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.
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How To Use Tripadvisor Hotel Reviews To Find Your Next Hotel
What is Tripadvisor?
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.
Are Tripadvisor reviews reliable?
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.
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Pro Tips For Using Tripadvisor Hotel Reviews
- 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 Is it recent or outdated?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.
New-to-Me Features To Search Tripadvisor Reviews
- Search by traveler type where you look at reviews from other travelers like you.
- Room tips
- Restaurants within a mile (also see on map)
- Attractions within a mile (also see on map)
- Walkable score
Resources Mentioned:
- 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.
Other Episodes You’ll Enjoy:
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.
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!