are in a sour mood that someone who had a good time.

Reviews can be tricky, some are completely justified and should be taken into consideration when deciding on a place to stay or a destination to visit. However, please remember that as the consumer there are things YOU can do to make sure you are getting what you want!

Happy Travels!