Insulted by reviews

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Alibi Ike

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OK, this is odd but I was just looking over some restaurant reviews for my town. I'm insulted but I'm not sure why. So many of them were about the people, not the food (altho the food reviews were bad all around- too pricey 'for the area', 'clam chowder had potatoes' (oh the horror!), etc). What they said was it was so 'small town' (it is a small town, but it was in the pejorative sense it was said- 'So small town I needed a big drink.'), the people were so 'quaint', the building were so 'cute'. OK, that doesn't sound awful, it was how it was all put together. Like it's a Disney version of a real town where real people live.
And the kicker was a few reviews of a local hotel. Now, my place truly is an easy walk to all the restaurants, etc. This hotel is almost 2 miles from me but these reviewers, a fair number, were saying it was a 'quick walk to the shopping and restaurants'. When I have guests tell me that it's 'really far to the shops, I'll take my car' I have to wonder if the hotel guests are training for marathons or something.
 
Sounds like some of the reviews may be from employees of the hotel reviewing themselves. Bad employees - but we know that happens. One of my housekeepers was made to do that at her summer job at a big hotel in another state.
As far as the local restaurants, you can write your own (honest) reviews of the food and atmosphere to help increase the actual helpfulness of the review site. Coming from this state, a lot of reviews of local places make references to rednecks, hillbillies, and 'what can you expect from food in Mystate?' When I read those type of reviews as a traveler, I just ignore them. I'm not really looking for advice from morons.
 
Sounds like some of the reviews may be from employees of the hotel reviewing themselves. Bad employees - but we know that happens. One of my housekeepers was made to do that at her summer job at a big hotel in another state.
As far as the local restaurants, you can write your own (honest) reviews of the food and atmosphere to help increase the actual helpfulness of the review site. Coming from this state, a lot of reviews of local places make references to rednecks, hillbillies, and 'what can you expect from food in Mystate?' When I read those type of reviews as a traveler, I just ignore them. I'm not really looking for advice from morons..
What really surprised me were how low the ratings were. Almost all of the restaurants were 4 and under. And these are restaurants that we like and that have won awards for their food. Not sure where these visitors usually dine but I'd like to go there sometime!
 
Sounds like some of the reviews may be from employees of the hotel reviewing themselves. Bad employees - but we know that happens. One of my housekeepers was made to do that at her summer job at a big hotel in another state.
As far as the local restaurants, you can write your own (honest) reviews of the food and atmosphere to help increase the actual helpfulness of the review site. Coming from this state, a lot of reviews of local places make references to rednecks, hillbillies, and 'what can you expect from food in Mystate?' When I read those type of reviews as a traveler, I just ignore them. I'm not really looking for advice from morons..
BTW, I guess I'll take 'quaint' and 'cute' over 'hillbilly'. Some people shouldn't leave home. And I don't mean the locals!
 
part of the trouble is people want to eat the exact same thing they eat at home not try something new and different which surley is the purpose of going away? otherwise stay at home!
 
part of the trouble is people want to eat the exact same thing they eat at home not try something new and different which surley is the purpose of going away? otherwise stay at home!.
There must be something 'traditional' in the UK that gets made differently in each area. That's what we have the worst comments about. 'Oh it's not at all like the way we have it at home.' It's like the TV show 'Throwdown' where Bobby Flay goes around trying to outdo local chefs with their local specialties. Sometimes he wins, but I think the locals generally get it right-er.
Yes, it's different than it is at home. It's DIFFERENT, it's not 'BAD'.
We love to sample calamari wherever it is on the menu. We have a 'standard' that we compare them all to but it's like a game now. 'Is it as good as...?' We've had a lot of different takes on it and some of them were much better than our favorite! (Some of them were right out of a box and were awful, but we keep sampling!)
 
part of the trouble is people want to eat the exact same thing they eat at home not try something new and different which surley is the purpose of going away? otherwise stay at home!.
There must be something 'traditional' in the UK that gets made differently in each area. That's what we have the worst comments about. 'Oh it's not at all like the way we have it at home.' It's like the TV show 'Throwdown' where Bobby Flay goes around trying to outdo local chefs with their local specialties. Sometimes he wins, but I think the locals generally get it right-er.
Yes, it's different than it is at home. It's DIFFERENT, it's not 'BAD'.
We love to sample calamari wherever it is on the menu. We have a 'standard' that we compare them all to but it's like a game now. 'Is it as good as...?' We've had a lot of different takes on it and some of them were much better than our favorite! (Some of them were right out of a box and were awful, but we keep sampling!)
.
exactly every region/province/country has its speciality that is the purpose of travel. We have for example Yorkshire Pudding (which is a main course) Spotted Dick (pudding) and so on. But then you get compaints oh we wanted to eat at Pizza hut/macdonalds/tgifriday etc lol
 
Like the young teen at our breakfast table today. At check-in the mother told me she won't eat a regular breakfast, do you have any cocoa puffs?
I said, sorry I don't allow them in my house. I have shredded wheat.
chef.gif
(true) I did say I have muesli/granola she said no she won't eat it.
"Well she will just have a bagel and..." Funny, did I offer up a menu? I never suggested "will she it this or that?" I didn't ask and wasn't going to ask. Is this what we do for kids, list off the rubbish food for them to choose from? She is a young teen, she can surely sit up like a big girl at the table and eat breakfast. She came down 25 minutes late, what a shock.
And for the record, I DO NOT BLAME THIS LITTLE GIRL, the parents, always the parents.
 
When it comes to fake reviews it's sometimes easier to see them when you ask the questions... Did they in fact review the property? Sometimes what you see is clearly an advertisement and that's clearly NOT a review. Good or bad, there are lots of fake reviews. But they tend to forget to actually review the property, they just write their ad. Flag it and forget it.
As for restaurant reviews, I sometimes wonder about the local reviews we see on TA. The number on restaurant in town is really maybe a 4*, but definitely not a 5*. We have some restaurants that are really 5*, but it's not a 5* for everyone.... One of my favourites is very loud, with rock music playing. The restaurants is really quite like the owner and the food is absolutely fantastic.
But I come from a city where we think lowly of chain restaurants. Outback wouldn't survive here. (Then again, think about how you prepare steaks so that you could possible still have one that is rare and one that is medium, but run out of medium-rate.) http://goo.gl/mGgu9
People come from many different backgrounds. What one person likes another might hate. And what one person understands another might not. Bistro means plain ordinary everyday French food and yet constantly people ask for one and are surprised by the simple menu.
 
Like the young teen at our breakfast table today. At check-in the mother told me she won't eat a regular breakfast, do you have any cocoa puffs?
I said, sorry I don't allow them in my house. I have shredded wheat.
chef.gif
(true) I did say I have muesli/granola she said no she won't eat it.
"Well she will just have a bagel and..." Funny, did I offer up a menu? I never suggested "will she it this or that?" I didn't ask and wasn't going to ask. Is this what we do for kids, list off the rubbish food for them to choose from? She is a young teen, she can surely sit up like a big girl at the table and eat breakfast. She came down 25 minutes late, what a shock.
And for the record, I DO NOT BLAME THIS LITTLE GIRL, the parents, always the parents..
We had one that announced on arrival that her kid was a picky eater - so the kid was forced to prove Mama correct. This may have been the morning I told the kid I was fortunate that my Mother made certain we would NEVER go hungry. If we did not like breakfast she took it away - oh, there was nothing else. At lunch, there was that breakfast. Don't like it. No problem - oh, there was nothing else. By supper time, you were so hungry you ate whatever was put in front of you. We learned to like everything.
 
part of the trouble is people want to eat the exact same thing they eat at home not try something new and different which surley is the purpose of going away? otherwise stay at home!.
There must be something 'traditional' in the UK that gets made differently in each area. That's what we have the worst comments about. 'Oh it's not at all like the way we have it at home.' It's like the TV show 'Throwdown' where Bobby Flay goes around trying to outdo local chefs with their local specialties. Sometimes he wins, but I think the locals generally get it right-er.
Yes, it's different than it is at home. It's DIFFERENT, it's not 'BAD'.
We love to sample calamari wherever it is on the menu. We have a 'standard' that we compare them all to but it's like a game now. 'Is it as good as...?' We've had a lot of different takes on it and some of them were much better than our favorite! (Some of them were right out of a box and were awful, but we keep sampling!)
.
exactly every region/province/country has its speciality that is the purpose of travel. We have for example Yorkshire Pudding (which is a main course) Spotted Dick (pudding) and so on. But then you get compaints oh we wanted to eat at Pizza hut/macdonalds/tgifriday etc lol
.
But then you get compaints oh we wanted to eat at Pizza hut/macdonalds/tgifriday etc lol
Ewww. Sorry. I think we exported all of that to you.
 
personally I don't see anything negative in what was written, maybe uit's just the way you are looking at it. Remember you are "inside" and they are "outsiders"
 
Like the young teen at our breakfast table today. At check-in the mother told me she won't eat a regular breakfast, do you have any cocoa puffs?
I said, sorry I don't allow them in my house. I have shredded wheat.
chef.gif
(true) I did say I have muesli/granola she said no she won't eat it.
"Well she will just have a bagel and..." Funny, did I offer up a menu? I never suggested "will she it this or that?" I didn't ask and wasn't going to ask. Is this what we do for kids, list off the rubbish food for them to choose from? She is a young teen, she can surely sit up like a big girl at the table and eat breakfast. She came down 25 minutes late, what a shock.
And for the record, I DO NOT BLAME THIS LITTLE GIRL, the parents, always the parents..
So, JB, what did she have for breakfast?
 
Like the young teen at our breakfast table today. At check-in the mother told me she won't eat a regular breakfast, do you have any cocoa puffs?
I said, sorry I don't allow them in my house. I have shredded wheat.
chef.gif
(true) I did say I have muesli/granola she said no she won't eat it.
"Well she will just have a bagel and..." Funny, did I offer up a menu? I never suggested "will she it this or that?" I didn't ask and wasn't going to ask. Is this what we do for kids, list off the rubbish food for them to choose from? She is a young teen, she can surely sit up like a big girl at the table and eat breakfast. She came down 25 minutes late, what a shock.
And for the record, I DO NOT BLAME THIS LITTLE GIRL, the parents, always the parents..
So, JB, what did she have for breakfast?
.
InnBloom said:
So, JB, what did she have for breakfast?
She had a parfait with pecans, yogurt, blueberries and muesli. (Which is standard drill here most of the time) and SHE LIKED IT! SHE ATE IT ALL.
She then had a bagel with big slices of banana on the plate (both of which her mother said she likes and which her mother requested and I bowed down to) and she didn't eat any of that.
The parents had a totally different meal, the real meal.
The rest of the story is the mother grew up two houses up and used to play in this house as a child. So she told us some interesting facts and was thrilled to be able to stay here as she has always wanted to.
 
Like the young teen at our breakfast table today. At check-in the mother told me she won't eat a regular breakfast, do you have any cocoa puffs?
I said, sorry I don't allow them in my house. I have shredded wheat.
chef.gif
(true) I did say I have muesli/granola she said no she won't eat it.
"Well she will just have a bagel and..." Funny, did I offer up a menu? I never suggested "will she it this or that?" I didn't ask and wasn't going to ask. Is this what we do for kids, list off the rubbish food for them to choose from? She is a young teen, she can surely sit up like a big girl at the table and eat breakfast. She came down 25 minutes late, what a shock.
And for the record, I DO NOT BLAME THIS LITTLE GIRL, the parents, always the parents..
So, JB, what did she have for breakfast?
.
InnBloom said:
So, JB, what did she have for breakfast?
She had a parfait with pecans, yogurt, blueberries and muesli. (Which is standard drill here most of the time) and SHE LIKED IT! SHE ATE IT ALL.
She then had a bagel with big slices of banana on the plate (both of which her mother said she likes and which her mother requested and I bowed down to) and she didn't eat any of that.
The parents had a totally different meal, the real meal.
The rest of the story is the mother grew up two houses up and used to play in this house as a child. So she told us some interesting facts and was thrilled to be able to stay here as she has always wanted to.
.
Sounds yummy, and she was probably thrilled with it. Wonder if mom will add that to her approved list, or continue to insist that she needs chocolate cereal? Give me a break.
 
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