Reviews – How Much Notice Should You Take Of Them ?

I have just returned from my few days holiday in Norfolk where the sun shone and Rowan had a great time running on the beach !

We stayed at a country inn called the Lifeboat at Thornham, where you can see the sea from your bedroom window and walk down the country lanes to the beach, a perfect location especially when travelling with a dog.

The Inn has, until recently, been owned by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White along with the Chequers in the same village, and 2 other pubs in Norfolk. I have been to the Lifeboat before and it was always an old, cosy , country pub with good food. The arrival of Marco Pierre has seen the restaurant refurbished along with some of the rooms.

When my friend and I booked our stay there we learned that, in January 2015, the Lifeboat, along with the other Norfolk pubs bought by the chef , had gone into administration and so were a little wary of what would be there on our arrival, especially as the price was very good – well for that part of Norfolk exceptionally good! Being inquisitive by nature I thought I`d have a little look at some reviews and headed for Trip Advisor which, to be honest, I don`t do very often.

The reviews were varied but most gave the impression that this was a run down establishment with staff who were unhelpful at best, rude and surly at worst. The food, especially breakfast, was not good and the whole place was badly in need of a complete makeover.

This didn’t`t sound like a very good start but there wasn`t much we could do about it so off we went, and what a pleasant surprise we had on arrival! The room we were allocated was desperately in need of decoration ( and a new bathroom) but, having a dog with us, we hadn`t expected the best room in the place, but that part was the only bit that came close to any of the reviews I had read.  The staff were really lovely, friendly, helpful and happy. The food was excellent – especially breakfast, yes we had to wait a little while for it to arrive but that was because each meal was freshly cooked. The atmosphere was great and we had a wonderful time, so much so that we have booked again for next year !

A couple of months ago I spoke to a client who was due to go on Celebrity Millennium for a Far East cruise at the end of this year. She was concerned because she had read ” one or two ” bad reviews about the ship. I suggested she look at our website as there were lots of reviews by real people on there, and the vast majority were positive about the ship.

A week later she called and cancelled on the strength of the one or two bad reviews!

The moral of the story is you need to make up your own mind and don`t take too much notice of the bad reviews, after all they are only one person`s opinion!