How To Spot Deceptive Hotel Websites And Fraudulent Trip Advisor Reviews

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I have written many reviews on TripAdvisor and read even more. I am surprised that anyone would fall for phoney reviews the way the writer of the piece has.

When I read reviews I always check negative reviews first and see whether they are consistent, whether the reviewers seem to have an unreasonable ax to grind, and note the percentage of the reviews which fall into the different categories. Likewise, if there are outstandingly good reviews, I look at the reviewers' other ones. Everyone I know who reads on-line reviews follows similar practices, and it isn't hard to come to a reasonable conclussion about a hotel or restaurant. I can honestly say that I cannot remember ever having had an unpleasant surprise when arriving a a place whose reviews I've checked.

One additional suggestion: whenever possible I also check a place's reviews in a AAA TourBook; for all their weakneses, I've found it realtively rare to find a well-reviewed AAA hotel or restaurant that's really bad, and, coupled w/ Trip Advisor reviews, it's not hard to avoid really unpleasant surprises.

7-02-2012 @ 11:34AM

David said...

Also I suggest looking for a common thread between the good reviews and the poor reviews. For instance I was reading a review about a Vegas show... Some love the adult nature of the show and some hated it. The only real value here is that the Adult nature of the show was overt and since that sort of thing doesn't bother me I went and loved the show. Remember when someone feels as though they have been done wrong they will tell as many people as they can. Thanks for the Insights Robert!

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