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Post by dannyboy on Jun 19, 2017 10:28:12 GMT -5
LOL, looks like International House paid to be listed in Medellin Living's 10 best Medellin hostel list - medellinliving.com/best-hostels-in-medellin/See the comments at the bottom. So a poorly located hostel in Belen can't compete with better located hostels in Poblado and Laureles so they pay Medellin Living to be included at the top of their 10 best Medellin hostel list. Shame on Medellin Living for stooping so low. What do others think about this?
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Post by mudd on Jun 19, 2017 10:57:39 GMT -5
typical, many companies " promote" medelin because they are in some way, benefiting financially from it.
their are no real or truth reports about medlelin that i have seen, all are completely biased in promoting it as " the best city to retire" ect lol
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Post by colombiana on Jun 19, 2017 11:08:28 GMT -5
That is pathetic.
I found that Medellin Living was helpful to me when I moved to the city.
But the site loses all credibility if it accepts payment to be included in a "best" list.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2017 11:41:58 GMT -5
Not sure if it is true, but if it is I feel much better about Medellin Living if it is true. They have been pumping Medellin and crappy restaurants for years, I thought they were just a little slow-at least now it may make some sense.
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Post by jabberwocky on Jun 19, 2017 12:06:01 GMT -5
10 best hostels in Medellin? - yikes - not my thing - for me its about the equivalent of listing the 10 best restaurants for chunchurria.
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Post by gallito on Jun 19, 2017 12:11:29 GMT -5
The world of travel has become an internet highway,travel forums and now fake reviews...the other day I watched a piece on fake reviews,basically companies hire out reviewers to lie for money.
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Post by jabberwocky on Jun 19, 2017 15:46:27 GMT -5
That sounds like the perfect gringo job while living in Colombia - be a digital nomad - get paid in dollars all for writing fake 5 star reviews.
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Post by wildstubby on Jun 19, 2017 17:03:46 GMT -5
It's a hostel not a hotel. I always viewed them as nothing more than a boarding house and you paid money, (if you had it). I never stayed in one because I guess I like my 'creature comforts' too much. If this is as bad as has been stated, its got to be damn near a 'flop house'!
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 19, 2017 18:01:09 GMT -5
It's a hostel not a hotel. I always viewed them as nothing more than a boarding house and you paid money, (if you had it). I never stayed in one because I guess I like my 'creature comforts' too much. If this is as bad as has been stated, its got to be damn near a 'flop house'! LOL at 'flop house'. So Medellin Living puts a 'flop house' in Belen as the best hostel in Medellin. I bet International House now loves their advertising spend with Medellin Living - lots of "positive" comments like "poorly located", "not the best location", "can't be trusted" and "flop house" here and and on Medellin Living
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Post by colombiana on Jun 20, 2017 14:34:06 GMT -5
What were they thinking? Did the clowns at Medellin Living think they could get away with publishing a fake best hostels list with a knowledgeable expat community?
It's so obvious that International House isn't in a good location and shouldn't be rated one of the best hostels in the city.
What is next? A list of the best steak places in the city and they put some Podunk place in Centro as #1 that paid them for a spot on the list? Or they do a fake review to recommend an overpriced visa agency where they get a kick-back?
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 21, 2017 12:02:47 GMT -5
I see the negative comments critical about the 2017 best hostels article on the Medellin Living site were deleted. And no change made to this fake best hostels list that International House paid to be on. At least they can't delete the comments here on this site.
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Post by barrumundi on Jun 21, 2017 17:18:58 GMT -5
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 21, 2017 21:31:16 GMT -5
TripAdvisor is notorious for having fake reviews and anyone can submit reviews on TripAdvisor even if they never even stayed there. So a business can get family and friends and even pay people to submit reviews as there is no proof of stay required on TripAdvisor for submitting reviews for hostels or hotels. And no proof is required that you ate at a restaurant for submitting a restaurant review. I remember 3 or 4 years ago when The Flip Flop Sandwich Shop was the #1 rated restaurant in Medellin on TripAdvisor, which was a joke. And it currently has La Pampa as the #1 restaurant ahead of several much better restaurants like Carmen and Oci.Mde. So I don't trust TripAdvisor. Look on HostelWorld where over 30 hostels in Medellin rated higher than International House. At least on HostelWorld it permits only reviewers that booked and stayed at hostels booked through their website.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 23:41:28 GMT -5
TripAdvisor is notorious for having fake reviews and anyone can submit reviews on TripAdvisor even if they never even stayed there. So a business can get family and friends and even pay people to submit reviews as there is no proof of stay required on TripAdvisor for submitting reviews for hostels or hotels. And no proof is required that you ate at a restaurant for submitting a restaurant review. I remember 3 or 4 years ago when The Flip Flop Sandwich Shop was the #1 rated restaurant in Medellin on TripAdvisor, which was a joke. And it currently has La Pampa as the #1 restaurant ahead of several much better restaurants like Carmen and Oci.Mde. So I don't trust TripAdvisor. Look on HostelWorld where over 30 hostels in Medellin rated higher than International House. At least on HostelWorld it permits only reviewers that booked and stayed at hostels booked through their website. Trip Advisor is totally worthless. Notorious for fraudulent reviews. Just look at Medellin restaurant reviews, a total joke.
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Post by barrumundi on Jun 22, 2017 3:53:22 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more?
Is Medellin Living part of International Living?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 7:55:01 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more? Is Medellin Living part of International Living? No hate, but trip advisor has been riddled with fraudulent reviews for years, removal of bad reviews by owners of establishments and in general sucks. I would never rely upon a review on TripAdvisor. Barrumundi, are you being paid by one of these organizations? Please report all of your interactions with the Russians during the last 10 years.
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Post by dandl93 on Jun 22, 2017 7:57:31 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more? Is Medellin Living part of International Living? Ask LIM he is a big poster and follower of all the above
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Post by colombiana on Jun 22, 2017 8:46:35 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more? Is Medellin Living part of International Living? No I heard at 2 of the Medellin Living meetups that Medellin Living was bought by the Casacol real estate agency last year. I have seen Casacol articles on the Medellin Living site about investing in real estate and the weekly email from Medellin Living includes Casacol at the bottom. Dave the founder of Medellin Living is gone and sold the site but this was never announced. Dave seemed like a standup guy. I thought Medellin Living was a good site as it helped me in the past. But from this thread it looks like they accepted payment from a hostel to be on a best hostels list. Sounds like something a real estate company would do. Wonder what is next?
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 22, 2017 10:39:29 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more? Is Medellin Living part of International Living? No I heard at 2 of the Medellin Living meetups that Medellin Living was bought by the Casacol real estate agency last year. I have seen Casacol articles on the Medellin Living site about investing in real estate and the weekly email from Medellin Living includes Casacol at the bottom. Dave the founder of Medellin Living is gone and sold the site but this was never announced. Dave seemed like a standup guy. I thought Medellin Living was a good site as it helped me in the past. But from this thread it looks like they accepted payment from a hostel to be on a best hostels list. Sounds like something a real estate company would do. Wonder what is next? Thanks, so that explains it. But did they think the expat community wouldn't find out.
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Post by livinginmedellin on Jun 22, 2017 12:08:52 GMT -5
Let me get this straight ....... so far, we are hating International House, Medellin Living AND Trip Advisor. Any more? Is Medellin Living part of International Living? Ask LIM he is a big poster and follower of all the above No Medellin Living isn't part of International Living. International Living is foreign retirement marketing machine that sugar coats everything. Dave the founder is no longer involved in Medellin Living.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2017 12:16:18 GMT -5
No I heard at 2 of the Medellin Living meetups that Medellin Living was bought by the Casacol real estate agency last year. I have seen Casacol articles on the Medellin Living site about investing in real estate and the weekly email from Medellin Living includes Casacol at the bottom. Dave the founder of Medellin Living is gone and sold the site but this was never announced. Dave seemed like a standup guy. I thought Medellin Living was a good site as it helped me in the past. But from this thread it looks like they accepted payment from a hostel to be on a best hostels list. Sounds like something a real estate company would do. Wonder what is next? Thanks, so that explains it. But did they think the expat community wouldn't find out. Interesting that the article pumping Casacol on the Medellin Living site provides no disclosures about their relationship with Casacol-at least as far as I could tell. medellinliving.com/real-estate-foreign-buyers-guide/
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Post by gallito on Jun 22, 2017 12:20:18 GMT -5
What's next a sudden influx of gringo hostel startups on Med Living - real estate site.
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Post by colombiana on Jun 23, 2017 12:24:01 GMT -5
Another issue I realized with Medellin Living is they are collecting $207 a month in donations from 51 readers: www.patreon.com/medellinlivingI was thinking about donating in the past. But that collection of donations is being done as Dave (David Lee), the founder of Medellin Living who is long gone. They are collecting donations under false pretenses. The last article Dave wrote was in December 2015 before he sold the Medellin Living site. I bet that readers wouldn't be donating money if they knew they were really giving it to Casacol, a gringo real estate company.
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 29, 2017 12:17:17 GMT -5
Another issue I realized with Medellin Living is they are collecting $207 a month in donations from 51 readers: www.patreon.com/medellinlivingI was thinking about donating in the past. But that collection of donations is being done as Dave (David Lee), the founder of Medellin Living who is long gone. They are collecting donations under false pretenses. The last article Dave wrote was in December 2015 before he sold the Medellin Living site. I bet that readers wouldn't be donating money if they knew they were really giving it to Casacol, a gringo real estate company. Unbelievable to see how low Medellin Living stoops. So I see they are now up to $211 a month in reader donations. Medellin Living is continuing to collect donations from readers under the founder Dave's name. Even though Dave is long gone. So I agree this is collecting money under false pretenses. I wish there was a way to contact all those donors and let them know about the shady business practices of the owners of Medellin Living.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 12:44:04 GMT -5
Another issue I realized with Medellin Living is they are collecting $207 a month in donations from 51 readers: www.patreon.com/medellinlivingI was thinking about donating in the past. But that collection of donations is being done as Dave (David Lee), the founder of Medellin Living who is long gone. They are collecting donations under false pretenses. The last article Dave wrote was in December 2015 before he sold the Medellin Living site. I bet that readers wouldn't be donating money if they knew they were really giving it to Casacol, a gringo real estate company. Unbelievable to see how low Medellin Living stoops. So I see they are now up to $211 a month in reader donations. Medellin Living is continuing to collect donations from readers under the founder Dave's name. Even though Dave is long gone. So I agree this is collecting money under false pretenses. I wish there was a way to contact all those donors and let them know about the shady business practices of the owners of Medellin Living. I certainly understand your concern regarding the unrighteousness of such vile actions, however in terms of Colombian frauds and scams this appears relatively benign. No woodies required..
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Post by dannyboy on Jun 29, 2017 13:21:05 GMT -5
Unbelievable to see how low Medellin Living stoops. So I see they are now up to $211 a month in reader donations. Medellin Living is continuing to collect donations from readers under the founder Dave's name. Even though Dave is long gone. So I agree this is collecting money under false pretenses. I wish there was a way to contact all those donors and let them know about the shady business practices of the owners of Medellin Living. I certainly understand your concern regarding the unrighteousness of such vile actions, however in terms of Colombian frauds and scams this appears relatively benign. No woodies required.. Yes it isn't much compared to many Colombian frauds and scams. But the gringos at Medellin Living should know better and shouldn't be trying to collect money from other gringos under false pretenses and publishing a fake best hostels list that a hostel that doesn't belong on the list paid to be at the top. I'm sure Dave the founder wouldn't like what is going on at Medellin Living now, as he appeared to be honest. I just contacted Dave to let him know on his gobackpacking site with a link to this thread. I told Dave I didn't think he would want his name associated with Medellin Living anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 13:23:48 GMT -5
I certainly understand your concern regarding the unrighteousness of such vile actions, however in terms of Colombian frauds and scams this appears relatively benign. No woodies required.. Yes it isn't much compared to many Colombian frauds and scams. But the gringos at Medellin Living should know better and shouldn't be trying to collect money from other gringos under false pretenses and publishing a fake best hostels list that a hostel that doesn't belong on the list paid to be at the top. I'm sure Dave the founder wouldn't like what is going on at Medellin Living now, as he appeared to be honest. I just contacted Dave to let him know on his gobackpacking site with a link to this thread. I told Dave I didn't think he would want his name associated with Medellin Living anymore. Not sure Dave is a Choir Boy!!!
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Post by dannyboy on Jul 6, 2017 17:53:41 GMT -5
So now there is also a sponsored post about International House on Medellin Living: medellinliving.com/international-house-medellin-comfort-tranquility-close-nightlife-hotspots/First put a poorly located hostel in Belén at the top of a fake hostels list and now a glowing review obviously written by International House. It's sponsored as it says at the end " This post was written in collaboration with International House Medellin Hostel." And that sponsored post says it only takes 10 minutes to walk from that hostel in Belén to La 70. BS! It's 2 km or about a mile to walk where most of the bars/discos are on La 70, so it would take 20-25 minutes to walk. 10 minutes would be via taxi according to Google maps. Also claiming only 10 minutes in a taxi to Parque Lleras from that hostel in Belén? BS again! Not with the traffic - according to Google maps it's currently 23 minutes to Parque Lleras at nearly 6pm. What's next from this site that still is begging for donations from readers as Dave the founder, even though he is long gone.
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Post by colombiana on Jul 13, 2017 18:30:18 GMT -5
I heard today that the main writer and editor at Medellin Living (Jeff) quit over the BS sponsored hostel paying to be at that top of that fake best hostel post on Medellin Living, as it was against his ethics, see here, it looks to be confirmed on the site, as it says Jeff is now a previous contributor - medellinliving.com/about/So Medellin Living appears to only has one writer left (Alan), who it looks like rarely writes for the site - I see only 5 posts in 5 months. And Alan wrote that sponsored BS hostel article and planned a meetup tonight that is in a terrible location in my opinion - way up the hill in Envigado, so its difficult to get to - medellinliving.com/join-medellin-living-july-meetup-sport-wings-san-lucas-plaza/So, is this the beginning of the end for Medellin Living? Perhaps so.
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Post by dannyboy on Jul 20, 2017 15:34:10 GMT -5
I heard today that the main writer and editor at Medellin Living (Jeff) quit over the BS sponsored hostel paying to be at that top of that fake best hostel post on Medellin Living, as it was against his ethics, see here, it looks to be confirmed on the site, as it says Jeff is now a previous contributor - medellinliving.com/about/So Medellin Living appears to only has one writer left (Alan), who it looks like rarely writes for the site - I see only 5 posts in 5 months. And Alan wrote that sponsored BS hostel article and planned a meetup tonight that is in a terrible location in my opinion - way up the hill in Envigado, so its difficult to get to - medellinliving.com/join-medellin-living-july-meetup-sport-wings-san-lucas-plaza/So, is this the beginning of the end for Medellin Living? Perhaps so. WOW, not only did the main writer and editor of Medellin Living quit. He launched a competitor to Medellin Living that puts it to shame! LMAO! medellinguru.com/Check it out. It has some fantastic photos, some pretty good articles and even a professional photographer is involved. And Jeff clearly says on the About page on the site - "What is different about MedellinGuru.com and many other travel blogs? Unlike many other travel blogs, you won’t find sponsored content, paid trips or advertising on this site." And the Medellin Living site appears to be gone today: medellinliving.com/ says "Welcome to Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting". Is it hiding in shame? Or did the clown owners not pay the hosting bill? So we now we see the result of something completely unethical like that fake best hostels list that International House paid Medellin Living to be at the top of...
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