Ludham Bridge & Brinks Royale

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

15 hours ago, YnysMon said:

 I tend to check on Trip Advisor and Google for that...never rule anywhere out!

I don`t bother with Trip Adviser. The big problem with it is different people have different standards of expectation, so when an establishment is different to what they expect, they give it a bad report, when in reality, said establishment may have very high standards and offer a first class service. 

Karen and i went into a really nice Italian restaurant in Paignton many years back where the food was home cooked, and cooked when ordered, which meant you had to wait for it. The food was of superb quality, and cooked perfectly the way we like it. When back in the hotel, we read the guest book, and someone slated the place because they had to wait 15 minutes for their meal, and it was too expensive. That`s the price you have to pay for superb food and excellent service, and obviously those people must often frequent fast food restaurants where you`re encouraged to have 3 courses in 50 minutes, allowing 10 minutes every hour for the table to be squared away and re set for the next people.. That equates to each table doing 3 services per evening, 4 on a Friday and Saturday.

When my Sister in Law worked in the Harvester chain, she often came home telling us how some people (of dubious standards shall we say?) believe it`s fine dining and quizine?. 

[Coryton]

2 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

I don`t bother with Trip Adviser. The big problem with it is different people have different standards of expectation, so when an establishment is different to what they expect, they give it a bad report, when in reality, said establishment may have very high standards and offer a first class service. 

I find reviews by Americans can be particularly amusing.

Woe betide any restaurant that doesn't have a jug of water on the table within seconds of someone sitting down...

I suppose from their point of view we just have very low standards in Europe.

[YnysMon]

Yes, but mostly you can distinguish between the ‘numpty’ reviewers and the genuine ones. What I would recommend is not to just look at the rating as that might be a disservice to a change in ownership. By looking at the actual comments you can mostly judge whether the overall rating is accurate or wildly out. I really think that Trip Advisor should allow new owners to start with a clean slate.

[Coryton]

11 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Yes, but mostly you can distinguish between the ‘numpty’ reviewers and the genuine ones. What I would recommend is not to just look at the rating as that might be a disservice to a change in ownership. By looking at the actual comments you can mostly judge whether the overall rating is accurate or wildly out. I really think that Trip Advisor should allow new owners to start with a clean slate.

That's an interesting point - I suppose it depends whether they want to dedicate the staff time to making sure people aren't abusing it and there really has been a change of hands.

In general I find reading comments is much more useful than ratings - as well as those with different expectations, you get people who give a product one star reviews on Amazon because they were sent the wrong thing, or because when they got it they realised it wasn't what they needed. Or indeed someone clicks the wrong button and gives a glowing review with one star.

 

 

[vanessan]

2 hours ago, Coryton said:

In general I find reading comments is much more useful than ratings - as well as those with different expectations, you get people who give a product one star reviews on Amazon because they were sent the wrong thing, or because when they got it they realised it wasn't what they needed. Or indeed someone clicks the wrong button and gives a glowing review with one star.

That’s absolutely right. I always start by looking at the lowest scores and associated comments then move on up. Whether or not I end up taking any notice of the reviews very much depends on the product/establishment. Reviews can be very useful but you do need to keep an open mind.