Around “one third” of hotel reviews on major sites could be “bogus”, reveals Channel 5 ’s Budget Hotels: Are They A Con? Here are an expert’s top tips for spotting fake reviews.
The programme looks at the best and worst hotels Britain has to offer, with this week's episode focusing on the lengths that some will go to mislead customers. In the show presenter Alexis Conran reveals just how easy it is to rack up an undeserved five-star online reputation by launching his fake hotel.
To boost the online ranking of Alexis’ fake hotel, "Hotel Alexis" - which is actually a tiny building in Bekonscot's Model Village in Buckinghamshire - he purchases fake reviews from a website which promises to add them to trusted review sites. The “fake review farm” delivers dozens of believable five-star reviews, proving just how easily buyers can be manipulated.
