Do Divers Make Poor Hotel Reviewers?

[TheRedHead]

I think that they do especially with packages because the diving eclipses the hotel and divers will overlook such niceties as hot water and bugs in their rooms and give the hotel a good review when a poor review is deserved.

So do you guys trust hotel reivews by divers or do you go to a neutral source like Trip Advisor?

 

[ramblinpaul]

If you're a diver, than why wouldn't you trust another diver's opinion of a resort? As a diver I'd assume you'd have the same bias as they have, i.e. diving eclipses the hotel, so who cares about the hotel.

Though, if I was a non-diver I wouldn't trust a diver's review.

The best bet is go by both diver's review and a "neutral" source.

 

[Halthron]

It sort of depends what I'm after with that particular stay. If it's just me then I don't look for as much as if my family is coming too. Any time my family travels, I always look at Trip Advisor.

 

[chrispete]

Keep in mind, divers are the type who will bunk in a room that is heaving on 4-6 foot seas with 8-10 other people and as long as the hotel is parked on top of a nice dive site in the morning and their tanks are full they'll call it the Taj Mahal...

 

[Irene]

There are some things I really need on a dive vacation (like laundry facilities and a private balcony or some other type of place to hang/dry my gear) that I don't care about when on a non-dive vacation.

A place a I might consider spectacular on a regular holiday may less preferable to a rat hole with washers & dryers on a dive holiday.

For diving accommodations, I'd take a divers' review over any other kind.

 

[TheRedHead]

I've had some unpleasant surprises booking hotels recommended by divers. I've found that:

nice and clean = may have hot and cold running water

suited our purpose = don't think about booking this hotel.

 

[alcina]

I always take "reviews" with a good dose of salt. You never know what really happened or what the motivation the writer has. Even on a "neutral" source. And guide books, jeesh...a great many of them will give a place/operator/restaurant etc a bad or nothing review if they were not comped or given other special incentives (or a really good review when they are comped etc!).

I've seen it happen repeatedly by two major travel guide books - it's disgusting. The "writer" actually baled up the owner and told him what would happen if he and his party weren't comped. The next issue came out and I checked it - sure enough, disappointing review (we were at the restaurant the same night - of course - and we had excellent service and food).

I've also seen reviews by people where they booked one thing and the review blasted the operator because they wanted to do things on the booked tour that the operator doesn't offer! I mean, cmon, they knew what the tour was when they booked it - no fair complaining after the fact!

So, rant over...I do trust divers when I am looking at a dive holiday, but as redhat' says - there's a code there, too

 

[Rick Inman]

So far, for me, the divers reviews are more fitting to my desires than the non-divers, for obviously reasons. 200 channels on the TV is not as important as if the boat picks up in front of the hotel. There is always Trip Adviser and Fromes for the non-divers to check out, for people who care if the TP is folded each morning.

Drying racks, rinse tubs, extra towels, nearby shore diving, proximity of dive shop - these are the kind of things that matter. If I cared about the rest of the junk I'd just hang out with the Pod People.

 

[pt40fathoms]

I'm with Rick on this one. The TV may never get turned on when I'm on a dive vacation, and the Casino/Bar scene is just not that important either. It needs to be clean, have hot water, and a place for my "stuff". It needs to be near the water, and provide facilities that make my day and or night trips to the water as hassle free as possible. It also needs to be quiet after midnight so I can get up early and get in an early morning or pre-sunrise dive.

Reviews by non-divers tend to not take into account any of these "needs" that a diver who is reviewing a hotel or resort will look for.

I trust the divers review of hotels and resorts more than the non-divers reviews for those reasons.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

honestly I'd be a bad reviewer cause the hotel is about 8th on my list of what I enjoy