It is with HUGE disappointment that TripAdvisor has shifted its valued "independent advice" role to a "supermarket" which unashamably sells products. It is now extremely difficult to compare properties in the same location. Location descriptions have been revamped so they no longer encompass all that is available, and the whole site has become one giant "booking engine".
Many of you will have relied upon the concept of TripAdvisor to provide independent reviews from actual users. This is no longer its function - just look at it now.......
You also need to know that there is an industry thriving on writing biased or fake reviews for TripAdvisor sites. If you can find the reviews you want to read on the new website, you really need to read them with discretion as many won't be real travellers......
As a journalist recently wrote in a leading Sydney newspaper ..... Travel Agents (and tour operators) are your personal "project managers" for your trip. From their experience they guide you through the minefield that travel has become.
Information through the internet is a wonderful gift to us all, but commercial motives distort and bias its use to someone else's benefit .......