Tripadvisor.co.uk has been
designed to make it easier to use.
The initial impact is a more attractive homepage – sharp lines and compressed
text have been replaced by smooth edges, softer colours and neater text in
fewer colours. That said, I still wouldn’t call it an attractive site – the
guttering (space between elements) is uneven, and there’s a lot of messy
links, making the site look cluttered.
The page has been widened to adapt to 1024 x 768 pixel screens (this is the
size of the majority of modern computer screens and monitors), and the map
has been made more attractive. Little seems to have changed functionally –
it’s more a case that navigation has got easier.
More of the homepage has been dedicated to taking users through to popular
countries and cities in one click. They’ve also added a featured traveller
photo to boost user generated content beyond hotel reviews, and the helpful
links, e.g. “write a review” have moved up the page to a small central spot.
This shares space with links to partner sites, including Seat Guru and
TravelPod.
At city page level, e.g. Paris hotels, the layout is broadly similar, with the
addition of an interactive Google map and improved navigation down the
lefthand column, taking you to rich user content such as movies and photos,
as well as relevant travel links, including “things to do” and a basic Paris
guide. The video content for more popular destinations is already quite
extensive. One of the more useful Paris videos, uploaded by Paris resident
Guenol, is a guide to using the Paris Metro, although it looks like the work
of a professional production company.
The problem for users here is that unless they have a specific hotel name to
check, it’s hard to use the site to recommend hotels, other than by
neighbourhood, using the interactive map. What needs to happen next is
tagging of the hotels by type. The site already asks its users to say who
the hotel is best suited for, e.g. families, romance, singles and so forth,
so it’s a shame you can’t search by this criteria – likewise by average room
rates.
The site features 10 million reviews, up from five in the past year, so you
can’t argue with the breadth of content, and together with reader photos and
videos you can get a good idea of what you’re booking. Now this content is a
little easier to find, and more attractively packaged, the site should
continue its dominance of the online hotel reviews sector, with
tripadvisor.com getting a similar makeover by the end of the year.
We love: the breadth of content and honest user photos of hotels; the maps to
show location (although proximity to well known landmarks or sites would be
useful too)
We hate: the homepage is still cluttered and the hotels should be tagged with
more useful links, e.g. type and price; there’s no links to the hotels’ own
websites
Verdict
Design: 7/10
Navigation: 7/10
Content: 9/10
Fulfilment: 9/10
Overall score: 32/40
i used trip advisor for the first time on a recent german, scotland, england trip. all hotel bookings were as a result of trip advisor reader ratings and they were a fantastic help. for the first time all my bookings were via the internet and all turned out well thanks to reader ratings. while ratings can be affected by in-house/owners giving false ratings posing as guests, the overall views of guests win out in the end and can steer you in the right directions.
for anyone planning a trip this is a must use facility.
Anton, Perth, Western Australia
Hotels can be searched by type.
If you look at:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotels-g147270-zfp2-Cuba-Hotels.html
Then use the search bar at the top. This lets you re order the hotels by Star rating, price, B&B and speciality lodging. Just put in your details and hit the update list button.
edd, london,