How to read Trip Advisor reviews

Sifting through hundreds of reviews is time-intensive and not always very informative. Learn how to get the most information from Trip Advisor reviews and filter out the noise.

It can be difficult to make sense of Trip Advisor reviews since expectations between travellers can vary so widely. One review might sing the praises of a given property and the very next review can label the same property the worst place someone has ever stayed. How do you make sense of that discrepancy?

When making our selections and trying to decide how a property rates, here are some considerations we look at closely:

How many reviews has the property received
How recent are the strong reviews?
What comments occur frequently?
Are there thoughtful answers and responses to negative reviews

1. Eliminate the extremes

To get a better understanding of the true quality of a property, we try to remove the extremes from consideration. As much as it’s useful to glance over the “Excellent” and the “Terrible” reviews to see what people are most/least impressed with, simply writing “Best hotel ever” or “Worst vacation ever” without any details and with little context or insights is not useful.

We try to read some of the reviews in the middle of the extreme “Very Good”, “Average” and “Poor” that often outline the highlights and delve into what some red flags might be. Similarly, filtering out words like ‘worst’, ‘terrible’ and ‘awful’ will remove what we have often found to be emotionally charged reviews. Many times we find these type of reviews to be inaccurate or too extreme, finding fault where perhaps there was none. Unless, it’s a clear trend where the majority of the reviewers feel the same way.

2. Use filters effectively

Using the keyword search to identify reviews that discuss keywords that your family places high value on will help filter those responses that relate to your family’s priorities. For example, when looking for a beach property, our family cares about the beach itself, access to snorkelling and availability of kid’s activities. If we are staying in a city, we might look for reviews that mention transit, noise or safety. Narrowing our search to reviews that specifically address these issues helps better guide us to good choices.

When our kids were younger, we always tried to avoid beach resorts with waves. Writing “waves” in the search box provided us with all reviews that mentioned whether this was a good fit for us or not.

3. Check the dates reviews were written

If you find contradictory comments on a topic, check the dates that reviews were written. Property owners sometimes read and react to feedback and reviews improve. Properties can change management and get better or worse depending on policies and maintenance. Sometimes environmental issues impact a property positively or negatively. For example, parts of the Caribbean suffer from temporary seasonal issues like seaweed buildup, but these issues can wax and wane. Considering these fluctuations can give you a more accurate overall picture.

4. Look at "Photos from Travellers"

It’s always a good idea to look at the photos posted on Trip Advisor. Make sure that you click on “Photos from Travelers” as these show you more realistic images of the property you’re considering.

When you first click on “Photos”, many times you are presented with the photos the Hotel wants you to see (the paid advertised photos that appear on glossy brochures). For example, if we’re going on a beach holiday, we usually scroll down to the photo album that specifically shows beach photos taken by other travelers to make sure that the beach is to our liking. There are other folders within the Trip Advisor photos that specifically show “Room”, “Family/Play Areas” etc. This is usually the best way to see if you will actually like the way the property looks and if it satisfies your wants/needs.

5. Consider the ranking provided by Trip Advisor

If you’re interested in a specific area and are just exploring the hotels or resorts in that area, this is a useful feature. From this ranking, you can see how the hotel you’re considering compares to others. You can also click on the ranking and Trip Advisor will show you the list of all the ranked hotels in order from best to worst. This feature gives you ideas of other hotels in the same area that might be a better fit for you and your family.

6. Quickly Scan "Popular Mentions"

“Popular Mentions” give you a good idea of what most people mention in their reviews of the hotel. It’s like an abstract summary of all the reviews. We usually look for words like “beach” “family” “kids” when looking for a good family resort. If you actually click on the words, Trip Advisor will pull up all the reviews that mention that word. If we were to click on “kids club”, we would be able to see all the reviews that mention “kids club” in this hotel. We find “Popular mentions” very useful when deciding on a hotel because it provides a quick way to assess if a hotel is a right fit for what we’re looking for.

How to read Trip Advisor reviews