How To Use A Hotel Review When Choosing Where To Stay

Hotel reviews can be a useful tool when deciding where to stay on a trip. Going on vacations and visiting friends and family is much easier when you are confident in your accommodations. A clean and comfortable place to stay can make or break a vacation. Taking the time to read hotel reviews left by other travelers can help you choose your accommodations well.

Practically every hotel website has a review link. Take the time to read the reviews. Remember that some people are NEVER happy, however, keeping that in mind, you will typically find important tips for selecting the best place for your stay. If you read the reviews, you will learn which locations are convenient, clean and comfortable.

Think about what is most important to you and look for reviews that will support your wants and needs. What are you looking for? Clean and comfortable, quiet and secluded, downtown and close to the action are all important things when you are staying any length of time. Which ones are most important to you?

A hotel with only a few reviews may have more negative ones than positive ones. Look at them and decide if the problem the reviewing traveler had is significant to you. Someone complaining about the hotel not having easy access to the highway might be just the location for you if you want a hotel that is out of the way in a quiet setting! That could actually be the perfect location!

A hotel which is clean is absolutely heavenly! I can overlook outdated decor, a lost TV remote or even a loud air conditioner IF the room is utterly spotlessly clean! Clean bed linens is essential to health and a clean bathroom is an absolute must! Designer decor is not! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a designer room and modern decor, but it is essential to have a room free from dirt, grime, disease and odors! It can be hard to find a room which meets all of these requirements. Hotel reviews can make it a simple task to find the best place to stay!

Reading the reviews can let you know whether the linens are clean and whether the rooms are well kept. Reviewers often list their experiences with rooms that are dirty, yet seldom do you find reviews of rooms that are clean. Sometimes the best reviews are the unwritten ones.

Watch for hotels with reviews that are over the top! Those with crazy amazing reviews may have been written by someone connected with friends or family who are employed at the hotel. Bogus reviews are seldom a factor, but there is always potential. The average traveler will be glad to share both the good and the bad, but they will not be RAVING about any specific location! Be aware and you will be armed with the information you need!

The best way to understand how to use a review to assist in your travel planning is to write your own reviews about places you have visited. This will help you to understand the grading scales offered to reviewers. I have found that by reviewing hotels and restaurants has helped me to know what to look for in selecting them as well! Take the time to register with most any travel company and have some fun, just be sure to be as honest as possible without being cruel. A cruel review will be just as ignored as a raving one. If you feel a rave review is valid, be sure to validate it with specifics such as: "The Breakfast was GREAT! It included waffles, french toast, eggs, fresh fruit and a selection of 5 different cereals." This lets a person who is reading your review KNOW it was truly great, not just an exaggeration! In the meantime, read the reviews, read between the lines and learn what a review includes! This will help you to have an easier time selecting a location and help you have happy travels!

photo and text copyright 2012 Deborah M. Carey