The photos are doctored
Sometimes, you might not realize a hotel is bad until you arrive, but that’s a thing we all want to avoid if possible. There are some warning signs you should take into consideration before finalizing your booking.
Firstly, take a look at the hotel’s website and photos. More exactly, look for gradient lines which indicate if the colors have been touched up. Another technique you might see is the use of a fish-eye lens, a trick to make small rooms look bigger.
“Hotels with a good reputation and nothing to hide will ensure that the quality of their photos is professional, accurate, and not overly edited,” says Janet Semenova, co-founder of Boutique Travel Advisors.
“Hotels whose photos are misleading or heavily photoshopped generally have something to hide.”
“If their pictures are all taken with a fish-eye lens, they may be trying to make small rooms appear larger,” cautions Grainne Kelly, travel expert, former travel agent, CPST, and founder of BubbleBum car travel innovations.
Make sure you do some research before booking a room. You can always do a quick Google image search that should prove if the photos on the website are real or not. However, sometimes is not about what you see, but rather what you do not see. There are many hotels that only show photos of the exterior, and almost every time there’s a reason for that. Even leaving out photos of important things from the room, like bathrooms or the beds can be a warning sign.
