Iria

Business travelers like Michelle Madhok used to consider online hotel reviews a reliable reference.

Whenever she traveled to an unfamiliar city, Madhok said, she clicked on sites like TripAdvisor.com or IgoUgo.com, where she found thousands of ratings written by real guests.

Or so she thought.

Madhok, the president of the Internet shopping site Shefinds.com, said she was now becoming increasingly skeptical of what she saw online.

"I read reviews of hotels that I've stayed at," she said. "And they're just wrong. I wonder if they've really stayed at the hotel."

On a recent visit to a spa in New York, she said, her doubts turned to disbelief: The resort was discreetly offering free reflexology treatments to customers who posted positive reviews of the establishment on Citysearch.com. "It was very troubling," she said.
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Read More / Source: International Herald Tribune