Travelers read reviews from other travelers, but how reliable are they?

According to tripexpert.com, you have to use a critical eye in reading reviews on sites such as tripadvisor.com and yelp.

One problem: People who take time to write a review frequently had a really great experience or a really lousy one. So you get reviews on the extremes and sometimes, tripexpert.com advises, the reviews are irrelevant to the experience of the next traveler.

Negative hotel reviews are sometimes written by those who feel snubbed, even if they haven’t stayed at the hotel. An example: The Standard High Line hotel in New York City, rated one of New York’s hottest hotels  in 2014 by Fodor. According to tripexpert.com, this hotel was at one time rated lower than Comfort Inn and EconoLodge.  The High Lines very exclusivity gets it lower marks on review sites with a $200 cover charge just to enter the bar.

Exclusivity has another drawback when it comes to reviews. Casual travelers might often encounter a hotel staff that seems to expect royalty, and if this is what they normally serve, the casual traveler might find them stuffy. And they do.

The expense of a fine hotel can engender a sort of buyers remorse.  What is considered the best hotel in Rome, complete with award-winning gardens, is rated on one site as the 93rd best hotel. Reviewers complain that it is too expensive. Yes. It is expensive.

Finally, there is the issue of fake reviews. Restaurants and hoteliers have a huge incentive to get good reviews. A Harvard Business School study found that a 1-star increase improved revenues by 5 percent to 9 percent. A UC Berkeley study showed an increase of half a star resulted in a 13 percent to 34 percent of a restaurant selling out during prime time.

Trip Advisor and Yelp say they can weed out fakes but the system can be played.