How much do you believe what people write on tripadvisor?
I think the reviews are pretty accurate, or they are accurate at the time of writting. Some hotels you notice have gotten bad ratings but over time changed. In anycase it gives you an indication of what to expect. I always look at the number of reviews and when they were posted. You will always get someone who lost their luggage and is not happy, but if 9 out of 10 are good, it is fairly safe to say you are on a winner. We just used it when booking a stag week for the lads in Bangkok. The hotel that the travel agent recommended was fine, had all the amenities and was in the location that we were seeking, but checking the reviews on trip advisor we found that it was a predominantly gay hotel with a number of people commenting on how great it was for gay travellors…. good for some, but not really the kind of hotel we were looking for.
