Before you book your next hotel stay, check to be sure your research doesn’t reveal any of my 16 red flags that should make you seriously think about hotel booking.
Hotel room photos
Hotel booking online should be a cinch. There are a myriad of websites to help you book hotels, including each hotel’s own website; however, the process of choosing and booking a hotel can be drudgery, involving a review of many web pages with photos, descriptions, rates and reviews.
Fortunately, most of the time, we get what we expect when we arrive for our hotel stays. Unfortunately, however, sometimes we get an unwelcome surprise. Sometimes the surprise is unavoidable. Other times it’s because we don’t always notice or understand the red flags warning us to not make a hotel booking.
Here are my 16 hotel booking red flags.
To avoid hotel booking disappointment, I’ve got a list of 16 red flags that warn you to likely choose a different hotel.
Look at the hotel’s photos carefully. Check that they’re not Photoshopped, too dark, not revealing, old, or too cropped. Be sure that essential photos aren’t missing, generic or stock photos.
Heavily Photoshopped images:
We expect lots of photos on hotel websites to show it off in the best possible light. Sometimes, the photos can be too good to be true, thanks to Photoshop or other image editors. Watch out for heavily cropped photos, random, worthless, but beautiful closeups and a lack of wide views of rooms, so you can’t see what the rooms are really like as a whole. If photos are too dark, be concerned about the hotel hiding its appearance. Beware of generic and stock photos.
Missing photos:
For any hotel website we would expect photos of room interiors of different room types, public areas and the exterior with grounds, if any. If different kinds of rooms’ photos are all identical, be concerned. If there’s no exterior photo, be concerned because you can’t compare it with an independent source (more on that below).
Photos of rooms with beds that look cheap:
When you look at the beds in the room photos, watch for sharp corners, cheap looking bed covers, beds that don’t look flat, and pillows that look like pancakes. If that’s what you see, it’s an indication of beds that aren’t of good quality and/or have been in service too long.
Location descriptions that don’t match maps:
Often hotels include in their description that they’re centrally located, near museums, in the historic district or close to the airport. Don’t take their word for it. Go to your favorite online mapping website and see where the hotel is actually located. If the hotel’s location doesn’t match their description, stay somewhere else. That indicates that much of the hotel’s description may be badly inaccurate.
Exterior photos that don’t match “Street View”:
While you’re checking the location of the hotel on your online mapping website, go to its “Street View.” (If you’re on Google Maps note that its Street View isn’t refreshed on a specific schedule, but busier locations such as in major cities are updated about once per year, while other locations have a “Street View” about once every three years.) I regularly check hotels’ “Street View.” I want to see if the hotel website’s exterior photo matches what it looks like on “Street View.” I also look at “Street View” for signs of construction at or near the hotel. If there are signs of it, I phone and/or email the hotel about it. A hotel with construction on site or nearby likely means early mornings filled with loud noises and no sleeping in, plus a tough place for doing business.
Outdated hotel website and/or social media:
Even smaller hotels these days have websites and a social media presence. Beware of hotels that don’t have that presence on the Internet. Check for outdated data, old or generic photos, misspellings, etc. They can indicate a hotel that’s not particularly active or reputable or just worn out.
Check hotel reviews. Make sure the reviews are recent and specific. Look for information important for you. Check to see if the hotel’s reaction to a bad review is professional.
Reviews:
You should check to see if the hotel has recent reviews. If there are no recent reviews, good or bad, I worry a lot that the hotel isn’t active or decent. If there are recent reviews, check that they aren’t generic. Typically, generic reviews as opposed to reviews with specifics, are fake. I look for reviews that are made by people like me, business people and people without young children. I look for descriptions in reviews about things that are concerning to me, such as people mentioning hidden fees or WiFi speed or enough electrical outlets.
Hotel reaction to bad reviews:
When you see a bad review, check to see how the hotel responds to it. If their reaction is unprofessional, I’d look to stay elsewhere. That would indicate to me that the hotel’s management is questionable.
Check out hotels’ cancellation, check-in and check-out policies.
Cancellation policy:
I look at the cancellation policy carefully. If it requires cancellation too far in advance for a refund or if the penalty is substantial I worry about trips that don’t go as planned. Even if you decide the policy is okay, be sure you know its details, in case you must cancel.
Late check-in and early check out:
If the hotel has a particularly late check-in and/or early check-out, that might not mesh well with your plans. In addition, it often indicates that housekeeping is short staffed and room and hotel cleanliness might not be great.
Bedbug listing:
I check every hotel I plan to potentially book in the U.S. for their bedbug listing. I’ve seen the misery that those critters can cause when friends at a convention stayed in an infested hotel. An odd report generally doesn’t worry me, but a number of recent reports means I book elsewhere.
The room rate is too cheap:
If the room you plan to book is too inexpensive compared to other rooms in the area, there’s always a reason for it. I’d call the hotel or email them. Most of the time, if the deal is too good, you want to book elsewhere.
Worry about a hotel that you can’t communicate with easily. Avoid one that has changed brands recently or that asks for prepayment by wire or ACH.
Communication is difficult:
Don’t get relevant and prompt answers to your emails to the hotel? Immediately question the quality of the hotel. If you try to call them and it’s hard to get to speak to a real person, you should wonder if you’ll get needed assistance once at the hotel.
The hotel has changed names frequently:
If you find out that the hotel has rebranded itself frequently, it can be a sign of trying to escape from a poor reputation.
The hotel wants a direct or wired deposit or prepayment:
If the hotel requires a deposit or prepayment and insists on a wired or direct ACH payment, don’t do it, as it’s likely a scam.
The hotel’s facilities and amenities:
If the hotel doesn’t have the facilities and amenities you typically use while traveling, look elsewhere, as you likely won’t be happy at that hotel.
Before booking your next hotel, research it. Make sure your hotel choice doesn’t display the above red flags before you book it for your journey.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
