TripAdvisor collects millions of travelers' reviews of hotels and restaurants all over the world. Since the reviews on TripAdvisor are not edited, users of the information have no guarantee of its veracity or reliability. Thus, using TripAdvisor requires screening quality data from the immense data set, doing a little bit of gut-level statistics, and honing in on explicit details.

Note: TripAdvisor is a business operated by the Expedia Group. Revenues are derived from advertising and commissions earned when users of TripAdvisor book travel services through links on the TripAdvisor website. There is no indication of any conflict of interest, yet be aware that not all links on TripAdvisor reflect reviewers' opinions and experiences.

Some screening tips:

• Screen out properties with low overall ratings.
• Unless you know who wrote it and why, ignore on general principles any review that is the only post. It could be written by the property owner (or a friend), a rival property owner, someone with an ax to grind, or someone who is posting for some weird reason or even for the wrong property.
• Consider, but don't totally rely on, individual reviews that vary widely from the majority of reviews. An outlier could stem form an unusual incident, a grouchy reviewer, an insider trying to help business, or a rival trying to hurt it. The reason for considering an outlier at all is that you might find a tidbit that is important to you, for example, if the water in the pool is warm or if patio dining includes a lot of flies.
• read posts for very specific details and also reviewers' photos. A review might tell you that the room with the best view is located adjacent to the restaurant's giant exhaust fans. Or, you might see a photo of mildew in the shower.
• be suspicious of highly effusive reviews (e.g., "best ever!") unless you can assure yourself of the reviewer's veracity.
• compare a reviewer's demographics with yours. A European might have a different set of standards than an American. Same goes for urban/rural and single/married/plus-kids.

Deconstructing TripAdvisor...Wall Street Journal travel writer Nancy Keates' in-depth discussion for using TripAdvisor wisely, published June 1, 2007. :