BOSTON, Nov. 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Outraged by trivago's top hotels in Northern Ireland list, nationally syndicated radio show travel expert Stephanie Abrams, presented her "truly TOP hotels in Northern Ireland" list at sabrams.com/blog. Her remarks were quoted in The Irish Independent by travel writer Pol O'Conghaile and posted at www.independent.ie on November 16, 2015. That story mentioned the Northern Ireland list Abrams sees as not representative of 'top' hotels. The Irish Independent's story was about trivago's list of the TOP hotels in the Republic of Ireland which reopened Abrams' rage.
"Many surveys," Abrams explains, "are based on responses from anonymous inexperienced travelers' votes where 'best' and 'cheapest' are often interchangeable, are sometimes paid placements by those listed, or may be recognitions by the publisher for advertisers. I was shocked by what is paraded as trivago's TOP hotels in Ireland recommendations. When I read the Independent's story and saw what is being put forth by trivago as the top 20 hotels in Ireland I was outraged again! Someone over at trivago needs to find a better way to describe the lodging facilities on their lists as something other than TOP, a word that connotes 'best,' because you cannot put those listed in the same category as the amazing, grand, luxurious hotels and resorts that are Ireland's TOP hotels. Applying trivago's faulty logic, were they surveying cars, would put Volkswagen's Beetle and Rolls Royce on the same list. When a traveler goes online looking for top hotels, trivago's lists of Ireland's offerings give a completely misleading impression of what the country has to offer and does a terrible disservice to the traveler looking for a destination that is rich in luxury accommodations! Inns, small hotels and B&B's that trivago has listed probably exude the Irish Cead Mile Failte, 100,000 Welcomes, style which Ireland is known for but promoting their Ireland lists as examples of the best Ireland has to offer is shameful. If I didn't know Ireland well and was looking for the very best hotels in the country, trivago's lists would make me look for another destination!"
Abrams' top hotels suggestions?: Mayo's Mount Falcon and Ashford Castle; Galway's 'the g' and Glenlo Abbey; Donegal's Solis Lough Eske Castle; Leitrim's Lough Rynn Castle; Roscommon's Kilronan Castle; Dublin's Fitzpatrick Castle, The Merrion, and The Beacon; Wicklow's Rathsallagh Country House; West Meath's Glasson Country House & Golf Resort; and Limerick's Adare Manor. "I was compelled to write my Ireland travel guide because the destination bubbles over with fabulous world-class places to visit, incredible places to dine, wonderful people and glorious places to stay but you'd never know that from trivago's lists!" Abrams notes. "Not all advice is equal! Every hotel listed in my upcoming travel guide is tops in the industry. Ireland is full of them which make trivago's lists hard to comprehend."