Have you always wanted to see the United Kingdom? Every year, according to Visit Britain, more than 30 million people with the same dream flood the country, heading to London, Dublin, and other British cities known for their beauty and cultural curiosities. London, the capital of the United Kingdom, hosts more than 54% of all tourists visiting the country.

Subsequently, according to BBC News, London Town has more than 130,000 hotel rooms; an additional 8,000 rooms will open by the end of 2013. With well over 100,000 hotels offering similar prices or quality or style, how can anyone hope to complete their hotel search in a timely fashion? By using hotel reviews, you can cut the guesswork out of choosing a place to make hotel reservations. Here’s how.

What to Look for in Hotel Reviews

• Location

According to a recent study from Market Metrix, 30.2% of people choose hotels based on their location. On the other hand, only 15.7% choose based on price. What is it that makes location more important than cheap hotel prices? It’s a combination of savings and convenience. The best hotels in London are near popular sightseeing locations and restaurants, or they’re located next door to train stations. In other words, they make it easy and cheap for you to get where you’re going, without having to sacrifice any savings you may have gotten from finding discount hotel rates.

• Service

No matter what you pay for your hotel room, you should expect great service. Consider, as Business Insider writes, business travelers expect no difference in service between the more expensive trips they take for business and those they take with their families. Why should you be willing to make the same concession? Make sure you look at service ratings in the hotel reviews for the hotels you’re considering.

• Price

You should absolutely consider the price when reading hotel reviews, even if it isn’t the most important variable. However, you need to keep in mind that high-priced hotels don’t translate to high-quality hotels, and the opposite is also true. Consider, according to The Guardian, many of the best hotels in London charge less than £100 a night.

The Dangers of Online Hotel Reviews
While there can’t be any doubt about the effectiveness of hotel reviews when it comes to helping you choose great hotels, the fact is, as TIME Magazine suggests, you need to be a discerning reader. The internet has given disgruntled customers a powerful tool for making their dissatisfaction with hotels known; this is both good and bad for hotels and their customers. Consider, people are regularly hired to write good reviews for hotels. On the other hand, many write bad reviews simply out of spite or after being hired by the competition. If you want to use hotel reviews to find the best hotels, you need to be able to pick between genuine reviews and paid smear or promotion reviews.

By looking for price, location, and service information in hotel reviews, you can find the very best hotels, whether you’re going to London or elsewhere. However, if you don’t take the time to consider the truth of each review, you could easily be duped. Read hotel reviews with a critical mind to pick the good from the bad. Continue your research here.