Online Reviews- What are travelers looking for when researching new places to stay?

Do you want to see perfect scores and reviews for your property on TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google, and other review sites? Maybe not.

Our research shows that perfect scores and glowing reviews are sometimes met with skepticism, especially if the sample size is alarmingly small. To be sure, nobody is perfect and consumers are looking for honesty, transparency, and responsiveness. Simply put, an online review profile of a 4.5 star rating based on 150 reviews is far more attractive than a perfect 5.0 rating and 10 reviews. And, consumers consider you in the context of your competition; that 4.5 rating/150 reviews looks especially great in a geographic competitive market where properties receive an average of 120 reviews, but not so great in a market where properties have an average of 300 reviews.