Online reviews have completely changed the way that people think about and book places to stay around the world. While TripAdvisor and other independent travels review websites have generally been a boon for the independent and savvy traveller they have, in some cases, become victims of their own success. Hotels, especially independent hotels in out of the way locations, are now incredibly reliant on these types of sites for their custom. That means that the temptation to manipulate things in order to increase their custom or crush negative reviews can be all too great in some cases. In this article, we’ll let you know about a few subtle signs that can help you to spot when the reviews may not be all they seem.
Firstly, take a good look at the profile of someone who has left a review and consider whether the types of reviews that they have been leaving actually make sense and seem believable. For example, if someone has reviewed several hotels in the place that they came to live, it’s probably appropriate to ask a few questions about wh
y they need to book so much overnight accommodation in a place where they’re claiming to have a home. Similarly, if a person only reviews hotels from one chain or within one grouping then it might be time to think again about the quality and trustworthiness of the reviews that they have been leaving.
Next, take a look at the quality and style of their writing. This doesn’t mean making a straight judgement on the quality of their writing – just because someone’s grammar isn’t perfect, doesn’t mean that they’re filling the internet with fake reviews. What is important however, is that their writing style and approach is consistent from one review to another. If they keep flipping from one tone to another – then there’s a chance that they’re not all that they seem.
Taking these tips onboard can help you to sniff out reviews that don’t tell the whole story. You don’t need to be constantly suspicious of everything but if something doesn’t seem quite right to you then it’s worth taking a little bit of time to do some extra digging using the criteria that we’ve outlined above.
