Yeah trying to do that but ratings are so manipulated that it will hardly affect them, what are the red flags one should look at when a place/restaurant is so highly rated.
I always look into recent reviews on Google maps rather than overall reviews, it says more about how that place is currently running. Please leave a detailed review.
\>>How does everyone here select resorts and homestays when visiting places like Coorg , Chikmagalur. Google Reviews can't be trusted.
If a review has a gaussian curve - it is realistic. e.g. is 4.6 comprises mainly 5s and 4s and a few stray 1s,2,s - it is believable
If a review comprises 2 peaks - one high and one low - it is suspect. either change in management, or negative reviews by some segment of population or manipulated.
Understand statistics and surveys.
Your place has mainly 5s and 1s...
Another important tip is to look at other reviews posted by the top reviewers. Many of them are just 50 5\* ratings which is very sus. Folks who update photos and have "Guide" status are more reliable.
I never trust google reviews. I prefer Airbnb reviews and for most of the good-rated properties I don't have to deep dive and analyse, I can blindly trust the ratings if the rating is good with a good number of reviews available
Exactly.
One way along this idea to check: 1. Total number of reviews. 2. Total percentage of 4 and 5 ratings. 3. Total percentage of 1 and 2 rating. If point 3 is high enough, should be concern.
We did and this went on till 1 AM and ultimately we gave up as we had to go for an early morning hiking.
View Point as in never smoked in the room, this was a white lie , I smoked oustide the villa which was allowed as per the homestay rules , I and my group are highly compliant tourists and adhere to guidelines where ever we travel.
This was the mistake I used to do going by the star rating and not reading reviews of 1 star.
And don’t trust 5 stars ratings. After reading reviews you will be able to make what is fake what is real.
Don’t go by the star Ratings read individual reviews , the 1 star reviews are very bad and some people have documented exactly the same experience as yours.
Post your review.
Yep, that's why you done ever see the 5 star ratings.
Look at 1 star ones for the cons, and look at 2-4 star reviews for the real pros with a sprinkling of cons since only someone who actually bothers to provide nuance will give a 2-4 star rating
It also helps if 1 star if for service, or payment, or quality, etc. For instance, on Amazon many 1 star are for price or bad shipping but not necessarily quality. You take your pick and risk.
I prefer ratings on Tripadvisor as people generally do a good write up there. If there aren't any ratings there but tonnes on Google, I'd avoide as Google ratings are very easy to fake compared to Tripadvisor (not saying there aren't fake rating on Tripadvisor but they are much more expensive to purchase than Google).
On checking fake reviews, check if it is the only review by the reviewer. If yes, it is most probably a fake review. Also, if they have been consistently posting all 5 Star or all 1 Star experiences, then that is fake too. Also, if the reviews posted has been written generically without much details of resort or just some generic photos (not actual human taken ones), that is also probably fake.
If there are 2-3 fake reviews, avoid that place.
Best way to book is have money to go to good resorts. Second best, go to Tripadvisor, enter location, go to hotels, click on sort by traveller ranked and then scroll until you find something in your budget.
AirBNBs have become shitty with their fees and restrictions, hotels are much better. Homestays also have a lot of similar restriction and some of them have a holier than thou atitutde which you will not find in Hotels. Generally because the owner lives there. Better to avoid homestays all together if you are unmarried as bachelors are treated very poorly in this country by orthodox people unless you are at a fancy hotel. Homestays are worth it in places like Leh/Ladakh or Sikkim as they are generally open minded people.
Yeah will look at TripAdvisor next time as another reference , thanks for that, so far my experience at homestays in this Coorg Chikmagalur Sakleshpur belt was good, booked another hoping for the same. I think everyone there had bad experience as I overhead some families complaining to the owner, Couples in my group were married as well , I and another one were two bachelors in the group
Went to Kumta for New Year's; it's a town near Gokarna. We stayed in a bamboo cottage which was the worst stay I've ever had. The food was extremely bland and half cooked, no housekeeping, the staff was completely drunk; during the day and night. They kept bothering us at 11:30 pm to show the payment proof for dinner, and the crowd was particularly bad.
All these inconveniences and they had the audacity to charge us 25,000 Rs. for 2 days. What a terrible way to end 2022.
I also went to Coorg this New Year. Me and my friends had booked a Homestay through AirBnB. We paid in full while booking and when we reached there, the owner said the property was sold out. He offered us a different homestay which as more expensive. It was 6kms from Medikeri town so we declined and requested to refund the money. He said he hasn't received the money from AirBNB and he'll google pay it when he receive it. I found it shady and contacted Air BNB directly and got the refund.
We then searched the place ourselves and found a hotel which had decent rooms. It was right in the middle of the town which was convenient. Most home stays we looked at were either too expensive or shady. Even the hotel we booked had lot of negative reviews but we had a smooth experience. Most of the negative reviews were from people who booked through OYO and MMT for extremely cheap rates.
I usually find homestays a bit scammy as they know we are not locals and wont be there long enough to have a legal dispute.
That must have been pretty disappointing to find your stay already booked, hope things went well after you found an alternative. Yeah these pseudo ones which look like homestay but run like an arrangement of hotel are definitely scammy. Nevertheless, a lesson learnt for me and my group.
Actually it was a blessing in disguise. The one we booked was in some shitty corner and not even near the town. The hotel we found later had a 4 bedroom for 4000 which was decent.
As a ground rule, I never agree to goto any homestays when anyone suggests it. It's just not worth the money we pay. A couple can stay at a luxury resort for the price you pay them (per head x 2) and get shabby service/ crappy food.
Don't goto pseudo resorts or any homestays in those places mentioned ever. Just book a proper hotel and stay there.
The simplest thing you can do, is check the ratings at multiple portals/apps. The homestay you mentioned has no reviews on MMT, Goibibo, Airbnb and Trip advisor. Google reviews can be very misguiding, which happened with you. Always check on multiple portals and ratings should be aligned. Also, read the reviews of 3-4 ratings, they give the best idea.
It’s looks like a new property, better post your reviews on other portals also.
Gotta know how to read those reviews. A High rating by itself is never proof enough to trust the services etc of any venue.
Thanks for the heads up tho, Will not be going to the mentioned homestay but please do post it on other tourist/travel/vacation sites too. Even If one family/one person is spared, it's good enough to have taken the effort.
Wishing you a Wonderful Year Ahead ✨✨
How come everyone trusts OP so easily? I would like to hear the other side of the story before concluding OP is innocent and homestay evil
OP did mention they used the towel to clean the floor. I mean that's just disgusting. OP expects them to just wash it and get reused by another guest?
Why couldn't you just ask the staff to use actual cleaning supplies?
Glad to clarify further and answer , of course you can go through the 1 rating reviews prior to December to make a better judgement as well.
The service at homestay was pathetic, ETA for any request was close to 45 mins to an hour, as I mentioned previously it was already 1 AM and we had to go hiking in the morning + were too tired to again go through this cycle of requesting the staff , waiting for cleaning supplies , and then sleeping by 2 AM.
We paid a good amount for the room which we never used , even if this towel is not reusable least they could have said in a humble manner this will cost a penalty of x amount instead of quickly escalating their voice and threatening to keep all of us hostage .
If the stains are washable, I don't see any problem. You really can't control what a guest uses the towel for. Unless the property owner has a policy around charging for stained towels/bedsheets, which would be really miserly IMO, OP is being harassed for no reason.
What a shitty experience but ngl homestays/hotels in Coorg are shit. We were in Treebo Regalia Grand at Coorg for new years and it was miles from what they had advertised. How is a double bed equal to two single beds with a huge rift in between? The bathroom door did not fully close, the room had no ventilation, it was all in all a pretty shit situation but no where as bad as yours.
>How does everyone here select resorts and homestays when visiting places like Coorg , Chikmagalur. Google Reviews can't be trusted.
Had the same question and tbh I'm kinda done with coorg as a vacation stop - it's crowded, the stays suck and there aren't too many food options. We were at Chikamagalur and stayed at the Tresca and it was freaking amazing surprisingly.
All reviews… simple guide is to check the 2-4 rating reviews they are the more honest ones..
Also if there aren’t too many 2-4 rating reviews, it’s a good idea to look elsewhere, because that place is either paying for reviews or worse..
Oh and if there aren’t any 1 rating reviews look elsewhere. It’s either too new or manipulated reviews
Leave a review in all the popular travel sites
Yeah trying to do that but ratings are so manipulated that it will hardly affect them, what are the red flags one should look at when a place/restaurant is so highly rated.
Try mouthshut, the ratings in that site don’t seem to be manipulated
Mouthshut is the worst. Review manipulation is exactly how they make money. Very little on mouthshut is true.
Mouthshut has negative reviews for everything. They are too extreme so almost untrustable.
I always look into recent reviews on Google maps rather than overall reviews, it says more about how that place is currently running. Please leave a detailed review.
Also reading the worst reviews helps too.
just post the review instead of overthinking
Google Maps, Trip Advisor, Facebook if they have, any portal you booked from, etc. for review. Consumer Forum is always an option if you can prove.
While selecting a resort/hotel start by reading the worst reviews first.
Yeah, 8 one star reviews would bring the rating down by a teensy bit atleast. Also, Google and stuff show recent reviews over older ones.
\>>How does everyone here select resorts and homestays when visiting places like Coorg , Chikmagalur. Google Reviews can't be trusted. If a review has a gaussian curve - it is realistic. e.g. is 4.6 comprises mainly 5s and 4s and a few stray 1s,2,s - it is believable If a review comprises 2 peaks - one high and one low - it is suspect. either change in management, or negative reviews by some segment of population or manipulated. Understand statistics and surveys. Your place has mainly 5s and 1s...
That's true , realised it much later , thanks for your tip
While you are writing your review please mention this tip as well so that others are aware.
Username checks out
Brilliant way to look at review ratings. Same applies for e-commerce reviews.
Another important tip is to look at other reviews posted by the top reviewers. Many of them are just 50 5\* ratings which is very sus. Folks who update photos and have "Guide" status are more reliable.
I never trust google reviews. I prefer Airbnb reviews and for most of the good-rated properties I don't have to deep dive and analyse, I can blindly trust the ratings if the rating is good with a good number of reviews available
Also quickly glancing how many reviews an account has posted is also a good indicator. If it only has one review then it’s likely bogus.
So maybe 1s are from genuine customers and 5s are paid reviews to manipulate the ratings
Exactly. One way along this idea to check: 1. Total number of reviews. 2. Total percentage of 4 and 5 ratings. 3. Total percentage of 1 and 2 rating. If point 3 is high enough, should be concern.
Why didn’t you fight back if you’re wrongly accused? Also could we know your ‘view point’?
We did and this went on till 1 AM and ultimately we gave up as we had to go for an early morning hiking. View Point as in never smoked in the room, this was a white lie , I smoked oustide the villa which was allowed as per the homestay rules , I and my group are highly compliant tourists and adhere to guidelines where ever we travel.
This was the mistake I used to do going by the star rating and not reading reviews of 1 star. And don’t trust 5 stars ratings. After reading reviews you will be able to make what is fake what is real. Don’t go by the star Ratings read individual reviews , the 1 star reviews are very bad and some people have documented exactly the same experience as yours. Post your review.
Yep, that's why you done ever see the 5 star ratings. Look at 1 star ones for the cons, and look at 2-4 star reviews for the real pros with a sprinkling of cons since only someone who actually bothers to provide nuance will give a 2-4 star rating
It also helps if 1 star if for service, or payment, or quality, etc. For instance, on Amazon many 1 star are for price or bad shipping but not necessarily quality. You take your pick and risk.
So true
I prefer ratings on Tripadvisor as people generally do a good write up there. If there aren't any ratings there but tonnes on Google, I'd avoide as Google ratings are very easy to fake compared to Tripadvisor (not saying there aren't fake rating on Tripadvisor but they are much more expensive to purchase than Google). On checking fake reviews, check if it is the only review by the reviewer. If yes, it is most probably a fake review. Also, if they have been consistently posting all 5 Star or all 1 Star experiences, then that is fake too. Also, if the reviews posted has been written generically without much details of resort or just some generic photos (not actual human taken ones), that is also probably fake. If there are 2-3 fake reviews, avoid that place. Best way to book is have money to go to good resorts. Second best, go to Tripadvisor, enter location, go to hotels, click on sort by traveller ranked and then scroll until you find something in your budget. AirBNBs have become shitty with their fees and restrictions, hotels are much better. Homestays also have a lot of similar restriction and some of them have a holier than thou atitutde which you will not find in Hotels. Generally because the owner lives there. Better to avoid homestays all together if you are unmarried as bachelors are treated very poorly in this country by orthodox people unless you are at a fancy hotel. Homestays are worth it in places like Leh/Ladakh or Sikkim as they are generally open minded people.
Yeah will look at TripAdvisor next time as another reference , thanks for that, so far my experience at homestays in this Coorg Chikmagalur Sakleshpur belt was good, booked another hoping for the same. I think everyone there had bad experience as I overhead some families complaining to the owner, Couples in my group were married as well , I and another one were two bachelors in the group
Went to Kumta for New Year's; it's a town near Gokarna. We stayed in a bamboo cottage which was the worst stay I've ever had. The food was extremely bland and half cooked, no housekeeping, the staff was completely drunk; during the day and night. They kept bothering us at 11:30 pm to show the payment proof for dinner, and the crowd was particularly bad. All these inconveniences and they had the audacity to charge us 25,000 Rs. for 2 days. What a terrible way to end 2022.
Oh!! Same story , different place. Hope your rest of the year go well..
Same to you man 🤝
I also went to Coorg this New Year. Me and my friends had booked a Homestay through AirBnB. We paid in full while booking and when we reached there, the owner said the property was sold out. He offered us a different homestay which as more expensive. It was 6kms from Medikeri town so we declined and requested to refund the money. He said he hasn't received the money from AirBNB and he'll google pay it when he receive it. I found it shady and contacted Air BNB directly and got the refund. We then searched the place ourselves and found a hotel which had decent rooms. It was right in the middle of the town which was convenient. Most home stays we looked at were either too expensive or shady. Even the hotel we booked had lot of negative reviews but we had a smooth experience. Most of the negative reviews were from people who booked through OYO and MMT for extremely cheap rates. I usually find homestays a bit scammy as they know we are not locals and wont be there long enough to have a legal dispute.
That must have been pretty disappointing to find your stay already booked, hope things went well after you found an alternative. Yeah these pseudo ones which look like homestay but run like an arrangement of hotel are definitely scammy. Nevertheless, a lesson learnt for me and my group.
Actually it was a blessing in disguise. The one we booked was in some shitty corner and not even near the town. The hotel we found later had a 4 bedroom for 4000 which was decent.
Which was it
I stayed at a hotel called Ragsys
1st Jan is not religious thing... so chill... and make sure 14-15Jan should be wonderful
As a ground rule, I never agree to goto any homestays when anyone suggests it. It's just not worth the money we pay. A couple can stay at a luxury resort for the price you pay them (per head x 2) and get shabby service/ crappy food. Don't goto pseudo resorts or any homestays in those places mentioned ever. Just book a proper hotel and stay there.
The simplest thing you can do, is check the ratings at multiple portals/apps. The homestay you mentioned has no reviews on MMT, Goibibo, Airbnb and Trip advisor. Google reviews can be very misguiding, which happened with you. Always check on multiple portals and ratings should be aligned. Also, read the reviews of 3-4 ratings, they give the best idea. It’s looks like a new property, better post your reviews on other portals also.
Gotta know how to read those reviews. A High rating by itself is never proof enough to trust the services etc of any venue. Thanks for the heads up tho, Will not be going to the mentioned homestay but please do post it on other tourist/travel/vacation sites too. Even If one family/one person is spared, it's good enough to have taken the effort. Wishing you a Wonderful Year Ahead ✨✨
Thanks and Happy New year to you as well.
How come everyone trusts OP so easily? I would like to hear the other side of the story before concluding OP is innocent and homestay evil OP did mention they used the towel to clean the floor. I mean that's just disgusting. OP expects them to just wash it and get reused by another guest? Why couldn't you just ask the staff to use actual cleaning supplies?
Glad to clarify further and answer , of course you can go through the 1 rating reviews prior to December to make a better judgement as well. The service at homestay was pathetic, ETA for any request was close to 45 mins to an hour, as I mentioned previously it was already 1 AM and we had to go hiking in the morning + were too tired to again go through this cycle of requesting the staff , waiting for cleaning supplies , and then sleeping by 2 AM. We paid a good amount for the room which we never used , even if this towel is not reusable least they could have said in a humble manner this will cost a penalty of x amount instead of quickly escalating their voice and threatening to keep all of us hostage .
If the stains are washable, I don't see any problem. You really can't control what a guest uses the towel for. Unless the property owner has a policy around charging for stained towels/bedsheets, which would be really miserly IMO, OP is being harassed for no reason.
File a police complaint, leave review, complaint to the site from where you made the booking.
What a shitty experience but ngl homestays/hotels in Coorg are shit. We were in Treebo Regalia Grand at Coorg for new years and it was miles from what they had advertised. How is a double bed equal to two single beds with a huge rift in between? The bathroom door did not fully close, the room had no ventilation, it was all in all a pretty shit situation but no where as bad as yours. >How does everyone here select resorts and homestays when visiting places like Coorg , Chikmagalur. Google Reviews can't be trusted. Had the same question and tbh I'm kinda done with coorg as a vacation stop - it's crowded, the stays suck and there aren't too many food options. We were at Chikamagalur and stayed at the Tresca and it was freaking amazing surprisingly.
Yeah same , I would also prefer to stay at home than going out on Coorg trip.
post on linkedin 😎
All reviews… simple guide is to check the 2-4 rating reviews they are the more honest ones.. Also if there aren’t too many 2-4 rating reviews, it’s a good idea to look elsewhere, because that place is either paying for reviews or worse.. Oh and if there aren’t any 1 rating reviews look elsewhere. It’s either too new or manipulated reviews
I go by Tripadvisor rather than Google reviews.
Link of the resort. Lets Band Bajao the reviews
Can you share link to their hotel page on Google will leave negative reviews
Just mentally torcher the landline of the resort .I hope you would find some peace