TripAdvisor is a website that lets just about anyone post a review or information about anything related to travel. From hotel rooms to restaurants, cruises to beaches, this website has become quite popular for both travel-related businesses (the hotels, restaurants, and cruise operators) and travel patrons and guests to post reviews and images.
Usually, places on TripAdvisor have good reviews or bad reviews based on how people perceive their stay or meal. But there are instances where the perception (which may not come from TripAdvisor) does not exactly match up to the reality - and not in a good way. One would expect the occasional disparity between a review and the hotel or website, but TripAdvisor is full of images that prove perception does not always equal reality.
Here are 30 such examples where the TripAdvisor photo hits us with a much needed dose of reality, proving that you cannot always believe what you read in the travel brochures or on the restaurant website. These hotels, restaurants, and other travel-related businesses come from all over the world, and clearly demonstrate that the weird, the disgusting, and the downright nasty are not limited to hole-in-the wall establishments. So sit back, relax, and get a dose of reality from TripAdvisor.
30 La Semana Hotel, New York City
Reality:
Is La Semana Hotel in New York City haunted? Of course, the hotel is not going to make that claim, being in a city full of high-end hotels. But on TripAdvisor, people are convinced that this particular hotel is haunted. With reviews like "shockingly bad," "sleeping in a basement," and much worse, La Semana Hotel probably should be avoided, and the official website should be ignored. Unless you like a room with toilet paper hanging from the ceiling...
29 New York Inn, New York City
Reality:
When one TripAdvisor reviewer was staying at New York Inn, the department of health and the fire department were marking rooms as uninhabitable. When you have the department of health putting up signs on the doors - when people are staying there - you know that something is wrong with the rooms. So... yeah, you probably should avoid booking a room here, since they are all being closed down for health concerns that are unknown, and that is generally not a good thing.
28 Sun Bright Hotel, New York City
Reality:
Sun Bright Hotel is anything but sunny and bright. This picture was found on the bathroom wall, posted there by a TripAdvisor reviewer who felt like the hotel was treating them like a chicken. Or something like that. Either way, Sun Bright Hotel probably does not want that particular review getting out, but we have posted it here to demonstrate that places are not always what they seem on the hotel website.
27 ML Lodge, Cardiff (UK)
Reality:
Of over 75 hotels ranked on TripAdvisor in Cardiff, ML Lodge barely ranks in the top 60. Cardiff is not a big city in the UK, so barely ranking in the top 60 hotels is not a good status to have. Many patrons consider the place haunted, as is evident by some of the pictures they have posted. Whatever the reason for the bad ranking, the good folks who run the ML Lodge probably do not appreciate the negative TripAdvisor press.
26 Pocono Plaza Inn, Stroudsburg, PA (USA)
Reality:
The Pocono Plaza Inn is rated #8 of 8 on TripAdvisor, and for good reason. It looks like a nice hotel on the outside and on the hotel website. But guests of the hotel have painted a totally different picture of what it is like to stay at this particular hotel. From peeling paint and musty sheets to bathtubs full of yellowish-brown water, the Pocono Plaza Inn is far from the sparkling Jacuzzi hotel that they make themselves out to be.
25 Norbreck Castle Hotel, Blackpool (UK)
Reality:
Norbreck Castle Hotel is not exactly your fairy tale castle, despite what they try to make it out to be. The hotel has a lot of pictures available that show a beautiful hotel, both inside and out. However, one TripAdvisor user came away declaring that you needed to be 18 to see some of the pictures they had taken of the hotel. This one image shows peeling wall paper, so you wonder what else was wrong with the room....
24 Pavillon Opera Lafayette, Paris
Reality:
In a review titled "Horror," it becomes apparent that at the Pavillon Opera Lafayette hotel in Paris, the perception that you will be able to move around the bathroom is a little far-fetched. As is evident from the reality image on TripAdvisor, there is barely any room to sit on the toilet or wash your hands. No idea why the bathroom is so cramped, but maybe the French think that visitors to this supposedly "classy" hotel are very very small.
23 The French, Manchester (UK)
Reality:
The French Manchester is a restaurant that has been reviewed regularly on TripAdvisor. And usually it comes out okay in the rankings. Unfortunately, whomever took this picture did not come away with a positive impression of the restaurant. Is that a sausage? What is that? If you cannot tell what the picture is, it probably should not be eaten. Unless you are adventurous, in which case go for eating that weird sausage thing.
22 Poughkeepsie Inn, Poughkeepsie, NY
Reality:
Poughkeepsie Inn wants you to think they have a nice clean room for you to sleep in. And most rooms are probably pretty clean. But the perception versus reality demonstrates that some of the rooms at Poughkeepsie Inn could use some "updating" if you will. This image from TripAdvisor shows some kind of brownish red stain all over the mattress. No idea what that is, but leave it up to your imagination. Would you want to stay at this hotel? We know we wouldn't...
21 Princess Hostel, Amsterdam
Reality:
Have you ever wanted to sleep in the bathroom of a hostel? Most people would not relish that idea. But apparently, at the Princess Hostel in Amsterdam, that is a possibility. From the images that they want you to see, the sleeping quarters are separate from the, err, rest of the quarters. But in the TripAdvisor photo, it appears that the bathroom sink is right between the beds in this particular hostel. So, if you want to sleep in the washroom in Amsterdam, check out the Princess Hostel.
20 Crackpot Kitchen Restaurant Bar & Grill, Turks and Caicos
Reality:
Pizza is one of the greatest foods in the world, and it is pretty hard to mess it up. However, every now and again you get a pizza that just does not live up to the term "pizza." This particular example of "pizza" at Crackpot Kitchen Restaurant Bar & Grill in Turks and Caicos does not even look like pizza, and, according to the TripAdvisor user, is the worst pizza in the world.
19 Marco Polo Cruises
Reality:
Marco Polo Cruises may not be the most well-known name in ocean cruises, but they look like they should have a pretty good reputation. Their cruises are listed on a number of international cruise-booking websites, so one would expect that their cruises are nice, comfortable, and a good value. Unfortunately, at least one TripAdvisor user claims otherwise. Looking at the reality photo, there are not a lot of people having a good time on that particular Marco Polo cruise.
18 Dreams Puerto Aventuras Resort & Spa, Mexico
Reality:
Dreams Puerto Aventuras Resort & Spa in Mexico wants you to visit their long, white, sandy beaches. And they probably actually have such a thing from time to time. But one TripAdvisor user happened on the resort during a time when there was a plethora of seaweed clogging up that beach. It looks like this beach vacation is not at all what was expected, and the visitors were probably pretty upset that they were unable to enjoy the "long, white, sandy beaches" that were advertised.
17 Tonopah Motel, Tonopah, NV (USA)
Reality:
The Tonopah Motel in Nevada may not be on the Las Vegas Strip, but it does paint a picture of a nice place to spend the night. Looking at their TripAdvisor pictures shows a nice clean bedroom with white sheets on a well-made bed. But take a look at the picture that a TripAdvisor user posted to the site. One can only imagine what that is all over the sheets and bedspread. We'd rather not know...
16 Oceanside Inn, Daytona Beach Shores, FL (USA)
Reality:
Daytona Beach, FL is a big Spring Break destination, so it is not too far-fetched to think that they have a lot of hotels there - good and bad. Oceanside Inn wants to be one of the good ones, and their pictures do paint a rosy picture of nice rooms with clean linens. Too bad for them a TripAdvisor user found bed bugs in their bed, which pretty much squashes any positive images a hotel tries to convey.
15 Costanoa Coastal Lodge & Camp, Pescadero, CA (USA)
Reality:
Costanoa Coastal Lodge & Camp in California is a place to go to relax and unwind after a stressful week. They have a nice pool, a nice lodge, a nice hot tub, etc. Only, the hot tub is really not all that nice. Sure, it can be nice and clean, with fresh sparkling blue water. But it also appears to have the possibility of being green and frothy. Do you want to take a chance?
14 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Milwaukee - Brookfield, Brookfield, WI (USA)
Reality:
The pool is a favorite place for a lot of hotel patrons to visit. So, of course a hotel is going to want to advertise just how great their pool is, and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Milwaukee - Brookfield is no different. Their pool images show a nice clean (and pretty fancy!) pool for guests. Yet, TripAdvisor users paint a different picture of what the pool really looks like. Be warned, traveler, the pool at a hotel is not what it may be presented.
13 Bullock Hotel, Deadwood, SD (USA)
Reality:
Made famous by the TV series, the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota wants to maintain that air of the Wild West, which means they have an old but classy style to their rooms. Too bad that means you may feel a little creeped out by their rooms, which may or may not be haunted by the ghosts of an old west mining town. It looks like TripAdvisor has come through once again to show us what it is really like to stay in these rooms.
12 Hotel Santika Premiere, Tangerang (Indonesia)
Reality:
Even in Indonesia, you would expect that if the hotel is going to go through the trouble of advertising and put up nice pictures, that those pictures would actually represent what the rooms in the hotel are really like. However, if you take a look at the reality picture posted to TripAdvisor, then you will clearly see that the rooms at Hotel Santika Premiere are far from what is posted by the travel blog that did the review of the hotel.
11 Heathlands Hotel Bournemouth, Bournemouth (UK)
Reality:
Heathlands Hotel Bournemouth may not be hotel that the Queen of England will be staying at, but it does try to present an air of British quality to its guests and would-be guests. Too bad for them some of those guests have found that the wiring in the hotel is exposed to the point that they questioned the overall safety of the hotel. It looks like Heathlands Hotel Bournemouth needs to hire an electrician and do some work on the walls of their rooms.