TripAdvisor Review

I have used Trip Advisor for a few years now and my experience has been that the collective reviews of places and hotels have been spot-on.  I have traveled to Mexico quite a few times and have read other people's reviews on their experience with the hotel or resort.  When they include pictures it gives you a better picture of what you can expect.  Naturally most hotels and resorts only publish professional photos and hire professional writers to make their business stand out above the rest.  But the reality is that you need to read through the fluff and see what other people are saying.  Granted some people have higher expectations than others and will slam a perfectly good resort.  But I have also seen reviews where travelers had no expectations and only cared about the city they were staying in and less about the resort.  But as a whole, when you read the reviews on Trip Advisor you get a real  feel for what you can expect when going to a certain destination.  If 75% of the reviews states that the food was mediocre at XYZ resort, you can pretty much bank on that fact. 

Also, most reviewers, including myself with give the pros and cons of their experience.  This way if you are a family looking for family travel you can benefit from other families with the same needs.  But by the same token, not everyone is traveling with young children so someone else's "Pros" might be that it's a great place for children and yet be a "con" for those who want an older crowd.  That's why Trip Advisor is such a great site because you can read reviews from people of all walks of life with different needs.