How to Spot Fake Restaurant, Hotel, and Attraction Reviews?

What you need to know

There are two types of Fake reviews in this world.

The ones that a business pays to elevate their star rankings to attract more customers, and the ones that are paid for by the competition to flood another competing business with bad reviews.

Both are very common, but excessive 5-star reviews combined with positive comments are definitely more out there.

Businesses either pay for a service to get more reviews, or they use VPNs and create several accounts to leave reviews, or they give free “favors” to customers to receive 5-star reviews.

Especially the latter is problematic because customers are willing to write a 5-star review just because they got some free drinks, even if the place is sub-par. It's essentially a bribe.

Then there is the problematic issue of the removal of legitimate customer complaints. Certain platforms make it easy for organized fraud, and in some specific countries it can even trigger a lawsuit.

Millions of fake reviews flood the internet every day, and we should be more cautious and less trusting. In fact, try not to rely too much on reviews when assessing a visit or stay at a place.

Red Flags

Spotting fake reviews is an art that you can teach yourself. We regularly go through reviews when we visit a new place to look out for new tactics because it is absolutely frustrating to fall for crappy fake reviews.

Here are some red flags to look out for that reveal these fake reviews.

Only 5 stars — Just 5 stars is the biggest indication that a place has been messing around with the review system. It's unrealistic for a business to only receive 5 stars.

Zero 1-star ratings and criticism — Looks like the business takes down bad reviews, instead of addressing them.

Short comments — If the comment section is full of, kind of childish, reviews such as “the best,” “love this place,” “top food,” you should be suspicious.

Only stars, no comments — Cheap fake review packages come with 5-star ratings only. These are either bots or humans, and they don't comment on a listing.

All in the same period — All the ratings and comments were posted in the first week of December? It looks like somebody paid a review farm for fake comments and ratings.

Excessively, long, exaggerated and mundane remarks — These are comments that go about telling the tale of the burger that they had in a place, 5 paragraphs long, exaggerated, and with fancy words decorated. These are just over the top. E.g. “Let me tell you, this burger is the best thing that has ever happened to me, blah blah blah.

Robotic identical phrases, no spelling mistakes, and perfect grammar — That's a ChatGPT copy and paste! Look out for telltale signs that it was written by AI. Em dashes mid-sentence are a dead giveaway (—), words like “alluring,” “additionally,” “nestled,” “gem,” “immerse,” “escape,” “tapestry,” “remnant,” and “delve,” just to name a few.

Mass of Reviews from “People” from a Single Other Country—If the place is in a village in Tuscany, and it has only reviewers from South East Asia, you should be skeptical.

Overly praising the staff and naming them — It goes like this: the waiter comes to your table, introduces themselves, talks about free drinks in connection with a 5-star review; he or she gets a commission from the establishment because his or her name appeared in the comments.

Words that don't add up — Imagine someone commenting that the Trevi Fountain in Rome is a “hidden gem.” That fountain is probably the most visited sight in Rome.

Only professional looking staged images — Either these are just photos posted by the business itself, or they got a bunch of influencers to eat for free and post images.

What to Look out for

Real-life images and videos are harder to fake. Text and star reviews are super low effort for organized review farms. Pictures posted by the business don't reflect the reality. Look for simple phone pictures posted by former customers.

Check the reviewer account. Did they leave identical reviews in other places? Did they review a lot in a short period? Does the profile picture look like an image stolen from a model, or does it look like a stock image?

Filter for 1-star 2-4 star reviews. Look for genuine, nuanced thoughts, people that speak about the pros and cons.

You can filter for specific words, too. If they all mention the same waiter, you'll know that they have been bribed with free drinks. If you care about friendly waiters or ambiance, filter for the terms and go through the comments.

Keep an eye out for local names that have visited the place. If it's just 5-star reviews from locals, it's either the family members or friends, and these are biased reviews. If there are a lot more balanced local reviews, it's a good sign that the place is frequented, not only by tourists but also by locals.

Check reviews on platforms that make it harder to fake them. For example, on booking.com, you need to have booked a stay at that particular establishment, and you can only leave a review after your checkout.

Cross-check on platforms. Check a hotel on Google, on booking, on TripAdvisor etc., and compare previous comments.

Platforms automatically translate comments and the translation can sound very artificial at times, so this is something to keep in mind.

My thoughts

It's impossible for a place to receive only 5-star reviews. The world isn't all rainbows, last time I checked.

Also, you can't just leave a 1-star review that says, “this place is pathetic”, without explaining why.

Let's be realistic, every business cannot cater to all needs and character types out there. People have different expectations and perspectives.

For example: A couple without kids is dining out and the family on the table next to theirs has small, loud children running around the restaurant causing havoc. The restaurant asks the family with the kids to control the kids, which angers them, so they leave a 2-star review. The family could have picked a restaurant with a children's playground instead. You now know, at least, what to expect on your visit there.