TripAdvisor: We Are Not Making This Up.

Do you use Facebook? Add TravelPod to your profile.

TravelPod.com, a very cool travel blogging site (and, coincidentally, one of TripAdvisor's sister companies), just launched a new feature that allows Facebook users to add TravelPod to their Facebook profile.

If you have both a TravelPod and a Facebook account, you can add a TravelPod "patch" to your Facebook profile. It allows your friends to see a map of where you've been and links to your TravelPod blog and photos. More info is available here.

Facebook just released a development platform on May 24 that allows other companies to get their content onto Facebook, and the TravelPod folks have been working pretty much round the clock since then to make this happen.

Apologies that this is not in the Owl's typical snarky tone, but we just think it's pretty darn cool that the TravelPod team was able to do this in about one week, so we wanted to share it with the readers of our blog. (Plus, maybe TP will buy the Owl a beer or some field mice when they see this.)

Check it out-- it's very cool.

http://www.travelpod.com
http://www.facebook.com

We'll be back next week in regular snarky form. Have a great weekend, everybody!

WiFi at the Loony Bin 2.0

The Owl thinks we've heard from this user before...

A review:

Awesomenss

So good, towels were oh so fluffy, air smelt like warm root beer, 2 downsides though:a Hermaphrodite with a flock of seagulls haircut and only 1 nostril stole my lucky glow in the dark snorkel.Before i got him i went to the donut shop, had nothing but a box of 1.2 dozen starving crazed weasels, but i met the girl of my dreams, Zelda, who was a calligraphy enthusiust from New York, we got married, had kids, bought a house, she had hair the color of strained peaches,then one fateful night, she said "Hey sweetie pumpkin,do you want to join the columbia record club" So we broke up and I never saw her again, but thats just the way things go in Albuquerque!

---

Breaking news  (thanks to alert reader Marj for pointing this out)! Apparently this is NOT random craziness... it's part of the lyrics to the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Albuquerque."

Can the Owl just digress for one minute here? Follow the link just above. There is an entire Wikipedia page about JUST THIS ONE SONG, including a five-paragraph section summarizing its plot and facts like "The song has the same exact length as I'd Do Anything for Love by Meat Loaf." The Owl is both impressed that such detailed information is readily available and horrified that people who are obviously good with details and can write rather well are spending their time analyzing Weird Al lyrics! </digression>

Now in beta: TA's PriestFinder widget!

From: J----
To: membersupport@tripadvisor.com
Subject: Re: Your TripAdvisor password

I NEED TO FIND A FATHER OR PRIEST LOCATED IN ASTURIAS SPAIN OR BARCELONA OR MADRID SPAIN IMMEDIATELY.

Yes. And Jaws = youth hostel.

From a management response:

Our guest found one jellyfish into the sea and declassed us to a 2 star hotel. What would he have done if he had found a tiger shark like in the Carribbean Sea? Would he have declassed us to a motel?

This week's helpful lesson:

The Owl would like some nice madras bermudas, please.

A review:

Well im just back and was'nt let down,the food was alright the beer on ofter was effes and it was served nice and cold you could get any shorts you wanted.the hotel was clean roooms were cleaned every day staff were very helpful and the twon itself was very entertaining the local are all very welcoming and all around had nice scenery the only thing i didnt like was when i pushed a subcontractor poolcleaner into the pool 4 a laugh he when and got the police who were about to arrest me unless i give him money  to pay for a stupid mobile phone he claimed was broke but i checked his phone myself and it was working"fly man no SoH" Apart from that i would go back i had a nice time ps j------ from B-----.

Aggressive mimes? The horror! The horror!

From a review:

The neighborhood is filled with aggressive mimes, including one sitting on a toilet bowl (how creative).  Room cards are changed for no reason and you cannot understand why you can't get into your room.  All in all it was a very unpleasant stay.

The best part: The Owl googled "fear of mimes" and found there is a website called ihatemimes.com. Seriously, someone who hates mimes sat down and made not only a website, but a Flash game wherein one shoots mimes out of a cannon. At times like this, the Owl really, really, really loves the internet.

And if the phones aren't working, please call us

A review:

Internet down!!! Couldn't stay

When we arrrived we were told internet service was down.  Unfortunately my husband has to work while in town so we couldn't stay due to no internet.  When we checked in they told us internet would be fixed the next day.  I discussed the issue with my husband and we decided to leave the hotel (and not take the chance the internet wouldn't be up in the morning).  When we brought the keys to the front desk we were informed internet had been down FOR THREE days already...and they couldn't guarantee when it would be fixed.  We were glad to be leaving...ended up at the best suites down the street for same price and with internet access.   

They should let people know if internet is down before coming to the hotel (maybe by email?) so you can option to not check in and find another hotel.  Today people rely on internet to work remotely.   Just a suggestion...the room was nice and roomy though.

Welcome to BabyNameAdvisor.com

A member of our support team helped this hotelier get listed on TA... here's his reply to her:

Dear Sheila,

many thanks for your reply...

I hope that now everythings it sounds good .(?) If yes, please could you be so kind to  email me with the link where i can find  my property ?

I would like to say to you that i love your name..Sheila !

I say that if one day i will have a baby i want to give her the name of Sheila !!!

By the way,many thanks for your help !

Have a nice day

I look forward to hearing from you !

With many kind  regards.

Ciao from Italy

G-----