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.
“The average person doesn’t have good taste anyway.”
That’s why we look to the refined tastes of our dear Thot Leader! (And now, for yet another GHA Discovery post!)
The average person doesn’t have good taste anyway. I’m not looking for average.
BINGO!!!!
The concept of a tourist trap restaurant does not really exist in the US like it does in Europe. Honestly, the only guide that has never let me down in Europe is Michelin (1 star and above). While on the pricer side for sure you are guaranteed a level of quality and service which is surprisingly hard to find in much of Europe…
On a related note did anyone see the article in USA Today about not trusting influencers or bloggers regarding recommendations since you don’t know if they are honest or paid plugs. The author specifically said to not pay attention to people that are “thought leaders” (and he had it in quotes). Make me wonder if that was a dig at Gary.
I am usually not guided by the 4 and 5 star reviews. I’ll check out the 1 and 2 star ones and what the management response is (if any).
@Retired Gambler – Christopher Elliott has a particular beef with me. He used to give out a ‘best blog’ award voted on by his readers. They voted for this one and he decided midway through not to award it any more 🙂 I have called out his bad advice in the past, such as not joining frequent flyer programs and he believes every consumer complaint justifies compensation (he’s never met a customer that was wrong about anything, which is really more about his ideological opposition to business).
That said, I did not read the piece and still have not so I have no idea what he’s arguing in this one.
@Gary: How did manage to write a whole article about reviews without mentioning Michelin! Kudos to @FrequentFlyer123 for mentioning it.
It is reliable and, contrary to what some people think, they review everything in a designated area. Backstreet bistros to the world’s best (indeed, they define the latter).
@Gary: More generalisations can be made about Trip Advisor. It should always be ignored. Studies havec shown that half or more of the reviews are ‘gamed’ or fake in some way.
For hotels and products I filter reviews for 3 or 4 stars out of 5. No one pays for a mediocre review, so those are probably honest.
Woah, a rare non-pro-BILT comment from @L3! (For real, I’d trust Michelin guide for dining, but not so much for hotels…)
Are you suggesting me going to the Olive Garden in Florence was a bad idea???
Whatever Rick Steves reommends has to best. 😉
That thing about German reviews is so true. Had a 1 star review for a well reviewed place, which i was wondering how it got such a high rating in the first place, and it was removed for being defamatory. So if Google Maps says the place is a 4.5 or less in Germany……just avoid.
At time after i have been away for a long time, i deliberately open Google Maps to check if there is a decent Italian or American place nearby. That’s how i found a NY pizza in DaNang, Vietnam.
@BBT — ‘Dang! DaNang…’
This morning, I constructed a reasonable budget for a hypothetical winter escape to Paphos Cyprus. Any DPs from the cognoscenti on the food scene there would be appreciated.
@SOZ — Beautiful use of ‘cognoscenti’! Haven’t been, but have heard great things about the Greek side of Cyprus. May Aphrodite be in your favor!
In Madrid, I asked the concierge where to go for lunch. He stood up very straight and listed off a variety of restaurants I might want to try. I listened politely then said, “No, I want to know where YOU would go to eat.” He grinned. His posture relaxed. He gestured broadly as he described how to get to his favorite joint. We loved it!
@FrequentFlyer123 — The poster stated “The concept of a tourist trap restaurant does not really exist in the US”
Did FrequentFlyer13 ever visit NYC’s Times Square? If so, then that claim in laughable.
For restaurants, it’s catch as catch can. We’ve stumbled into many a good meal by just walking the street/area and observing.
As for hotels, it’s trust but verify. I use Tripadvisor and Yelp as a guide, but the real trust when picking a hotel comes from the frequent flyer. They have an opinion I can trust. My go to is flyertalk.com. That’s where I start my hotel search. I decent review from someone that knows what they’re talking about is worth more to me than the once or twice a year person writing a review on TA or Yelp.
All of what you have written here is gold, Gary. Pure gold.
I know I risk seeming like a simp, but it it.
@FrequentFlyer123 That’s because most of our food is shit. Chain restaurants that use pre-packaged food from Sysco.
This is the worst problem I have in Europe. I’m terrible at picking restaurants. Sometimes I have luck getting a recommendation from a hotel employee, but they tend to steer toward places other people like which might not have great food. Or really high end places which aren’t my thing either. I’m watching comments for more tips.
New Zealand was a treat because almost everything we ate, even $5 meat pies at the bakeries, was delicious. Real food. Cooked fresh. The only place I screwed up there was a small tourist town where there were restaurants with large menus. (Most restaurants had pretty small menus.)
Gary is a Hamiltonian.
General rules: eat at places the locals are eating. Don’t eat at a restaurant no is eating at. My wife is good at this. I tend to want to eat at a place that is famous and often costly so as to “try it out.” Often disappointed.
You have to do the faint praise review. Sometimes leave entire parts of the review out. Say that you are only going to review the parts that can get at least a mediocre review. Review the chairs as sturdy but say nothing about the food.
As an expat who has lived and worked in Europe for nearly 20 years, here’s the solution for wasting time on review porn…particularly for all Americans coming here for their bucket list trips. Avoid all cities that are popular and trendy….not just Paris, Barcelona or Madrid…but the smaller ones that are being victimised by the Instagram posting hordes….Dubrovnik, Seville, Lisbon, Florence, Salzburg, I visit the cities for my work, however, when I’m on holiday, I’m nowhere near a place favoured by American, British and Chinese tourists. If I’m in a small hotel in Austria or France or Slovenia, and I don’t hear any American or British accents, I know I chose correctly.
I subscribe to “Paris By Mouth,” a restaurant site that is always reliable for Paris, and usually use Eater and TimeOut for other cities, as well as rely on recommendations from the concierge staff at some hotels. Plus, I have found submitting my restaurant ideas to Claude and asking it to refine them can really help.
I find aaa diamond ratings very on target.
“The average person doesn’t have good taste anyway. ”
AMEN to that, brother. There’s a subReddit for my city. Every other day there’s a thread about the best pizza. And consistently the places that serve mediocre pizza are at the top of the list. Coincidentally, those places are cheap.
My two rules:
1.) Never dine in a resaurant with flags of the world around the entrance
2.) Never dine in a restaurant that has the menu in a half-dozen languages