Be nice when leaving travel reviews!

14 Jul, 2019

As I travel, I depend on other people’s reviews when I am looking at anything from hotels, shopping, or deciding on a place to eat.  Most reviewers are honest, others are just completely unreasonable. I look for a pattern and then decide if I want to take a chance on the business.

Hotels: I love supporting family businesses whether it be hotels, RV Sites, shops, attractions, or whatever. Some travelers appreciate the same. It is not easy for family run businesses to compete with the likes of big names like Hilton, Ramada, Best Western, and such. With that in mind, I look for a clean, comfortable, safe, environment to rest while I am travelling – not necessarily in that order. Amenities such as brand name shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc. are a bonus as is a free breakfast. Decent towels are nice, at the very least, clean ones. I like comfortable beds with clean linens. Bugs are a definite No-No anywhere. And if it says non-smoking, I know that owners can’t control inconsiderate guests, but I do not like to have bad smells in my room. If you are travelling alone, safety is probably going to be #1 on your search criteria. When I look at reviews I look for trends, if recent comments say “sketchy” or “filthy” or anything to that effect, I won’t chance it. But, sometimes there are the hotels/motels that are nice and you have a few people that want to pay $65 a night and expect a high quality, top service, best amenities, or fantastic breakfast and they post unhappy reviews or scathing comments because they didn’t get everything they wanted. Geez…that’s just not fair. A family business needs good reviews and constructive criticism/suggestions, not hateful comments. Some people are just plain unthoughtful. If your experience was horrible, by all means warn others – such as a train blows through every 20 minutes, roaches everywhere, shady people all around, but if you found a stray hair in the bathroom or dust on the light bulb, seriously, your house is probably not any better.    

Restaurants: Not all foods will be to everyone’s liking. I look for positive comments, cleanliness, and adequate service. And when I arrive, I’m looking for other customers. If I’m the only one there, it might not be a very good place to eat. On the other hand, if it’s packed, it must be good! I’ll wait if I have the time. In the US, we are expected to tip and the servers depend on that money as part of their income. If my server is attentive, I try to give 20-25% of the total bill. If they don’t seem to care how I am doing, then 15% is all they get. Generally, if the food is not to my liking, I don’t take it out on the server….they didn’t cook it. And if I didn’t love it, I don’t leave a review.

Things to do: everyone appreciates how much fun you can have somewhere. No one wants to waste their time off and spending money on something that really doesn’t live up to expectations. Honest reviews are always helpful.

Thank you for reading my short rant on reviews…I love supporting local and family businesses as long as they are worthy…please raise your small businesses up instead of knocking them down with hate! If you can't say anything nice...consider yourself as the business owner...how would you like a review about your business to be? Constructive critisim is helpful, try not to be hateful. Show respect, no one starts a business to hurt or shame their customers.