The Travel Review Trap In Europe — How I Avoid Bad Hotels And Restaurants Built For Tourists

My approach to review sites like Tripadvisor has never been to rely on a single review. I’m looking for themes, and I’m looking at photos.

• Too many people rate things for the wrong reasons. They’ll trash the Ritz-Carlton Central Park because room service is expensive. Because it’s the Ritz-Carlton. In Manhattan. They just aren’t evaluating the thing for what it is.

• The average person doesn’t have good taste anyway. I’m not looking for average.

• Too many reviews are fake, either put up by an owner, manager or other interested party – or by a competitor.

• However specific comments that keep coming up over and over are likely more salient. Mold. Long waits at the desk. Thin walls. Dirty pool. One mention isn’t useful, but consistent mentions suggest something about a hotel that’s likely true. The same goes for photos. Enough of them with an issue and it’s probably not faked by a competitor.

In some places you can’t trust the reviews at all, because there’s a strong reason to believe the content isn’t honest. People have been jailed in Thailand over bad reviews.

For years I’ve had good luck with Openrice for restaurants in Asia, and that’s probably still a good bet in Hong Kong. I’ve consulted Tabelog in Japan, Dianping in China, MangoPlate in South Korea, and Wongnai in Thailand (despite legal risks!). That’s usually better than consulting American tourists!

But I generally want to read reviews on U.S. sites managed by companies that do not do business in the local jurisdiction when looking at Europe. Large sites like Google are a problem. It’s both too broad (the wrong reviewers) and too prone to removing the bad reviews. (For a reminder of this discussion earlier in the month I thank Don’t Worry About the Vase.)

My gf is banned from reviewing places in Europe on Google Maps after she gave one restaurant in Portugal a 1-star review

When she reviews inside EU it gets auto rejected, outside EU she can review any place

Free speech in Europe has sadly died a long time ago https://t.co/d1KAdVmTMa

— @levelsio (@levelsio) May 5, 2026

At least they show you how many reviews an establishment wanted to have removed. Which says more about the establishment than the reviews in many cases. pic.twitter.com/8gbdz9b7eB

— Karl DXB (@karl_coin) May 5, 2026

I live in Austria this is a known thing in Germany. The restaurants can say any review is defamatory and Google has to remove it. It’s why you can’t trust google reviews at any restaurants in Deutschland.

— Sid Kingsley (@SidKingsley) May 5, 2026

Now, for food in Europe there are some good heuristics. Stay away from the Eiffel Tower for food (although I did manage to find one place decent there). Avoid eating near Piazza San Marco or the Doge’s Palace.

• These places attract tourists
  
• The people aren’t there for the quality of the food
  
• The rents are high
  
• So restaurants seek high margins, catering to lowest-common denominator, with food that will generally not offend.

You also don’t necessarily want to go to the places people call best, it’s often enough to just avoid restaurants on the main routes and wander into small restaurants in back alleys on tiny streets, the narrower the street the better.

Nowhere is it more true than Venice that you go into the darkest ally, where you almost have to walk sideways to get in. You just wander deeper and deeper and find a place with locals.  And since Venice is small, even when you get lost you’re likely still near your hotel or not far from it. Following the locals won’t get you to the very best places, but it’ll get you to better places. And for researching what’s actually optimal, I consult people whose opinions I respect that have fresh experience.