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How to Write a Review on TripAdvisor

Last Updated: May 6, 2021

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd . Jack Lloyd is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles. He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher. This article has been viewed 259,948 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow teaches you how to review a location on TripAdvisor. You can do this on both the TripAdvisor website and the TripAdvisor mobile app.

• If you aren't logged into your TripAdvisor account, you'll need to log in before you can leave a review: click the person-shaped icon at the top of the screen, select a sign-in option, and enter your login information when prompted.

• For example, clicking the right-most circle here will apply a 5/5 rating, while clicking the left-most circle will apply a 1/5 rating.

• It's best to place a few keywords which describe your interview in the title. For example, if you had a great visit but found the weather unenjoyable, you might write "Good Food Poor Weather" in the title box.

• Keep your review relatively short by focusing on the parts of the trip which stood out to you.
• If necessary, provide context to inform your review position. For example, if you found that the food at a restaurant was bland, noting that you don't usually mind bland food (if true) helps justify your complaint.

• For example, if you visited the location with a partner, you might click the Couples option here.

• For example, if you visited the location on the 22nd of January in 2018, you would click January 2018 here.

• Click Add a photo .
• Click Select photos from your computer .
• Select a photo, then click Open .
• Add a description to the photo.
• Check the "I am the owner..." box at the bottom of the window.
• Click Upload , or click Add more photos to select another photo.

• If you aren't logged in, tap a Sign in option (e.g., Sign in with email ) and enter your login information when prompted before continuing.

• For example, to review a Studio 6 motel in Portland, Oregon, you would type in studio 6 before tapping the "in" text box and typing in portland oregon .

• You may have to tap Reviews twice to force the Reviews section to open.

• For example, tapping the right-most circle here will apply a 5/5 rating, while tapping the left-most circle will apply a 1/5 rating.

• For example, if you visited the location on the 27th of December in 2017, you would tap Dec 2017 here.

• For example, if you went to the location while on a business trip, you would tap Business in this menu.

• Tap the camera icon below the "Review" text box.
• Select a photo from your phone.

• You can skip this section by tapping Skip in the top-right corner of the screen.

Community Q&A

• Remember to be polite and concise when leaving reviews. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

• If you can't find the name of the location you want to review, TripAdvisor may not have it listed yet. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://www.tripadvisorsupport.com/hc/en-us/articles/200614877-How-do-I-write-a-review-

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Tripadvisor   Reviews

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Write a review

Reviews 2.2.

3,329 total

Most relevant

A little bit of Heaven ! We have just returned from 3 nights at…

We have just returned from 3 nights at the Retreat Cabins in High Kelling, north Norfolk. Absolutely superb! If I could give it 11 out of 10 I would. Jacquie and Matt are so caring and attention is paid to every detail. We would thoroughly recommend this place to any one looking for a peaceful, lovely place to stay and so close to delightful places to visit.

Date of experience : June 22, 2024

Trip advisor is the worst

Trip advisor is a completely unprofessional company. They booked my family to visit the Forbidden City in China. They took my money and said everything was set. Two days before my visit the website still said pending. I called and they said “Oh, sorry. The local company has no space for you and there is nothing we can do.” Now I am out of a trip of a lifetime and trip advisor has no care. Why was it available to book online if no spaces were available? NEVER USE THIS COMPANY!!

Date of experience : June 26, 2024

TripAdvisor.com Absolutely AAAA1+…

TripAdvisor.com was Absolutely AAAA1+ Superb In Their Collaborative Planning Of My Round Trip Air Flight Reservations On: Sunday June 16th, 2024. From:(BUF) To:( SFO ) Everything Went Silky Smooth with Perfect Legitimate Confirmed Air Travel Flight Reservations. At The Best /Lowest Priced Airfare For My Desired Flight Needs, I Most Definitely Highly Recommend The TripAdvisor.com, Travel Site To All Travelers.

Date of experience : June 16, 2024

Reply from Tripadvisor

Hello Ronald, We would like to thank you for taking the time to review Tripadvisor via Trustpilot. It is always nice to receive positive feedback from our community! Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

I don’t know what happened to this site…

I don’t know what happened to this site but it’s now pretty bad from every aspect. I’ve been on the phone with the technical team for the last week having validation issues and login issues. I can’t access my account through their site, but I can through an email they sent for their sister company. When I send a reset link, it doesn’t come to my email. They can send in a recent link, but it only works once and they can’t figure it out. I can’t enter through TripAdvisor, but I can enter my account through one of their sister companies. No one on the team can seem to figure it out and they always have to escalate it. The last time I called them they said, don’t worry we just validated your account. It’s good to go, which is not the case at all. When I call, it seems that the reps I’m talking to are at a very basic level, especially for dealing with listings on the technical end. How can I possibly trust my listings or bookings with a travel site that is this messed up?

Date of experience : June 25, 2024

I try not to use Tripadvisor anymore

I try not to use Tripadvisor anymore. Used to be great but now if you look anything up you then get dozens of emails from them telling you to hurry and book. Just because I am looking doesn’t mean I am planning a trip. What a hassle. The've really goon down hill. I use Expedia now. Valuable reviews and no hassle.

Date of experience : June 12, 2024

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. We are committed to hearing about customer feedback to drive improvements on our end and to resolve any issues that you may have. Kindly post your ideas on our forum's channel by clicking on via the following link: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i12104-Help_us_make_TripAdvisor_better.html Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Santiago plaza hotel affiliated by Meliá the best hotel I been through the smile of Martha infectious, very polite, accomodating, Excellent customer service she is an asset of the hotel, and not forgotten Jose ,and Marcus too , they are very good also,the dinner all of them we select and recommended by Martha are the best, our junior suite love it in fact we will recommend the hotel to our friends and family, we will be back again.Michael love the hotel and me too with Martha customer service is very friendly and efficient she is an asset of the hotel

Date of experience : June 15, 2024

Hello Evangeline, Thank you for sharing your sterling experience at 'Santiago Plaza Hotel' on Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. In reading through the review multiple times, I believe this review is meant for hotel; not Tripadvisor. With this in mind, could I kindly ask that this review be moved to the corresponding business page? Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Impossible to unsubscribe to their marketing mails

Their marketing mail system is absolutely flawed. I have unsubscribed numerous times now since february 2024 and I receive a confirmation along with "It may take up to 14 days" This obviously hasn't happened yet, as they continue to spam me. (roughly 150 mails since february) This is the issue with american companies operating in Europe. They completely disregard GDPR, get MASSIVE fines, and then claim they're innocent and "it's the industry standard" - Yes it is, in America, in Europe it's illegal. Please fix you mailing system before someone decides to legally pursue this. Edit: They tried removing this review! You guys are terrible

Date of experience : June 14, 2024

Rijksmuseum tickets

In good faith, I booked tickets for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from Tripadvisor. Turns out the tickets are from some unaccountable third party. The Tripadvisor app said that I had paid and the tickets would be available 2 days before the date. I never got this notice, so when I was at the museum, I tried to retrieve the tickets, but never could. Only got the receipt that I had paid. At the museum, they couldn't honour this, as these tickets have nothing to do with them. In the end, I had to buy from the museum and try to get the refund when I got home (which is two weeks later (two days ago). So far, they are saying there is NO refund. Maybe I'm screwed. I would recommend that you DO NOT buy any tickets from Tripadvisor. Tickets should have been sent as an attachment as soon as my funds cleared my credit card. I was travelling at that very moment, so missed some emails and was changing SIM cards.

Date of experience : May 31, 2024

Hello Henry, Thank you for bringing your concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. Whilst Viator is a Tripadvisor company, they do operate independently and, as such, have a dedicated Customer Support team to handle inquiries such as the one flagged in your review. With this in mind, could we kindly ask that the said review be moved to their business page for further assistance? Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Regularly visiting "The wonderful Madhuban Restaurant in Liss…

Regularly visiting "The Madhuban Tandoori Restaurant" in Liss (94 Station Rd.) Always impress by the excellence of the welcome and the delightful food served and advised under the supervision of the super star Bedar Miah the Owner. Always a great pleasure to dine or take-ways these exotic dishes Thank you Mr. Bedar and your very professional "Spices' Team. Warm regards. Crazy epicurean Frog. Alias Big-Daddy.

Date of experience : May 03, 2024

Hello Pierre-Loup, Thank you for sharing your sterling experience at 'The Madhuban Tandoori Restaurant' on Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. In reading through the review multiple times, I believe this review is meant for another business; not Tripadvisor. With this in mind, could I kindly ask that this review be moved to the corresponding business page? Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Hotel sonesta international drive

Just got from our family stay atroo 433 was really nice TV and bathroom in ach room very good. location plenty of restaurants near by car hire available in hotel which was easy the gthe grandchildren loved the pool most of the time was just us in very relaxing after a busy day at the parks we had a lovely time visiting the springs saw wild agaltiors would det stay at the hotel again and already rcomt

Date of experience : May 05, 2024

Hello, Thank you for sharing your review on Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. In reading through the review multiple times, I believe this review is meant for another business; not Tripadvisor. With this in mind, could I kindly ask that this review be moved to the corresponding business page? Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Arbitrary delisting of property

I am an owner, I received an email stating thst unless I validated my account it would be delisted. Tried several times and received error message that validation could not be completed. Brought this to TripAdvisor attention and after several emails and phone calls they accepted the fault was theirs and the issue would be escalated and dealt with. TripAdvisor solution was to delist my property permanently! Great customer service!! And to prove their customer relations ..what a cut and paste reply. Have been a Tripadvisor client and user for years as they started so well. Now sinking ever more rapidly to the bottom. Corporate bottom line more important than customer satisfaction.

Date of experience : June 04, 2024

Hello Matthew, We would like to thank you for taking the time to review Tripadvisor via Trustpilot. Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Changing our flight to the next day 10…

Changing our flight to the next day 10 hours before. Worst company ever

An overrated disorganized site

An overrated disorganized site Its interesting, I hardly use this site but one of the few times I did, I asked a simple question in one of their endless disorganized forums, the first reply was a rude one which I replied, it seems some time later my forum post and reply were removed instead of the rude individual who it seemed had a high standing of being rude from what I can tell. They have endless forums, jumbled together , some well over 15 years and its hard to know where exactly to post, my experience was to be rudely replied to and I could not appeal the removal. Finding some way of contacting the support team seemed impossible, I finally found a method to write to support but they whitewashed my complaint . Its grossly overrated site, their booking system certainly does not give you the best deals and lord help you asking questions in the wrong forums. Not s site I will be using for questions and certainly not for travel deals.

Date of experience : June 05, 2024

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. We are committed to hearing about customer feedback to drive improvements on our end and to resolve any issues that you may have. Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Don’t care about your business at all!

We noticed fake accounts were created only with the goal to harm our business. Reported to tripadvisor, was not a surprise they didn’t do anything with it. Their response was, we don’t see anything unusual and at the end even these reviews will help our business. At one point they were right, there was nothing unusual, tripadvisor is full off fake reviews. So now it’s waiting till their bot responds to this comment with the standard answer, like on many complaints below.

Date of experience : May 18, 2024

Hello Irina, , Thank you for taking the time to bring your review concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. We wanted you to know that we have technology and a live team in place to moderate reviews to ensure that they are family-friendly, posted to the correct business, and in compliance with all our review and guidelines. If a review is deemed suspicious or violates guidelines, our moderation team will investigate the latter accordingly and determine if these meets our submission guidelines or not. Should they not then the review will be removed. Reviews are left for free, therefore Tripadvisor does not profit from these submissions. Our goal is to be a comprehensive resource for travelers to research and to allow them to share their experiences with the global community. We hope this provides further clarification for you with regards to both our review policy and process. Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

I am having a terrible first experience…

I am having a terrible first experience with Trip Advisor . I have never used it in the past. It is a very misleading app. I was shown charges in Canadian dollars all the way to check out and in the end it charge my credit card in US dollars nowhere does it mention that the charges will be in US dollars except once you have done the payment and Then it send you the receipt. I’ve been on the phone for the past 24 hours with Trip Advisor trying to get a resolution for this issue and they are not responsive. They do not allow you to talk to a supervisor or a manager and they say they will get back to you by email, and that takes a few hours they have messed up my reservation and my trip and it is very frustrating that I’m not able to get a resolution. I advised Trip Advisor to get in contact with me to provide a resolution for this issue. Otherwise, I will end up doing a chargeback with my credit card which will end up costing the company, more money and bad reviews and a terrible experience for future customers.

Date of experience : June 08, 2024

Not Recommended Trip Advisor | tripadvisor.co.nz

We discovered that bogus accounts were created solely with the intent of harming our business. It was reported to TripAdvisor, and it came as no surprise that they did nothing. Their reaction was that they saw nothing peculiar and that, in the end, the reviews will benefit their business. At one time, they were correct; there was nothing remarkable; tripadvisor is full with phony reviews. So now it's waiting for their machine to respond to this comment with the usual response, as seen in many of the complaints below.

Date of experience : May 24, 2024

Hello, Thank you for taking the time to bring your review concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. We wanted you to know that we have technology and a live team in place to moderate reviews to ensure that they are family-friendly, posted to the correct business, and in compliance with all our review and guidelines. If a review is deemed suspicious or violates guidelines, our moderation team will investigate the latter accordingly and determine if these meets our submission guidelines or not. Should they not then the review will be removed. Reviews are left for free, therefore Tripadvisor does not profit from these submissions. Our goal is to be a comprehensive resource for travelers to research and to allow them to share their experiences with the global community. We hope this provides further clarification for you with regards to both our review policy and process. Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Trip advisor to me is a scam

Trip advisor to me is a scam, when I closed my Hospitality business I tried looking for their customer phone number to communicate with them to stop them from billing me and I could not find it, I emailed them and I did not have any response. I assumed that my communication was received , but lo and behold, its been more than a year, and they are still billing my credit card. I finally got a hold of them this month and there is a lot of runaround just to bill me again. This company is a "fraud' billing me for more than a year now when my business is not in existence. They are committing fraud now for more than a year. I dont know how to stop them now because they are unrelenting in making look stupid.

Date of experience : May 26, 2024

Hello Joe, Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. We are committed to hearing about customer feedback to drive improvements on our end and to resolve any issues that you may have. Kindly post your ideas on our forum's channel by clicking on via the following link: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i12104-Help_us_make_TripAdvisor_better.html Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Platform of Horror's

The Platform refuses to stop the Deformation of innocents victims of a Retaliatory review by a UK Journalist that was asked to leave the premises for using Crystal Meth and other drugs in a now closed down Campbell's Boarding House, and we quote: House of horrors - Review of Campbells Boarding ... Tripadvisor ......tripadvisor.com.au › ShowUserReviews-g3... Peta and Hein run Campbell's boarding house and it is a scam. Peta walks into rooms without asking, sometimes when guests are naked, and when challenged, ...

Date of experience : May 08, 2024

Hello Peta, Thank you for bringing your concerns to Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. Please note that the review that you have flagged via this platform is no longer visible on the live site, nor is the listing page for 'Campbell Boarding House' as the latter has been deleted from our website. Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Sense deluxe hotel is amazing

Hotelnis amazing g,all hotel is beautiful,staff are fantastic a big thank you.to Emire and Ariz from the entertainment team.they made our holiday See.you.all.soo

Date of experience : April 12, 2024

Hello Alison, Thank you for sharing your sterling experience at 'Hotelnis' on Tripadvisor's page on Trustpilot. In reading through the review multiple times, I believe this review is meant for the accommodation; not Tripadvisor. With this in mind, could I kindly ask that this review be moved to the corresponding business page? Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Always use this app while traveling

Always use this app while traveling. Love the usefulness and help I can always get through it. A big variety of places (everything mostly with photos which is good), travel tips, etc. Love the experience, much easier to explore the world with Tripadvisor, thanks so much for the developers!

Date of experience : March 12, 2024

Hello Olga, We would like to thank you for taking the time to review Tripadvisor via Trustpilot. It is always nice to receive positive feedback from our community! Kind regards, Tripadvisor Customer Relations Team.

Tripadvisor: Plan & Book Trips 4+

Hotels, restaurants, tours, tripadvisor.

• #58 in Travel
• 4.8 • 355.8K Ratings

Screenshots

Description.

** Be one of the first to try the beta version of our newly-launched AI itinerary builder, offering personalized recs powered by traveler tips and reviews. ** As a travel guidance company, Tripadvisor brings people, passions and places together. We aim to help make you a better traveler, from travel planning, to booking, to taking a trip. The app lets you get the most out of your trip—whether you’re planning or on-the-go. Discover where to stay, what to do and where to eat based on guidance from millions of travelers who have been there before. Find deals on hotels, book experiences, reserve tables at great restaurants and discover great places nearby. No matter what type of trip you’re looking to take, the Tripadvisor app makes planning it easy and also lets you guide others on their way. GET TRAVEL GUIDANCE • Find millions of reviews about hotels, restaurants, tours, attractions and other experiences from travelers like you • Read articles and guides to discover new ways to experience a destination with tips from travel experts • Discover great deals on top-rated hotels, tours, activities, experiences and other things to do • Find great places to eat nearby and make restaurant reservations ORGANIZE YOUR TRIP IN ONE PLACE • Use the updated Trips planning tool to save hotels, restaurants, and things to do • Get personalized recs with AI itineraries powered by reviews (beta) • See your saves on your custom map • Share and collab with your travel buds • Access mobile tickets for booked tours, attractions, experiences and other things to do GUIDE OTHER TRAVELERS • Submit your own reviews and photos of places you’ve visited to guide fellow travelers • Post and answer questions from like-minded travelers in the Tripadvisor forums

Version 58.3

Improvements to the Trip planning product which allow travelers to: - Receive a custom AI itinerary backed by traveler reviews - View saves in an organized list within the saves tab - Build an itinerary by adding saves and organizing them by day - View saves plotted on a map

Ratings and Reviews

355.8K Ratings

Editors’ Choice

We wouldn’t dream of planning a vacation without consulting TripAdvisor’s appraisals of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. But this robust app does much more than that, letting you book your entire trip—from flights to museum tickets—in one place. For those who embrace spontaneity, TripAdvisor is great for quickly finding spots nearby to stay, eat, or play, and the honest user reviews frequently save us from travel troubles.

Good place fro family

I have stayed at this particular RIU twice now and have stayed at others in Jamaica; this was more fun in 2018 when they had a club on site and foam party. They have renovated now, and the property is better, but it seems the food has gotten worse and entertainment not as good. I would recommend RIU Negril, the more expensive one, since they have two; this will give you access to both properties since only one has a good pool. RIU Ocho Rios has an adult pool with a swim-up bar, but it’s a bunch of kids in it splashing water in your drink and some teenagers at the bar drinking alcohol. If you want a family place that you can have fun in, this is it; if you are not looking to be around many kids, avoid it. This property is very clean, and they keep it that way; I did not feel as harassed by local salespeople as I did the last time. The staff was friendly for the most part. There is no AC in the elevators, and the bottles of alcohol that were standard in the room have been removed. The gym is relatively small. I would rate this place a 7 out of 10. It’s a decent resort overall.

WHY keep changing things????

I knew it was a mistake to click on “update” without waiting a few days to read the reviews - which I was sure would be terrible - because they just keep on changing things and making it worse for NO REASON!! I can’t understand why they think ANY of the recent changes are improvements - they moved things around AGAIN so it’s unfamiliar! Nothing on the home page is relevant. Can’t even FIND MY OWN reviews now! Why is everything so HUGE? They’re wasting space & making me scroll way too much… This is the FIFTH time I’ve updated this review in 30 minutes - every time I try to do something I keep finding more horrendous changes. Are they honestly going to make me click on “read more” for EVERY single review? OMG!!! Now instead of just having 2 search lines so I can type in the name of what I want to see and the location directly below it, it I have to click on something else to get the location box to show up so I can type it - an UNNECESSARY EXTRA step! Then, there are multiple restaurants with the same name in this city, and you don’t show me the address anymore, they all just say the city, so I have NO IDEA which one is correct!! They have absolutely destroyed what used to be a helpful trip planning app & it’s just awful now. I’ve never used yelp but it’s time to consider it... Did the people who created this ridiculous redesign ever try to actually use the app before they released this crap to the general public?

App Privacy

The developer, Tripadvisor , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

• Identifiers
• Diagnostics

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

• Financial Info
• Contact Info
• User Content
• Search History
• Browsing History

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese

• Developer Website
• App Support
• Privacy Policy

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How To Find and Research Hotels Using Tripadvisor Hotel Reviews – Episode 105

How do you find and research hotels? I want to know, after this episode, reply to this tweet and let’s chat about it. Do you get recommendations from TikTok or Instagram? Do you start with a Google search? Or maybe you use online travel agencies (OTAs), aggregators, or meta-search engines? In this episode, I share my process for finding and researching hotels using Tripadvisor hotel reviews. I’ve used Tripadvisor as a research tool to find hotels, and things to do, including activities, attractions, tours, and more.

Listen to the podcast episode below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts  |  Google Podcasts  |  Spotify  |  Pandora  |  Any podcast player  

How To Use Tripadvisor Hotel Reviews To Find Your Next Hotel

Table of Contents

What is Tripadvisor? 

Are tripadvisor reviews reliable, book free mini photo shoots with shoot, pro tips for using tripadvisor hotel reviews , new-to-me features to search tripadvisor reviews, resources mentioned:, other episodes you’ll enjoy:.

Tripadvisor is a metasearch engine that helps travelers discover hotels, flights, rental cars, cruises, things to do, and more. As of 2021, the site featured 1 billion reviews and opinions on nearly 8 million hotels, rentals, restaurants, experiences, and more. Travelers can share their experiences by writing honest reviews and uploading photos informing other travelers.

Here’s why I use Tripadvisor to research hotels. It shares reviews from real people and helps paint a realistic picture of what I can expect. Download the Tripadvisor app or access the site via desktop.

While there are fake Tripadvisor reviews, Tripadvisor is reliable.  

Tripadvisor released a transparency report stating they removed nearly 1 million fake reviews out of 26 million reviews submitted in 2020.

With Shoott, book a free 30-minute photo shoot with a professional photographer and only pay for the photos you love. I’ve used Shoot on several occasions, including gifting my mother-in-law with a set of prepaid photos. 

Also, since Shoott offers sessions in many cities across the U.S., I recommend booking a mini photo shoot on your next vacation. This is exactly what the hubby and I did, and you can take a look at the photos and a behind-the-scenes look at our Orlando session here.

Book your free photo shoot today .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Danielle Desir Corbett (@thedanielledesir)

• Sort hotels by “traveler rated”, ranking highest rated hotels based on traveler reviews.
• Leave your search wide initially to explore all your options, then narrow it down by preferences.
• Be on the lookout for “Sponsored,” which you can find right next to the hotel’s name in a grayed-out box. These are promotional ads.
• Review “traveler photos.” While some photos may be blurry, they’ll give you a realistic view of what you can expect at that hotel or resort. Do not book a hotel without looking at the traveler’s photos. Thank me later. 
• Read reviews, especially the bad ones.
• Look to see when a review was written. Is it recent or outdated?
• Review the Q&A section for more insights.
• Use the keyword search function to view reviews with specific words like “front desk” or “lobby area.”
• Take a look at the hotel in Google Maps — what’s nearby? Does it look safe? 
• Review property amenities. Which do you need? 
• Found a hotel you want to book? Visit the hotel website. They may have exclusive discounts booking directly vs. third-party booking sites.  
• Search by traveler type where you look at reviews from other travelers like you.  
• Restaurants within a mile (also see on map)
• Attractions within a mile (also see on map)
• Walkable score
• Best Places For Solo Travel With Gemma Thompson – Episode 90
• Tripadvisor Took Down Nearly 1 Million Fake Reviews Last Year
• Affording Travel (book): Discover the best saving strategies for affording travel and how to make travel a financial priority in your life.

How Flight and Hotel Pricing Works – Episode 78

How To Find Cheap Flights with Thrifty Traveler – Episode 70

Danielle Desir Corbett paid off $63,000 of student loan debt in 4 years, bought a house at 27, and has traveled to 27 countries, including her favorites, Iceland, China, and Bermuda. Go here to learn Danielle’s incredible story, from struggling financially and in debt to finding creative ways to earn more and live on her terms. Listen to The Thought Card Podcast , where Danielle shares how you can creatively travel more and build wealth regardless of your current financial situation. Reach out to Danielle by contacting: thethoughtcard (at) gmail (dot) com.

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I would like to see more reports on transparency like the one from Tripadvisor. It involves more than just travel and relaxation. Today, it may be about nearly anything. It is entirely based on “likes” and rated, but it might also be manipulated.

Wow transparency report!

Really I wish to see more transparency reports like the one from Tripadvisor. It is not only about travel and leisure. It is about almost anything today. It is all “likes” driven and ranked, but could also be subject to manipulation.

I will at least keep in mind “Tripadvisor released a transparency report stating they removed nearly 1 million fake reviews out of 26 million reviews submitted in 2020.” Thanks for making point about this!

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The Ultimate Guide to Using Tripadvisor for Booking Flights, Hotels, Rentals, and More

Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

360 Published Articles 56 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 28 U.S. States Visited: 29

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

36 Published Articles 3306 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 47 U.S. States Visited: 28

Table of Contents

What tripadvisor offers, tripadvisor reviews, tripadvisor forum, get social with tripadvisor, tripadvisor mobile app, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

While you might just think of Tripadvisor as the place to get honest reviews about hotels, restaurants, or things to do, it’s actually so much more than that.

First, Tripadvisor acts as a metasearch  engine , showing you prices for hotels, flights, and rental cars on lots of other websites. You can click through Tripadvisor to the other site to complete a booking.

Second, in recent years, they’ve added a social aspect to the site. You can follow other accounts, and you have a home page feed that’s similar to what you see on Facebook.

Finally, Tripadvisor has its own travel forum for you to ask and answer questions about all things travel.

Let’s take a look at everything Tripadvisor offers and how it can help you plan and book your next vacation.

You can search for almost anything that you’ll need for your next vacation on Tripadvisor.

• Things to do
• Restaurants
• Vacation rentals
• Vacation packages
• Rental cars

Tripadvisor offers lots of reviews plus it acts as a metasearch engine, like Google Flights , Kayak , or Skyscanner .

It gathers tons of data to show you the prices for your flight, hotel, rental car, and more on lots of other websites. Once you find a price you like, it transfers you to another website (usually a hotel or airline’s website or an online travel agency) to complete your booking.

Tripadvisor Hotels

Hot Tip: Check out our guide to the best credit cards to book vacations so you can maximize your rewards.

Tripadvisor Things To Do

Tripadvisor is a great tool to find activities for your next trip. To start, click on Things To Do in the main menu and then enter your destination.

Inputting your travel dates will show more accurate pricing information, but it’s not required. You can search for events and activities in several ways:

• Search by category
• Search popular cities
• Search only tours and tickets or day trips

When you’re viewing a list of available activities, you’ll see lots of options to filter and sort the results . Click Book Now to see specifics about the activity.

From here you’ll be able to see all of the details about the activity including things like transportation specifics, what’s included and not included, dates and times, plus reviews.

You can check availability for your desired date and see what times the tour or activity is offered. The main price you see is per person, so this is where you can see the final price if you’re booking for more than 1 person. Click Add to Cart to complete your booking via Viator, a Tripadvisor company .

Anytime you book an activity on Tripadvisor, the transaction will be completed by Viator.

Viator offers a Best Price Guarantee on your purchase. That means that if you find the same tour from the same operator priced in the same currency within 72 hours of booking, it will refund the difference in price. Plus if you arrive for your tour or activity and find a lower price being offered by the operator, contact Viator and it will refund the difference in price.

Bottom Line: Tripadvisor offers activities and tours for your next vacation. You can read reviews, check prices, and book your activity all in one spot. When you book an activity through Tripadvisor, the transaction will happen via Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Tripadvisor Restaurants

Did you know that you can also use Tripadvisor to find great restaurants? Just click on Restaurants in the main search menu, and then enter your destination.

You’ll see lots of different ways to search for a great restaurant for your specific needs. There are lots of options to filter and sort the results list. You can browse restaurants based on lots of criteria:

• Type of food
• Type of dining establishment
• Dietary restrictions
• Location (using the map feature in the upper left corner)

Click on any restaurant selection to see details, photos, and reviews.

If you have a specific question about a restaurant, scroll down to the Q&A section. You can see previously asked questions or ask one of your own.

Some restaurants will allow you to make a reservation online . You can find these in the Reserve a Table Online section, or just look for the Open Table reservation box in any listing.

Hot Tip: Do you eat out often? If so, use a credit card that earns lots of points at restaurants to maximize your returns! 

Tripadvisor Flights

Tripadvisor might not be the first website that comes to mind when you need to search for a flight. But, it acts as a metasearch engine , comparing prices from lots of other sites in one place.

Hot Tip: Not sure which online travel agency is best for you? Check out our guide to the best websites to book cheap flights for some guidance.

If you’re curious about the airline you’re booking, check out the Tripadvisor airline reviews. From the home page, click on the 3 dots in the main search box to open the drop-down menu. Then click on Airlines .

Here you’ll see the airlines listed in alphabetical order or you can sort them by rating or alliance. Click on See Reviews to read reviews about the airline from other Tripadvisor users.

Tripadvisor Vacation Rentals

If a hotel isn’t quite your style, you’ll be happy to know that you can also search for vacation rentals on Tripadvisor.

• Finally, all you need to do is enter your information and credit card number to complete your reservation. Your booking is completed through FlipKey Inc. (a Tripadvisor company).

Tripadvisor Rental Cars

Searching for a rental car on Tripadvisor works much like other sites you might be used to.

• Once you’ve found the car you want to rent, click View Deal . Unlike with flights or hotels, where you’ll be automatically taken to another website to book, your rental car booking will be processed through Tripadvisor/RentalCars.com , regardless of what supplier is listed.

Right before you complete your rental, you’ll be asked to add an Auto Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver. Before you decide to purchase this extra coverage, take a look in your wallet. Your credit card might already come with a CDW.

Here are just a few popular credit cards that come with extra car rental insurance :

• Chase Sapphire Reserve ®
• The Platinum Card ® from American Express
• Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card

Hot Tip: For more information about your options check out our guide to the best credit cards for car rental insurance .

Tripadvisor Road Trips

The Road Trip section of Tripadvisor is a fun way to check out popular road trip routes in the U.S . To find it, click on More •••  on the home page, then select Road Trips .

You can search by region: Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, or Southeast. Each road trip selection will offer tips for that route including how long it should take and the best time of year. Plus, there will be a map of the route.

Scroll down a bit to see hotels, restaurants, and things to do along the way. To see all of these things mapped out, just click on the map of the route. You can then search by location. Toggle between hotels, restaurants, and things to do by using the icons in the top left corner.

Tripadvisor Cruises

To begin your search for a cruise on Tripadvisor, select Cruises in the main search bar. Enter your destination and month of travel then click Search.

Hot Tip: If you aren’t sure about where or when you want to cruise, scroll down on the main cruise page to search by destination, duration, and popularity.

Your results page will have all of the filtering options to the left — there are lots of options to help narrow down your list:

• Departure port
• Cruise length
• Cruise line
• Ports of call

Each result will display a price, but this isn’t necessarily the lowest price available. Click on the drop-down menu for more information or click on the cruise name to see more detailed information. Clicking on View Deal will take you to another website to continue booking.

Once you click on a specific cruise for more information you’ll be able to access traveler photos and reviews. Plus you’ll be able to see all of the deals available by clicking on View all X deals.

Hot Tip: The cruise deals shown do not necessarily include all deals available. You might notice that the price to book directly is often left out.

If you decide to book a cruise via Tripadvisor, don’t forget to print our ultimate cruise packing list so you’re prepared for your adventure!

Tripadvisor reviews are the backbone of the website. If you’ve ever booked a hotel, you’ve likely checked out a Tripadvisor review.

The beauty of its reviews is that they are from real people who have stayed at the hotel you’re researching. Glossy, professional photos can make anyplace look fantastic, but with Tripadvisor, you get to see authentic, unedited photos from real travelers. It’s true, you’ll have to sort through some terrible, blurry pictures, but you’ll get a good sense of what the hotel is really like.

In addition to hotel reviews, you can find reviews for activities, restaurants, vacation rentals, and even cruises.

Tips for Making the Most out of Tripadvisor Reviews

Many reviews will give you a sense of the customer service a hotel offers. Although this is a great thing, it also gives a platform to disgruntled customers who want to bash a location. These are pretty easy to spot, so take them with a grain of salt.

If you’re searching for a specific question about a hotel, you can use the search function. Tripadvisor will offer suggestions of keywords to search for or you can input the specific piece of information you’re looking for. You’ll then see any reviews that mention that keyword. Next time you’re searching for a hotel, check the reviews for keywords like “heated pool,” “room service,” or “restaurants.”

If you’d like to search for reviews that are more specific to your circumstances, you can easily filter the reviews by traveler type (families, couples, solo, business, or friends), time of year, and language.

In addition to reading written reviews, you can scroll through pictures that people have posted. You can tell a lot about a property just by doing this versus looking at the beautiful photos posted by the hotel. Those are beautiful to look at, but if you want to see what the hotel is really like, scroll through the traveler photos. To find these, just click on Traveler Photos in the upper right-hand corner of the hotel’s review page.

Hot Tip: You can get a wealth of information about a hotel, restaurant, activity, cruise, or vacation rental from Tripadvisor reviews. You can search the written reviews for specifics like, “Is there a heated pool?” or check out the traveler photos for an unedited look at the property.

The Tripadvisor travel forums are a great resource for anyone planning a trip.

From the Tripadvisor home page, click on Travel Forums in the top toolbar.

If you’ve already selected your destination, you’ll click on the 3 dots in the search bar at the top of the screen, then click on Travel Forum .

If you access the travel forum through the home page, you’ll need to select a destination to search for. If you searched for a destination first and then accessed the travel forum, you’ll be automatically be taken to the forum for that destination.

There are general forums for states or countries and more specific city-oriented forums. You can easily move back and forth between all of these forums by clicking on the links within the forum.

Tips for Making the Most out of Tripadvisor Forums

One of the great things about Tripadvisor forums is that you can get really specific. This is a great place to search for answers that would be otherwise hard to find. The forums are filled with local experts (other Tripadvisor users who answer lots of forum questions and leave lots of reviews) to help you out. Try asking questions like: “What bar in Miami Beach shows the NBA Playoffs?” “What restaurants in Charlotte are dog-friendly?” or “What’s the best way to get to the zoo in San Diego?” If you have a specific question, the Tripadvisor forum is the place to ask it.

If you have a question that you think might be common, check out the list of top questions to the right side of the forums. Click on a link to take you to a previous thread about your question. Pay attention to the dates, though. Some of the threads may be outdated — so you may want to ask a new question for updated information.

You may have noticed that the Tripadvisor home page has some social aspects to it now. You’ll see a main feed with the ability to like, repost, and share a post. You’ll see a list of suggested people to follow to the right.

How and Why to Create a Tripadvisor Account

To take part in the social aspect of Tripadvisor , you’ll need to create a free account. You’ll be able to create an account via Facebook, Google, or an email address. Click on Sign in in the upper right-hand corner to get started.

Once you create an account, you can follow other accounts and like, repost, and share other posts. Plus you can make your own posts by clicking on Post photos or Write review in the bottom left-hand corner of your account.

Tripadvisor offers a free mobile app that is available for iOS  and Android.

It feels more like a social site than a travel booking and review site because the main feed is prominently placed on the home page. You can follow experts and other travelers for helpful tips and travel inspiration.

To access traveler photos and reviews, plus pricing and booking information click on the icons at the top of your screen. Here you’ll also find a direct link to Tripadvisor forums.

Tripadvisor is more than just reviews! The site acts as a metasearch engine and helps you search for hotels, flights, rental cars, cruises, things to do, vacation rentals, and restaurants.

You can also get social on Tripadvisor. Create an account to share your photos and reviews, and follow other accounts to see their posts in your home feed.

Through traveler photos and reviews, Tripadvisor excels in giving you a glimpse into the true nature of every aspect of your vacation.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i write a review on tripadvisor.

To write a review on Tripadvisor, go to the listing page of what you want to review and scroll down to the Reviews section. You will see a green button labeled Write a review . Click this to write and submit a review.

Or, if you’re already logged into your account, click on Write review on the lower left side of your screen under your profile information.

How do I claim a Tripadvisor page?

To claim your business’ page on Tripadvisor, locate your page and scroll down and click on Manage This Business? in the Details section. Then fill out the required information to contact Tripadvisor about your business.

Is Tripadvisor owned by Expedia?

At 1 point in its history, Tripadvisor was owned by Expedia . However, in 2011 these companies split to form 2 separate entities.

Tripadvisor now owns its own group of subsidiary companies including airfarewatchdog.com, cruisecritic.com, flipkey.com, seatguru.com, and viator.com, among others.

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About Katie Seemann

Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.

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15 of the Most Hilarious (and Insane) TripAdvisor Reviews of All Time, Ever

See recent posts by David Landsel

With more than 200 million traveler reviews and counting, TripAdvisor is more vibrant than ever these days, offering up a continuous stream of new hotel, restaurant and attraction reviews from Anchorage to Auckland and nearly everywhere in between.

But the site isn't just useful for those trying to book trips to unknown locations. It's also – somewhat secretly – a terrific source of entertainment. From hilarious one-star reviews of the Taj Mahal to hair-raising tales of woe from one-star hotels the site's users experienced so we don't have to, here are some of the most unexpected, hilarious (or just plain hair-raising) TripAdvisor reviews of all time.

1. The British Museum had lost its charm…

Seriously, Rosetta Stone. When you just lie there like that, it's really hard for people to get excited.

2. Do we need to review the definition of the word "park" one more time?

This guy just flat out didn't care for Central Park. Not to be know-it-alls, but a quick search for "Central Park Helicopter Tour" returns upwards of 6 million results, #justsaying.

3. Happiest place on earth, indeed.

So not appropriate in the workplace, Goofy! This Swiss visitor to the Magic Kingdom has not-so-fond memories of her visit to Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando. (And did she really mean to say she "bared" it? Or was something lost in translation?) Also – does anyone remember which Epcot buffet might have been doing lasagna in the 1980s, so we can go back in time and not eat it?

4. Hi, have you met Las Vegas? She's fun, but kind of loud.

Dancing! Music! In Las Vegas? What are the, errr, odds? The TripAdvisor pages for Las Vegas hotels are riddled with reviews like this one from the Wynn resort. It really doesn't matter what hotels promise or how many stars they've been awarded. The fact is, if you're in Las Vegas looking for a night of uninterrupted sleep, you're better off avoiding the Strip, particularly on a weekend.

5. Can you imagine the waiters at Peter Luger clapping their hands and singing "Happy Birthday" to tourists from Indiana? Us neither.

This poor visitor from the heartland wasn't pleased with the complimentary birthday offerings (of which there are none) at one of the most notoriously brusque restaurants in New York City – Peter Luger in Brooklyn. And then there's the trauma of experiencing steak being served…correctly…in a steakhouse…. We just can't.

6. Soooo…kind of like how the Pyramids are just pyramids?

But it all started out so well! Seriously – we're terribly sorry that you found one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world to be a little crowded. Wonder what this user's take would be on Times Square.

7. I'm sure Anne Frank found it claustrophobic as well, dear.

Let's see – house museum where girl hid in wall to escape detection by the Nazis makes visitor feel "claustrofobic." Have we got that right? Can't make this stuff up!

8. Hey, Taj Mahal! BE MORE IMPRESSIVE.

A shame, really, when a wonder of the world doesn't live up to the expectations of the odd tourist visiting from overseas. Also, like many visitors, this user found the location of the Taj rather distasteful, as if it was the Taj's fault that the city of Agra might have seen better days. This review left out one of our other favorite gripes about the Taj: That the inside is dark, creepy and somewhat less grand than the exterior would suggest. Befitting of a mausoleum, perhaps?

9. At least the water wasn't too watery?

This gentleman is clearly a fan of handing out compliment sandwiches, though to be fair, he may be a little murky on what the whole beach experience entails. Keep being you, beautiful beach in Guam we'd like to visit some day – even if you are too sandy.

10. You know how in France, the French people refuse to stop speaking French? Rude .

First of all, random Australian person? Best. Title. Ever. Second of all, it's not everyone in Paris' job to cater to your inability to speak a lick of French. Lastly: It's actually not poorly organized. The queues are quite well marked. No language skills required. Perhaps a sit down with your ophthalmologist is in order?

11. The Hilarious Hotel Manager and The Case of the Missing Toilet

Sometimes, the best response to a bad review is humor – and lots of it. One hotel manager in Scotland became a minor celebrity for his stinging rebuke to this off-handed review left by some visitors from Dubai. Read the complete response – complete with hilarious twist near the end – here .

12. Any one looking to bring home scabies from their next South Beach vacation? This user can recommend the perfect place.

With just one and a half stars and dozens of hair-raising reviews, it's a miracle that the Boulevard Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach manages to stay in business. It's a safe bet that its customers aren't reading reviews like this one. As the user suggests, it may be best left to those a) committing murder/suicides, b) manufacturing and/or doing illegal drugs or c) looking to catch communicable diseases.

13. The dinner comes to $800 a head, but we'll throw in generous portions of condescension (with a side of crazy) for free – how's that sound?

A server at the venerable French Laundry in the Napa Valley allegedly seems to have had it out for this girlfriend getaway group from Southern California. Their apparent mistake? Being entirely too enthusiastic about their once-in-a-lifetime dinner at one of the world's most talked-about restaurants. If true, this is…this is just sad.

14. His name was Basil and the hotel was Fawlty Towers, but your point is well taken.

Normally, we'd be inclined to take a review like this one with a coarse grain of  artisanal sea salt, but then again, the Georgian House hotel in Glasgow, Scotland has in the past been somewhat of a shenanigans magnet. After all, a manager here was let go last year for leaving angry replies to reviews from less than happy guests, of which there appear to be quite a few. At the very least, these poor travelers had some experience with the great outdoors, having just come from hiking in the Highlands. Hope the park bench was at least somewhat comfortable.

15. Hot pics, but kind of an uggo in person, y'know?

Wait – what? Is this guy serious? Who drives into Yosemite National Park and isn't completely floored by the beauty of their surroundings? Even after a four-hour drive? This user from Phoenix, visiting back in 2013. Hopefully, by now, they've seen a shrink about getting that fixed. Whatever that is.

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How Reliable Are TripAdvisor Reviews?

Last Updated on January 13, 2023

By Jim Ferri

Updated for 2021

Many travelers ask, with good reason, how reliable are TripAdvisor reviews? The answer is “it depends.”

TripAdvisor is a company that has changed travel . It promotes itself as the world’s largest travel site – a place where you can get “trusted advice from real travelers.” But many people wonder just how much you can trust the advice it provides.

You only need to search Google for “fake TripAdvisor reviews” to get a sense of the size of the issue. The more than 3.6 million results that pop up suggest that it’s on the minds of a lot of travelers. On the other hand, those numbers are down about 25% from a decade ago.

It’s unfortunate but obvious: if hoteliers and restaurateurs have the opportunity to boost reservations and revenue by posting fake reviews on TripAdvisor, many are going to do it. As a matter of fact, fake reviews on TripAdvisor – both fake positive reviews posted by the hotels and restaurants or negative reviews by their competitors – have long been a problem.

TripAdvisor Attempting to Curtail Bogus Reviews

To be fair, TripAdvisor, as well as some hotel chains claim to be trying to do something about the issue. And for the past few years they appear to be making some headway. But it’s impossible to stop all bogus reviews. TripAdvisor is usually very closed mouthed as to exactly what it’s doing.

Even though TripAdvisor claims it’s trying to curtail bogus reviews, there’s another issue that travelers need to be aware of. That about hotels that misrepresent themselves on booking sites such as TripAdvisor. It’s basically false advertising.

How this happens is that some hotels, especially outside of North America, will renovate part of their hotel. They then photograph the renovations and put the photos on their website as well as TripAdvisor, Expedia and Travelocity, without advising that not all rooms are as advertised. You book what appears to be a nice room but on arrival find yourself in some dump up on the fourth floor.

The Result of Rushing Through a Booking

It’s happened to me. Several years ago in Venice I needed to spend my last night in a hotel near the bus and train stations in order to catch a very early-morning bus.

I did some quick research and found that TripAdvisor awarded the Alloggi Agli Artisti, a hotel that appeared to suit my needs, 3.7 points out of five. There were negative reviews, of course. But 138 of the reviews said it was very good, and 49 said it was excellent. In my haste I booked it.

When I arrived, however, I was put in small room on the fourth floor (the fifth floor in the U.S.). To make matters worse, there was no elevator.

Also, the carpets in the hall were worn and the bathroom and the shower were down the hallway, not in the room as advertised. Additionally, there was no air-conditioning, hairdryer, in-room safe, etc. as claimed online.

Even worse though, next to some of the negative reviews on TripAdvisor I saw comments from hotel management insulting some reviewers for complaining about these very things (TripAdvisor puts management replies next to negative consumer reviews). Seeing insulting replies from management should warn you never to go near the property.

By the way, the Alloggi Agli Artisti hotel is still open. And judging by the reviews, not a lot has changed.

But I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t use TripAdvisor to try to discern the quality of a hotel. It can, after all, be a valuable resource. But you do need to use it wisely and read the reviews with a bit of cynicism.

A good rule of thumb is to disregard all “over the top” comments, possibly written by the hotels themselves. Also disregard all the very negative comments, which could have been planted by the competition, and focus on the remainder.

You also need to go beyond TripAdvisor reviews and look at what’s said on other sites such as Expedia, Travelocity, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc. As a side note to clear up any confusion, TripAdvisor used to be owned by Expedia but is now a publicly traded company.

Watch Out For Those Restaurant Reviews

And when using TripAdvisor it’s not just hotels you should be concerned about. Since mobile phones and iPads are also our traveling companions, many travelers also use TripAdvisor to search for restaurants. Remember, however, that some of these restaurant reviews may also be bogus. A positive review may be written by a restaurant’s owner, a negative one by the chef down the street.

And there’s also the issue as to whether or not the place is even still in operation. Keep in mind that while hotels are usually in business at the same location indefinitely, restaurants tend to open and close more often.

While in my original hotel during that same trip in Venice, one evening I used TripAdvisor to search for a good restaurant. I looked up the district of Venice in which I was staying and then wrote down the names and addresses of TripAdvisor’s three top-rated restaurants.

As it turned out the #1- and #2-rated restaurants on TripAdvisor no longer existed. But after walking a bit I did find #3, which turned out to be relatively good, as promised on the site.

December 5, 2012 at 9:15 pm

I’ve never turned to TripAdvisor … there are so many other options for reviews! I don’t need to state the obvious: consulting with a professional travel consultant with a vast network of colleague. No, I’m thinking of the travel guides which take no advertising. I trust Rick Steves. I trust Fodor’s. I don’t trust the reviews on Trip Advisor. I once saw a review of a tropical property in which the reviewer complained about bugs … there are certain things which are not surprising in travel and bugs in the tropics are one of them.

January 5, 2013 at 6:48 am

Don’t know if they are making good, but once I have found this guys selling reviews on tripadvisor, never worked with them

January 5, 2013 at 11:14 am

To our readers: All comments on articles that appear on Never Stop Traveling, both positive and negative, remain as written, unless they are spam or contain offensive material. In the case of this comment, however, I’ve deleted the web address referenced since I found the site to be a company one can retain to write phony reviews on TripAdvisor. This is one of the problems that plagues TripAdvisor and demonstrates why you should use caution and common sense when reading any comments on TripAdvisor or other review sites. J.F.

June 15, 2013 at 9:25 am

If you visit a restaurant don’t rely on Trip advisor reviews. Most of the people who post are the unhappy, miserable complain without reason, while those guests who has great experience don’t bother to post. I run a restaurant. Our comment cards shows 93% guest satisfaction while Trip advisor comments indicates 40%. So tell me

July 5, 2013 at 11:22 am

I wonder if they post all reviews. I have now posted twice a review of a recent stay at a hotel and have yet to see it appear. I definitely think they have their favorites.

July 5, 2013 at 11:29 am

That’s not a good sign if a site doesn’t post your review – whether it’s pro or con — unless it has been blocked for negative reasons (profanity, attacking another reviewer,spam content, etc.) I’d send an email to the pr/communications person in their corporate offices and ask what’s going on. If you do, could you please update us on their reply and tell us what you’ve done?

August 30, 2013 at 3:02 am

Our client have ever written about us on Tripad “We highly appreciate your service” but that comment was not posted and our account was locked

Then we contacted with Tripad but Tripad has explained that the comment about this company is not posted as this company does not have on the Tripad system.

So Tripad does not keep the positive , they just concentrate on advertisement, there are many competitors buy good comment throught many websites. But we did not do that as we respect our clients who wrote true comment about service.

November 3, 2013 at 1:53 am

May I ask if Tripadvisor earn commisions or advertisement fees ? I read before someone asked them whether they are a commercial website or not, and they replied they are not and assure fairness.

November 3, 2013 at 1:49 am

Besides those mentioned, there is another big issue which Tripadvisor’s forum a very unreliable place to rely for informations. I usually run through all the last few months of forum chat of the place before I travel. I find their moderators very bias and unfair. I notice they favour members who supported the higher price establishments. I notice whenever someone recommend some cheap finds, eg eating places, drivers or hotels, some regular members will appear to start an issue to flame and the moderators will delete the original post with some excuses like “inappropriate” or “gudelines” issue. It’s sad that an established travel forum could choose to be ruined or controlled by some regular members and lose their creditability. I am sure many of the regular members are in the travel industry or related to some establishment, writing there to protect their own interest. I think in future, travellers will not believe in travel sites forum or reviews if their moderation don’t improve for fairness.

November 17, 2013 at 5:16 am

Since tripadvisor monitors the posts very carefully that I think it will be very reliable for those who intend to find information before making a trip.

March 11, 2014 at 10:40 pm

The debit about whether to trust Trip Advisor or not keeps going but personally I can’t trust Trip Advisor. The reason why I can’t trust them is the because I rather go and talk to actual trip advisor face to face giving me actual information. Another reason why I can’t trust them because certain individuals give mixed emotions about where they stay, and makes you think whether you trust it or not. Having a actual interaction with someone discussing with you about your trip and giving you advise, I rather recommend them over trip advisor. As a hotel manager I would deal with the positive and negative message by sending out a statement, on the company website by thanking them for the feedback and send out recent activities, interactions, and entertainment/Food pictures showing that our hotel brand is a great place to come to to answer all the negative feedback the hotel gets. Also I would tell everyone that our hotel keeps on growing and we keep up to date with the trends that are happening in the hospitality industry.

April 16, 2014 at 9:35 pm

Expedia does not own TripAdvisor, and I have never gone wrong using TripAdvisor to plan vacations.

May 25, 2014 at 3:35 am

I firmly believe that trip advisor is not completely reliable. The site contains both real and fake reviews. There are companies that solicit to hotels where they charge to a couple of hundred dollars a month to post positive reviews. How do I know that? Well I work for hotels and I have personally received those phone calls. For some hotels it may be totally worth it to pay a couple of hundred dollars a month to be on the top of the list but it is totally unethical. Also, there is no way to verify or to prove if the person that wrote a review actually stayed at the hotel.

August 15, 2014 at 3:11 am

Sure, there are outright bogus reviews (both positive and negative) that erode the trust in Tripadvisor. I think nowadays users are getting savvy enough to sniff out if things are written more like a marketing push than a real review.

What I have also noticed, as a tourism professional in Berlin, is that many of the tours, attractions, etc that are ranked highest on trip advisor are ones that actively solicit them from their guests. I did a walking tour where at the end most of us had a drink in a nearby pub. The tour guide then went around to each of us with his ipad asking us to write a quick review….. (I later learned that management was paying a bonus to the guide that got the most reviews)

Tripadvisor has tremendous power with business in the top 3 of categories seeing direct results in terms of revenue. Is it any wonder that many of them try to cheat the system.

The other issue is that the reviews are not necessarily representative of the experience. The majority of people will only bother writing if they have either a very good or very bad experience. So good little restaurants (particularly ones mostly frequented by locals – which are usually a good sign) rarely register on Tripadvisor.

August 15, 2014 at 6:12 am

Great observations Charlie. Thanks.

April 7, 2015 at 11:06 am

As usual, you should check with a variety of sources. I have found that Tripadvisor reviews are just one of several sites that will give you a general idea. To their credit, I think Tripadvisor does try to do a good job…after all, if they fail to do that, then they lose their credibility, and that is the keystone of their business.

January 28, 2016 at 5:00 am

Not very reliable I’d say. Tripadvisor aims at serving third-parties interests instead of helping travellers. I wrote a one-star review of a restaurant that is high ranked in Wroclaw, Poland but at which I had a disastrous experience. Altough my review was genuine, it was removed from the website because it contained an allegation of fraud (sic). I found it strange since I’ve already written around 70 reviews (most of which restaurants) and never had such problem. Here’s a link to my Tripadvisor profile: http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/MikeDoviel . So I asked the Support about what went wrong. They replied that it contained a report of review fraud (sic) with no further explanation. I sent a second e-mail to ask for more details, they never bothered to reply. I then realized there was nothing wrong with my review. Tripadvisor just decided to censor it, probably in some effort to damage control the reputation of the restaurant I was reviewing. What’s worse, I denunced to Tripadvisor a review that was obviously fake: a first time reviewer who wrote a five-star review, listing items that were not served and stated “next time you’re around just pop in”. I was surprised to find out that my request was rejected, meaning that Tripadvisor finds this review to be genuine. Since, I’ve stopped writing reviews on Tripadvisor. When I travel, I’d rather ask locals or wander around the city and see for myself than trust Tripadvisor reviews.

April 26, 2020 at 3:13 pm

Trip Advisor is not pro-traveler. When a business disputes a demonstrably factual review, Trip Advisor simply removes the review with a no-reply email, denying the traveler any opportunity to question their decision.

April 26, 2020 at 5:59 pm

Thank you Alex. Could please share how you know this for a fact. I, for one, would be quite interested.

September 7, 2020 at 1:40 pm

After doing a hut-to-hut mt biking trip in Colorado, my experience cried out for a trip advisor review. Long story short, the hut system business brushed off my suggestions that they consider exterminating the mice infestations with “we can’t control mother nature” and “that’s why we have people sign liability waivers”. TA won’t post my review, no matter how soft I revise it. My concern here is the health of hut-users: mice can carry Hantavirus which has a 36-38% mortality rate in humans. the business clearly doesn’t care about this, and TA is too enmeshed in the business’s success to care, either. I’m left believing that TA reviews can’t be trusted from the traveler perspective, they’ve lost credibility with me.

September 7, 2020 at 1:58 pm

Eric – Thank you for telling us about this first-person experience and the challenges you’ve faced in getting some acknowledgement about the issue. Jim

October 21, 2020 at 2:50 pm

I don’t trust TripAdvisor reviews. Most of them are written by business owners or the companies providing this service to the owners. We have a travel agency in Crete, Greece and I can clearly see that some of our competitors use this kind of service and TripAdvisor publishes the reviews without any problem. Most of thier reviews are posted by persons with only one review and reposted in 6 months again, all the comments looks like advertisements rather than customer review and most of them include some photos downloaded in internet (just a picture of some place without any real person at ithem) and the comments appears periodically, for example 10 comments in 10 days and then they stop for 2-3 weeks and so on. And of course there is no even one negative review there. You don’t need to be an expert to understand that these reviews are paid but for some reason TripAdvisor doesn’t prevent them from posting. Another problem that we have faced with this company is the rapid decline of reviews accepted for our business since TripAdvisor offered us to join thier new service for booking tours and activities called Bokun and we rejected the offer. We received few emails from our clients complaining that thier reviews have not been approved for some reasons. I don’t believe that this page is reliable as soon as they offer paid services as Bokun and premium status for the restaurants. And concerning the restaurants, we have some examples in our absolutely touristic area with hundreds of cafeterias and restaurants when the newly opened business has more than a hundred reviews less than in a month after serving the first client. Something that other places are not able to reach even after few years of work.

October 21, 2020 at 3:55 pm

I’m sorry to hear that, Mary. It sounds like a bad situation.

[…] TripAdvisor ranks for customer personal feedback, tourist destination web pages, and guide related books as the most reliable source for travel planning. […]

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Here's what it's like to to book an adventure abroad through Viator, Trip Advisor's tour and excursion booking platform

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• While in Croatia with my family this year, I used Trip Advisor 's activity-booking platform Viator to book boat charters abroad. All operators are pre-vetted by Trip Advisor to guarantee credibility and safety. Excursions range from $15 for a walking tour to thousands for luxury experiences.
• Booking independently through Viator saved me significant costs compared to using a travel agency, and helped me plan my vacation in advance, with clear pricing and reviews from past guests.
• I had a great experience with Viator and would use it again — but with a few changes. Next time, I'll make sure to ask more questions first, so I don't face any surprises. Here's what you should know to do the same.
• Read all Insider Picks travel reviews here.

I'm a lifestyle journalist with a focus on travel and trot the globe frequently with my husband and five-year-old twins. So I think of myself as pretty savvy when it comes to calling upon Internet resources (not to mention intuition earned through experience) to make bookings, even in places I've never before been.

This summer, I went on a two-week vacation with my family in Europe, hitting Greece and Croatia, plus bordering countries along the Dalmatian Coast. We spent a fair amount of time off the beaten path and there were a lot of moving parts. But I felt confident, and competent, that I could independently plan our trip, without the help of a travel agency. I know my way around search engines for flights, hotels, and deals.

But there was a blind spot. How would I book tours and excursions such as chartering a speedboat for our family to Croatia's famous islands?

I was relieved when I stumbled upon the activity-booking search engine Viator , which is owned by Trip Advisor. After reviewing various offerings and reading reviews, I booked two separate boat charters through the company. Both boats were clean, comfortable, beautiful, more or less as advertised, and operated by companies I would not have known how to access without Viator. 

I'd recommend the platform, especially to anyone staying at an Airbnb without a concierge like I did, or looking for cheaper options than what a hotel or travel agency might suggest. But I'd offer a caveat from my own experience: savvy travelers must make sure to cover their bases to avoid potential pitfalls such as the one we experienced. 

What is Viator?

Viator is Trip Advisor's platform for booking all kinds of activities during travel. Consider you might find 4x4 and camel tours in Dubai, a skip-the-line tour of the Colosseum in Rome, or a tour of the Grand Canyon by helicopter from Las Vegas.

Really, you'll find just about anything. The search engine includes options for a truly whopping 200,000 bookable activities in places all around the world making it unlikely that you won't find what you need. All operators listed are pre-vetted for credibility and safety backed by Trip Advisor .

Importantly, the site also aggregates millions of reviews, like what you'll find on Viator's sister site, Trip Advisor, so you have a pretty good sense of what you're getting. 

How is Viator priced?

Naturally, price points on Viator range dramatically based on the location and the excursions' complexity. A basic walking tour might cost under $20 while a day-long excursion or charter could cost hundreds more. The more expensive of the two trips I booked came in under $1,000, and the rates on the site can soar depending on what you're booking.

The site is optimized for mobile booking, offers around-the-clock customer service in multiple languages, a lowest-price guarantee, and a 24-hour cancellation policy, which makes the financial risk in booking feel low. 

In fact, I made use of that cancellation policy a few times to cancel and rebook similar activities when I changed my mind on the specifics, and also to flatly cancel a sightseeing tour I'd booked for our first day in Greece when I realized we'd all be too jet-lagged to bother.

I made both Viator bookings using my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card  — both in U.S. dollars — and faced no trouble making these changes.

What did I book through Viator?

I'd never been to Croatia, but knew I wanted to see its beautiful islands. We were staying in an Airbnb apartment (a rare choice for me) instead of a full-service hotel with concierge, so I was on my own for finding out how to do this. 

Poking around on the Internet for tours, I discovered Viator , which was previously unknown to me. I appreciated that like its parent company Trip Advisor, Viator heavily incorporates a review system, and the Trip Advisor backing gave me confidence. I booked two tours, each about three weeks ahead of our arrival.

For our stay in Dubrovnik, I booked a half-day private speedboat tour to the Elafiti islands , which earned an impressive five stars overall, with over 100 reviews on Viator. The trip for four people for four hours came in just under $400 after I used a 10 percent discount code. 

Then, for the portion of our trip in the northern area of the country, Split, I booked an all-day private sightseeing tour with five proposed stops , including the famous Blue Cave and Hvar island. This trip also had an overall five-star rating on Viator, but with far fewer reviews, just 27 as of the time of this writing. The eight-hour trip for four people on the private speedboat charter cost $873 after the discount code.

These prices might seem steep, but consider that it's priced for four people, as well as the alternative. When I briefly felt overwhelmed with planning, I reached out to a Croatia-based travel agency. The land-only quote for a week in the county for our party of four was 12,000 euros. Booking on my own — including these two-day trips through Viator — cut our expenses to less than half.

My booking experience with Viator

After so much planning, our trip was at last underway. We spent a morning at a Dubrovnik beach club before our scheduled boat tour for the afternoon. That same day, the highly responsive tour company reached out through WhatsApp and email to coordinate transportation for us to the marina, where we'd be meeting our skipper and the boat.

They called a rideshare at their expense to meet us at the beach club and we arrived at the marina to find an impeccably clean boat and friendly skipper.

As promised, the boat was just for our family with amenities like shade cover and a USB port to charge up phones and stay ready for photo taking. 

We set out for the afternoon on the Adriatic and were able to customize our itinerary, checking out bays, beaches, and caves at our own pace. The skipper snapped family photos and offered snorkel masks and drinks.

At the end of the afternoon, our skipper called us an Uber to take us back to the hotel. Overall it was a successful, fun day. And at under $400 for four people, felt like a great value for all we were able to do.

Unfortunately, it didn't foreshadow the more challenging experience we had on our next excursion, which was the full-day boat charter from Split.

For that trip, I had more difficulty communicating in advance with the operator, who was less responsive. I didn't get all my questions answered before booking, and miscalculated by making some critical assumptions that turned out to be false.

We arrived at the marina to find a boat that exceeded our expectations. It was a rather luxurious looking speedboat with room for 12 and was larger and fancier than our previous boat in Dubrovnik.

It was also more powerful, at 250 horsepower. While some people might appreciate that, the speed of the vessel scared our young children right away.

Our skipper was a devoted and experienced older brother, so he was well equipped with strategies to help calm our kids and took pains to make them comfortable. He even let my son "drive" the boat and honk the horn, which was a huge hit. 

But my daughter was still uncomfortable as the boat sped through the open ocean. Off the bat, I wondered if this was something any ambitious American traveler would attempt with such young children had they known how rough it would be.

The skipper warned us that the Blue Cave would be backed up and crowded, and the timing might correspond to a bumpy afternoon sail. So we opted against it and chose a custom plan to mitigate the intensity. I appreciated that we were able to change the day's itinerary to better suit our needs.

Our skipper took us to a gorgeous, remote beach on the island of Vis, which was a true highlight with crystal clear water and a sense of true isolation. We swam from the boat to the beach, snorkeled, and took lots of pictures.

Afterward, we sailed to glamorous Hvar island, where we passed an hour or so with lunch in Hvar Town.

But it was after that, on the way back to the harbor in Split, when our challenges started in earnest.

It was squarely afternoon by then, and the winds had picked up; the open ocean was very choppy. That is to say, our boat caught full air and slammed back down — over and over again. There was nothing the skipper could do as this was the nature of the boat and typical conditions.

Although my kids (mercifully) don't suffer motion sickness, they were terrified. Anyone with young children and those who do suffer from motion sickness should inquire about conditions before booking any similar boat ride as I wished I had.

My son could be placated by heading back to his post as the boat's "driver," but my daughter was miserable for the full 75 minutes it took to get back to the marina and the waves soaked our family. Making matters more concerning, there was only one kid-sized life jacket on board.  

I was regretful that I'd gotten us in this position. I hadn't adequately confirmed that this was the right trip for our family.

And although I generally feel like a diligent and capable planner, I'd continued with the booking despite not waiting for the answers I needed: Would there be child-sized snorkel masks? Would there be two child-sized life jackets? Was the water likely to be rough? Will we get wet or seasick?  

The bottom line on Viator  

Overall, I wouldn't trade either of the stunning boat excursions I booked through Viator . They made for essential sightseeing experiences for any visitor to Croatia.

The operators on both experiences were professional, and the services were provided as advertised. I also found the prices to be reasonable, much more so than if I'd booked through a travel agency.

I'll book through Viator again, but next time, I'll make sure I'm asking more questions and getting the specific answers I need first.

If a particular operator is vague or reluctant to respond to the specifics of an important matter, like child-sized life vests, or typical water conditions, I will move on to another operator.  

As a now-seasoned Viator user, I'd say: book with confidence. Just make sure you ask a lot of questions specific to your needs and make sure you get them all answered explicitly before you show up on the day of your booking.

With the sheer number of bookings available on Viator, you should have plenty of options to keep moving onto another suitable tour operator until you find one that gives you all the answers — and confidence — you need.  

Book a Viator excursion, large or small, anywhere on earth .

You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here . Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at [email protected] .

• Main content

How to Write Reviews on TripAdvisor: A Guide to Sharing Your Travel Experiences

Are you an avid traveler who loves discovering new places and exploring different cultures if so, then you probably already know about tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel platform. tripadvisor not only helps you find the best deals on flights and accommodations but also allows you to share your travel experiences by writing reviews. in this guide, we will walk you through the process of writing reviews on tripadvisor, ensuring that your insights reach a vast community of fellow travelers..

1. Creating an Account on TripAdvisor

Before you can start writing reviews, you will need to create an account on TripAdvisor. To do this:

• Go to TripAdvisor’s website and click on the “Sign up” button.
• Choose whether to sign up with your email address or via your Facebook or Google account.
• Fill in the required information and agree to TripAdvisor’s terms of service.
• Complete the registration process by verifying your email address.

2. Finding the Destination or Attraction to Review

Once you’ve created your account, the next step is to find the destination or attraction you wish to review. To do this:

• Use the search bar at the top of the TripAdvisor website to enter the name of the place you want to review (e.g., “Paris, France” or “Eiffel Tower”).
• From the search results, click on the correct listing to access the dedicated page for that destination or attraction.

3. Writing and Submitting Your Review

Now that you’re on the dedicated page for the destination or attraction, it’s time to write your review. Follow these steps:

• Scroll down to the “Write a Review” section or click on the “Write a Review” button if available.
• Choose a rating for the destination or attraction, ranging from one to five stars.
• Title your review concisely and accurately to capture readers’ attention.
• In the main text box, share your detailed experiences, suggestions, or any advice relevant to the attraction.
• Add any relevant photos to enhance the visual appeal of your review.
• Double-check your review for accuracy and clarity.
• Click on the “Submit” button to publish your review on TripAdvisor.

4. Adding Value to Your Review

While sharing your travel experiences is great, adding value to your reviews can make them even more helpful to fellow travelers. Consider the following tips to enhance your review:

• Include specific details such as the dates of your visit, the duration of your stay, and the type of accommodation you chose.
• Mention any standout experiences or encounters that made your trip memorable.
• Highlight both positives and negatives, providing a balanced perspective.
• Suggest additional attractions or nearby places that fellow travelers may find interesting.
• Respond to any comments or questions from other TripAdvisor users to further engage and contribute to the community.

5. Interacting with the TripAdvisor Community

Writing reviews on TripAdvisor is not just about sharing your own experiences but also engaging with other travelers. Here’s how you can interact with the TripAdvisor community:

• Read and react to other travelers’ reviews by clicking on the “Helpful” or “Not Helpful” buttons.
• Ask questions about specific destinations or attractions using the “Ask a question” feature on TripAdvisor pages.
• Participate in travel forums to seek advice, offer recommendations, or discuss topics of interest.
• Follow other TripAdvisor users whose reviews you find helpful or inspiring.
• Notify TripAdvisor of any inaccurate or inappropriate reviews to help maintain the platform’s integrity.

By actively participating in the TripAdvisor community, you can discover new places, learn from others’ experiences, and build connections with fellow travelers from around the world.

Now that you know how to write reviews on TripAdvisor, it’s time to share your travel experiences and help others make informed choices. Start exploring, writing, and engaging with the vibrant community of TripAdvisor today!

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Should You Utilize Traveler Reviews When Planning A Trip? Here's What Rick Steves Does

M ost people would agree that just because you read something online, it does not mean it's completely accurate. While this often applies to news stories or celebrity gossip, it can also apply to review sites. Customer reviews are sometimes helpful, but they can also be unreliable or biased. Reviews usually come from people who are only recounting their own (and often short) experiences in any given place. This is just one reason why global travel expert Rick Steves believes that you should think twice before trusting travel review sites . So how does Steves find a balance between the opinions of online reviewers and his own judgement?

Steves' solution is to utilize guidebooks. The only caveat is that you will need books that are up to date. Additionally, this is not to say that you should never consult a site like Yelp or Tripadvisor. "I see review sites as a useful complement to a thoughtfully updated guidebook," Steves explains on his website . Other places to look when planning your next trip include local websites and good old-fashioned maps.

Read more: The Guide To Planning Your Next US Glamping Trip

Guidebooks Are Tried And True Resources

Aside from the narrowness of online reviewers sharing just their own specific experiences, popular attractions or lodging options tend to stay at the top of search results. This pushes hidden gems further down the webpage. Additionally, some reviews may be misleading or untrustworthy, with 5.2% of Tripadvisor reviews and 10.7% of Google reviews estimated to be fake.

Given these drawbacks, Rick Steves states that the content of review sites is "uncurated information." In contrast, "A guidebook is the work of a trained researcher who, year after year, visits many alternatives to assess their relative value," he explains. In other words, guidebook researchers visit enough hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions to be able to compare one to the other. This makes for a more holistic and thorough examination of a destination.

Another issue with review websites is the sheer number of options they show. Rick Steves explains that for major tourist destinations, sites like Tripadvisor list endless activities from city food tours to adrenaline-inducing outdoor adventures. While it's nice to have options, it can be overwhelming. "You can sort through all of those options and decide what you want to do with your time," says Steves. "But also keep in mind that guidebook writers have already done that for you."

Check Out Websites Made By Locals And Tourism Companies

Websites focusing on specific locations often recommend not just the best restaurants or the best tours, but can also give tips that only a local would know. For example, you can look for blogs with curated neighborhood walks and full trip itineraries based on the writer's years of actually living in the place you want to visit. Official tourism boards can have informative websites, too. Such organizations obviously want to advertise to potential tourists, and they can offer maps, downloadable brochures, and general information about how to get around and where to go. Even if you are traveling to a country where the locals speak a different language than you, local websites can still be helpful thanks to handy translation buttons built into the site.

Speaking of maps, it may sound archaic to some, but Rick Steves still suggests using broad overview maps (especially for multi-city trips) and zoomed-in city-specific maps. which often come with guidebooks. There are amazing features on Google Maps , but according to Steves, "[T]here's nothing quite like laying out a large map on the table to get a sense of relative locations and distances."

Read the original article on Explore .