Tripadvisor UK

What does Verified mean? The person leaving the review has ACTUALLY stayed in the hotel they are reviewing. What checks are there to ensure this? NONE. Many people put honest reviews on TA, but a growing number of people put reviews on to boost their own business ratings - they will get friends and family to put reviews on and at worst put bad reviews on their competitors sites. This abuse of a laudable ideal is not everywhere but enough of a problem to skew perceptions. Check other sites as well to get a broader view, do not entirely trust TA.

Glad that there is this perfect website of great travel information about destinations, attractions, hotels, airlines, travel agents and much more. Never have I booked a hotel without consulting TA and most of the time they are correct.

I have been using tripadvisor.co.uk a lot to search for reviews about places I wanted to visit. After a while, when I became a member and started to share my own real experiences I found out that they block some of the reviews, mainly those about bad experiences in Hotels. I have been told that they offer the owner the possibility to block a review. Obviously I have cancelled my account with them and I encourage people not to trust in the reviews as they do not reflect the variety of customers real experiences

TRIP ADVISOR and Flipkey -FRAUD
I booked apartment in central London via Tripadvisor paying also for their "peace of mind policy" insurance (88 $). I gave visa card number and instead of blocking money on my account they collected it immediately.
I tried to contact the owner Martin C., I wrote him several times on his e-mail stated on flipkey but he did not respond. So I called the number provided in booking and man picked up: he said that I got the wrong number, that he is Martin indeed but he does not rent any apartments...
I tried to find property on flipkey or trip advisor but... It was not listed anymore... They removed it as they "found out that this individual does not have right to rent those apartments" but they were happy to keep my money on tripadvisor account (quite profitable business if you think about number of clients) and they didn't bother to inform me about the situation!
I contacted flipkey and they said they will "cancel" my booking of non-existing property and return me money. I got 1 day to find a hotel in London and I do not have to mention that prices were overwhelming.
Trip advisor returned my money (US$2358. 00) after 10 days (payment on 4.04, return on my account on 18.04) but... I am from Poland so to my horror I noticed that I miss 910,47 PLN (about 300 $, which is actually half of my monthly salary) - there was the spread!
I paid the insurance so of course I complained to tripadvisor to give me back that difference: without any result, they said that they reimbursed fee in full (so even if that was totally their fault, I had to bear the cost of this transaction. Their insurance is obviously meaningless. Contact with support desk is not so easy and stress I had trying to find accommodation for 5 people just before departure was terrible.
It is a disgrace for renown service to behave like this. So: never ever again!
Summary:
- seek other agencies DO NOT book via Trip advisor or Flipkey, - they do not take any responsibility of whatsoever they advertise, just your double fees you are paying
-never give them your card number- they do not block money like booking.com but collect it and keep on own account. They call it safe way- think for yourself for whom it is safe and profitable. Pay after arrival and if it is not possible, seek other accommodation (that was advice from their support desk 1 day before my departure, when money for my hotel in London were still on their account!)
-do not bother with this insurance- it is worthless- they said it covers up to 10.000 $ but just try to get something of cost you paid (actually they should also give me back money for my hotel- it was much more than cost of this apartment)

I used tripadvisor to get a hostel for my vacation on Greece. I will stay 3 days (2 nights) in Mykonos island and then go to Athens. Using tripadvisor.co.uk I found a place nammed Hotel Mina, in Mykonos. Still in tripadvisor, I checked the location, pictures, ratings, comments, compared it with other accommodations and made my decision. I was then directed to booking.com, BUT not to "Hotel Mina"! I was redirected to "Hotel Mina's" (one "s" of difference in the name), I choose my room and made my payment.
The problem is "Hotel Mina'S" is in another island! Now I'm going to Mykonos on Tuesday (29/07/2014) and I don't have a place to stay. Checked the prices for the cheaper available hostel and it's more than double of what they were when I booked. I contacted TripAdvisor and they told me to try to get a refund with Booking.com and that "We aren't affiliated with the hotels listed on our site and unfortunately we wouldn't be able to help you with a lower price on a hotel in Mykonos." (translation: It's our fault, but f**k you).

I find this site really helpful, if you travel abroad then this place is worth checking before you book your hols, i recommend it to everyone.

Yes the reviews are great and helpful but did you know that if you book holiday accommodation through holiday lettings from trip advisor you are paying an extra 9% which is added on to the advertisers cost of accommodation and the advertiser is paying 3% on top of that? Maybe read the reviews then go direct to the advertisers but you will have to search as holiday lettings ban the advertiser from sending you their e-mail or website unless they pay them an annual fee.