A while ago, a TVNET journalist reached out to me, asking to include part of my comment from my blog’s Facebook page in an article about hotel reviews—specifically on how hotels exploit opportunities to withhold deposits or file claims for fake damages if a guest leaves a bad review. The publication is available here.
Here is also the full text from my Facebook post about writing reviews:
It’s not the first time I’ve heard about people writing a bad review for a hotel—or, more typically, apartments from individual hosts—only to face retaliation in response: claims of property damage, such as supposedly damaged tiles, permanently stained bed linen, etc.
Although platforms like Booking.com usually side with the guests (I know from experience that it’s almost impossible to bill a guest for actual damages unless you film a thorough video before and after every client), it can still cause unnecessary stress and hassle. Furthermore, in some countries, people have actually been jailed for negative reviews under online defamation laws.
My first recommendation: definitely do not write reviews right away! Wait until you are back home. There are platforms where you can only leave a review within the first two weeks after your stay. In that kind of situation—unless something was truly catastrophic—I wouldn’t stress about it. Booking allows you to write reviews for up to three months after your stay at a hotel.
Second recommendation: it is good if reviews include pictures and justification. A couple of years ago, while staying at a hotel in Portugal, I took photos of some of the defects: the horribly dirty bedsheets, the miserable condition of the bathroom, and the damaged furniture. You can’t photograph the stench in a room, though. Back then, the “Facebook jury” commented that I was being overly picky, and there was even an article about me on a news portal. Never mind that I paid €519 for three nights at a supposed 4-star hotel, yet the quality was worse than a roadside motel.
Third recommendation: personal experience shows that on review sites like Google, 1-star reviews tend to disappear, even with photos attached. To you, it looks like the review is there, but if you open it from another account, it’s no longer visible. Tested in practice! This hasn’t been observed with 2-star reviews. 1-star reviews genuinely get deleted; I’ve experienced this myself, where even several years (!) after posting a review, it was taken down as supposedly violating terms.
I have always tried to resolve problematic situations on-site at the hotel. Dirty dishes in the room? Something wasn’t cleaned properly? A room facing a construction site, even though I specifically requested a quiet side? The first solution is always on-site! Once, at a hotel in India near the Taj Mahal, there was even a sign on the wall: If you have any problem, tell us, we will solve it; if we don’t solve it, you don’t have to pay for your stay! And at 11 PM, two technicians actually showed up to fix a broken hairdryer.
I definitely disagree with the idea that you should only write about good things. As my colleague from the quality department says, “a complaint is a gift.” It is an opportunity to improve the level of service, and if there were unresolved issues or serious matters, writing about them is normal because it helps other people immensely. I pay quite a lot of attention to reviews when choosing a hotel. I’ve had to stay with individual hosts as well as in hotels where the quality was devastatingly poor—and by no means cheap—which wasn’t reflected in the reviews at all. Or, you only notice it once you already know what the problem is and see that others tried to describe it between the lines (most often, precisely out of fear of receiving retaliatory complaints for alleged damages).
Of course, you shouldn’t expect a 5-star hotel level from a €20 hostel, and reviews should be written appropriately. I have personal experience with this as well through family members renting out property, where a guest was suddenly surprised by something that had been clearly described during booking—and that can genuinely ruin a host’s chances of renting successfully in the future. I remember how in Italy, the owner of a new accommodation who rented out 3 rooms in his apartment was in absolute despair when a guest left a rating of 6 for their stay, ruining his perfect 10 rating. The guest simply didn’t like something minor. Naturally, we don’t know the full story from both sides, but at least the service level and room we received were completely top-tier. Some people just never give higher than an 8, but then perhaps they should consider whether they need to write a review at all.
If you happen to break something, I would advise talking to the host about it. Broke a mug? They’ll most likely tell you it’s no big deal, but you can leave a five-euro note on top. The argument that “it’s already included in the price!” holds no ground—laundry and cleaning are included in the price, but not full replacement of everything. Travel insurance can also be useful here, as it may cover personal liability for such damages; though in that case, you need to inquire about what documentation is required as proof. But quietly throwing a broken mug into the trash or breaking a mirror and saying nothing—we wouldn’t do that when visiting friends, would we? Otherwise, you could just as well say, “if you host guests, it’s included in the price!”
Unfortunately, there are also dishonest hosts—for example, demanding to write a review on the guest’s phone themselves, offering a 2-hour late check-out in return. This can be disputed through the platform, though it’s another question of who wants to deal with that hassle knowing how hard it is to reach a real customer support agent.
Most often, disputes over reviews will happen with individual hosts, and very rarely with major hotels.
In conclusion, I would always encourage writing good reviews too. If the service was great, taking a couple of minutes to write about it on the booking platform and/or Google goes a long way.
