No cred at all
Staying at the Super 8 and running the trail: Reasons to visit Austin?
User-generated content travel site TripAdvisor released its Travelers' Choice 2012 Awards for the Top 25 Destinations in the United States.
The first few are expected: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas and Honolulu. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, San Diego and Orlando follow.
Where is Austin? Way below San Antonio (13), and beneath Boston and Branson, Mo., falling in at No. 22.
"Despite the growth, Austin has managed to maintain its mellow, small-town appeal," says TripAdvisor. "A perennial 'Best Place to Live' winner, it's also a great place to visit, offering a range of attractions and activities."
We know Austin is awesome, and perhaps we wish listing services like this would ignore us a little more often to keep the crowds down. According to the site, our top-rated hotel is the Travassa, which is a great place. But then TripAdvisor loses all of it's credibility; Travassa is followed by — are you kidding me — the Super 8 Austin Airport, South. Now we have nothing against the Super 8, but seriously, the Four Seasons is fourth?
Top rated things to do? Climbing Enchanted Rock, the Hike and Bike Trail and the Bob Bullock State History Museum — Barton Springs doesn't even make the list.
With a major fail like that, it's not hard to believe that TripAdvisor has Austin even losing to Houston (18) — "increasingly cosmopolitan, with an influx of diverse ethnic groups and a strong emphasis on the arts."
So, seriously TripAdvisor? Have any of your judges actually ever been here? One dip into Barton Springs and an evening in Antones should get the Live Music Captial of the World moved a little higher on the list, unless you really love Branson.