http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-24T00:59:07Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/TripAdvisor http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/18/10543/578 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/30451/TripA_Crosby.jpg" class="top"><p> <p><b>How many times do you like to click?</b> That&#146;s not a euphemism, but a serious question related to your travel-review browsing and booking. We ask, because yesterday <a href="http://www.tripadvisor"><b>TripAdvisor</b></a> announced a new "service" which promises to limit your number of clicks. <p>From January 4, 2010, TripAdvisor will let hotels "enhance" their listing with their URL, telephone number and email address. So customers will be able to click just once to jump from a TripAdvisor review page to the property&#146;s own site. This is certainly a step up from the current system where you get a hotel&#146;s address, but are left to google the website or phone number yourself. But why the change?</p> <p><b>Duh! Money, silly!</b> The new MsRebecca 2009-11-18T11:14:03-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/22/65517/2130 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3873/Hotel_Lion_d_or_Buenos_Aires.jpg" class="top"><p><i>OK, this isn't The Mondrian South Beach but it is cheap.</i> <p>You wouldn't expect to find too many hotels on a list of <b>under $19</b> accommodation, but TripAdvisor has so many they've made a <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/InfoCenter-a_ctr.HotelsUnder19">Top 10 list</a>. And sure, we're not talking five-star luxury or anything, but if you're traveling on a budget it's good to know just how many super-cheap options there are out there.<p>But what do you get for under $19? For a start, not one of the hotels in the Top 10 has ever been featured here on HotelChatter, so we feel like we're treading a little into unknown territory. But it ain't all bad, we think. Take the #1 pick, the <b>Hotel Lion amandak 2009-09-22T09:12:18-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/31/75720/5646 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/hotwirelax.jpg" class="top"><p><b>Expedia Inc.</b> has been on a bit of convergence spree recently. A few weeks ago our sister blog Jaunted reported on how the travel mega-company <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/4/13265/63769/travel/Expedia+Incorporates+SeatGuru+Into+Their+Flight+Booking+Fun">integrated Expedia and SeatGuru,</a> and in the meantime they've also integrated TripAdvisor and Hotwire. That last part integration has the potential to be particuarly yummy, though not for the reasons Expedia intended (they thought customers would benefit from seeing TripAdvisor reviews on Hotwire - <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/6/15/966/92871/hotels/Is_TripAdvisor_Removing_Some_of_Those_Fraud_Warnings_">not so much</a>). <p>Instead we're excited because the TripAdvisor/Hotwire integration may help Hotwire bidders crack the opaque site's hidden hotels. Hotwire has an interest in minimizing what a customer knows about the hotel being considered, lest they decide that they're not getting a deal and move on.<p> Omri 2009-08-31T09:44:44-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/26/112034/080 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/Exterior_View_Looking_In.jpg" class="top"></p> <p>Our inner geeks have been pretty excited about New Haven&#146;s new-ish hotel, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/The+Study+at+Yale/local/1367"><strong>Study at Yale</strong></a>, ever since the place <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/12/17/141727/28/hotels/The_Study_at_Yale_Officially_Opens_With_Whiffenpoofs_On_Hand">opened</a> last year. But until we pay the hotel a visit ourselves, we&#146;ll have to rely on our steamy fantasy involving a rendezvous with a hunky Visiting Scholar. Er, also, the <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g33851-d1217689-Reviews-The_Study_at_Yale-New_Haven_Connecticut.html">TripAdvisor reviews</a>, which are impressively positive&#151;13 &#147;excellent&#148; ratings and one &#147;very good.&#148; Apparently even the doormen are &#147;dapper!&#148;</p> <p>A few highlights:</p> <p>* &#147;The only other choices near the university are a Courtyard by Marriott that in our experience could use a good cleaning, and the Omni, which is good but overpriced for what it is -- so The Study is a wonderful, welcome KatieK 2009-08-26T11:44:19-05:00 41.3087253 -72.932741 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/8/4/132723/9133 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/wearenotmakingthisupblog.jpg" class="top"> <p>We spend a lot of time harping on things we don't like: fugly carpets, opening delays, crappy service and high room rates. But here is something we really, really do like (for a change): TripAdvisor's blog, <a href="http://tripadvisor.typepad.com/my_weblog/">"We Are Not Making This Up."</a> We mentioned this <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/2/5528/31898/hotels/TripAdvisor_Blog_Bares_All_Crazy_Reviewers_Stupid_Reviewers_and_Bad_Hotels">a couple of years ago</a>, but it's still up and running and turning out amusing nuggets of text and photos from real people that make you lose (or help restore!) a bit of faith in the world out there. <p>You know, every once in a while you come across a review on TripAdvisor that is somewhere along the lines of, "This hotel is horrible!!!11one!!1 Do NOT stay here!!!1!! NEVER AGAIN!!" Jenna 2009-08-04T13:36:40-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/