Customer reviews will make or break your trip. Here’s why.

Have you ever booked a hotel deal that was simply too good to pass up? The photos looked great, the price was right, and the location was supreme. But the customer reviews were… questionable at best. But hey, for that price? No questions. No complaints. So you thought.

But then you check in to the hotel and find that it’s not at all what you signed up for. The photos don’t match, the descriptions are borderline fantasy, and the staff is sketchy. Maybe you should have paid more attention to those reviews.

I’ve stayed at my fair share of reprehensible hotels. I’m talking about caved-in moldy ceilings and escort services in the lobby. These places always had horrific reviews, but my naive optimism always took me down the cheaper route.

My track record with smashing hotel deals was negligible before I started taking customer reviews seriously. That’s why I want to share why the cheapest option is not always the best option. In fact, it rarely is.

You can almost always get way more bang for your buck if you sincerely consider the experiences of those who came and went before you. I’m going to prove to you how hotel reviews can make or break your trip.

If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I booked a hostel in Prague for $9 per night in the spring of 2019. This was one of the first mistakes I made during my solo travels through Europe. I was 21 and broke, so I paid no attention to anything but the price tag. Who could resist such a low rate? Not me, that was for sure.

The hostel was rated around 3 out of 5 stars, not too bad in my head. Upon further inspection, though, many reviewers mentioned how dirty and unsafe they felt. I didn’t blink at the allegations. They’re probably just sensitive travelers, I thought.

When I checked into the hostel, I found it was closer to a dungeon than a backpacker’s overnight stay. The room sported over 15 bunks, so 30+ beds nearly at capacity. I felt unsafe, unclean, and uncomfortable from the moment I checked in.

I ended up booking an Airbnb for 10x the price after an uncomfortable encounter with one of my bunkmates. My cheap booking was all for naught. I couldn’t get a refund on my stay, and I didn’t even have the guts to duke it out in the dungeon. I’ve since sworn to never book a hostel with that many beds again, no matter the price.

Cheap rates can’t replace comfort and safety. Take it from me.

My boyfriend and I got stuck in standby limbo on a trip to Dubai. When we unexpectedly needed a last-minute hotel for another night in the city, we opted for the cheapest we could find. In my frustration at missing the flight, I booked a $70 hotel room too fast to see the hundreds of reviews warning to steer clear of this place.

We arrived at the hotel at 2 a.m. from the airport to find that the entire first floor was a dance club. There was a room with girls lined up on a stage, taking turns doing very odd dances for a crowd of older men. I had never seen anything like it, and I was beyond uncomfortable.

I swore we must’ve ended up at the wrong hotel, but our address matched the reservation. The hourly rates posted on the front desk did not make me feel better about the situation. My boyfriend and I reluctantly went up to our room on the ninth floor.

The room reeked of cigarette smoke, and the dirty furniture looked straight out of a 60s cigar bar. Our front door didn’t lock. The music from downstairs blasted so loud that I could still hear it nine floors up as if the club was just down the hall. This went on until 4 am. I was miserable.

I never regretted buying a cheap hotel more than that one in Dubai. The low nightly rate was not at all worth how unsafe and uncomfortable I felt that night. I wished I had taken heed of the scathing reviews left before me. I learned my lesson the hard way so you don’t have to.

Recognize the difference between fake and real reviews.

Hotels and rental hosts sometimes leave their own 5-star reviews to bury the legitimate, critical ones. These reviews often describe the facilities of the place more so than the experience.

If you see a rave review discussing the set-up and general amenities of a property, treat it with some skepticism, especially if there are tons of opposing ideas in other reviews. No mention of the location, staff, or cleanliness is a bit suspicious. This might be a disguised review planted to boost the hotel’s rating.

The more reviews the better. Trust the numbers.

Some hotels might look like they have super great ratings, but take a closer look. The 5-star motel with three reviews probably doesn’t measure up to the 4.5-star stay with 500+ reviews. The more people who have come and gone before you, the better. If a place isn’t up to par, past guests will let you know in the reviews.

Put your faith in a trusted source.

One of the main booking platforms I find myself turning to time again is Booking.com. They have thousands of reviews, and often more than any platform for many properties. They also verify guests, unlike other sites where anyone can post. 

Fake reviews are very real in the travel space, as discussed above.

People take time to write reviews for a reason. Negative or positive, that guest’s experience made a big enough impact to make a public statement. You want to make sure it’s a legitimate statement from a trustworthy guest.

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To make things short and sweet, trust your fellow travelers. We’ve been there, done that. So have you.

Reviews are the easiest way to decipher the budget-to-comfort-to-safety ratio when booking stays. I encourage you to keep leaving reviews so the cycle of quality-control continues. Reviews can make or break someone’s trip for this reason.

Travel Lemming offers over 200 trustworthy hotel guides. If you need more confidence and inspiration during the trip-planning process, we’re here to help. Explore our extensive collection of where-to-stay guides today!