The Right Way To Read Hotel Reviews If You Don't Want To Be Misled By Fake Ratings

Everyone has different criteria when booking a hotel. For some, it's about the amenities and the thread count, while for others, it's about the location and the vibe. But there's a common thread that links nearly all: checking online reviews. In 2024, Accor released a study saying 97% of travelers have looked at reviews to decide on a hotel (via Business Traveler), which makes reviews and ratings a powerful influence in deciding travel plans.

With the rise of AI, the line between real and fake is blurring exponentially, as our world basically becomes "The Matrix" (but without the cool trench coats or sunglasses). This is also true with online reviews. Now, among all the reviews written by real people who actually stayed in a hotel, you're likely to come across AI slop describing a "hidden gem with spectacular views" or the harder-to-spot fake reviews written by humans. Reviews have become fundamental in generating bookings and building a hotel's reputation, so fake reviews can help (or hurt) a business by affecting ratings. 

Some hotels use AI reviews to boost their profiles, while others offer real visitors incentives to leave positive feedback, or even use review farms to pay a large number of people to give higher ratings. Fake reviews are such a problem that in 2026, Italy passed a law cracking down on them by allowing reviews to only be posted within 30 days of someone's stay and by banning incentives or money in exchange for positive reviews. But fear not if you're not traveling to Italy any time soon, since there are some tell-tale signs to help you detect fake ratings before you book your next hotel.

While ignoring reviews is one of the most common mistakes when booking a hotel, a subtler misstep is accepting fake reviews as real. The first step to figuring out if a review is fake is to determine if a human wrote it. If so, did they actually stay at the hotel, or is it a marketing person or paid reviewer leaving feedback to affect ratings? One of the most obvious signs of a fake review is if the language is generic or sounds like it's from a brochure. Have you ever met a person who actually described a hotel they stayed in as "state-of-the-art" or "world-class?" This type of phrasing and the inclusion of lots of exclamation points indicates it's likely fake.

Imagine telling a friend about a hotel you visited. Would you talk about the amenities it offered or would you describe your specific experiences of them? "This hotel's spa offers amazing massages!!" is different from "The masseur Mateo had great energy and gave me a wonderful hot stone massage." Real reviews often have specific details, sometimes mentioning staff by name or including tidbits about rooms, amenities, and location outside of what you can find on the hotel website. 

That type of generic "fluff" is a good indicator of an AI review as well, which skews towards an overly enthusiastic word salad that doesn't tell you anything meaningful about the place. Phrases like "hidden gem," "nestled in the heart of," and "a stone's throw" are favorites of AI, despite the fact that most people haven't used the phrase "stone's throw" since 1581. So, if you spot that type of language and realize that the review doesn't leave you knowing more about the hotel than you did before, it's likely AI-generated or fake.

With over 1 billion reviews, Tripadvisor is arguably the most influential travel research site around. Unfortunately, that means it has a high number of fake reviews that you have to learn how to spot. When using a site like Tripadvisor, if you're suspicious of a review, check out the user's profile. If it's a new account and they haven't left any other reviews, it might be fake, particularly if they don't have other social media presence. Alternatively, if that person left a batch of reviews in a short period of time, they're probably fake. 

Consistency is key in weeding out fake hotel reviews. Even the best hotels get bad feedback. Read through a handful of reviews and you'll find recurring themes and opinions. If several people talk about how small the pool is, and there's one declaring it's Olympic-sized, it's probably not a real review. Similarly, anything with a perfect rating should be viewed warily. Check to see who's leaving those reviews: Are they one-time users or ones who only post positive reviews? Along those lines, someone who's only left bad reviews is probably a fake targeting competitors.

Photos are another good clue for fake reviews. If they seem professional and perfect, then they've likely been uploaded by a PR or marketing person. If you're not sure, look at other guest photos of the same property, which will contrast with the professional pictures of a fake review. This practice isn't just limited to hotels either, so consider brushing up on these tips to identify fake Airbnb photos to make sure you don't wind up in someone's dusty, windowless basement that was presented as a serene ground-floor retreat with a garden oasis.