Write a Quick Trip Advisor Review Like a Professional Travel Writer

Okay, so you've just returned from a weekend trip and had an experience that you want to share (good or bad). Sharing your tales can be one of the best ways to enjoy traveling more. Here's how to put together a great review that won't take you hours to write.

1. Check your ego at the door.
Even when we are asked by an editor to write in a voice that puts us into the article, we have to keep in mind that the story is ALWAYS about the destination, not about us. If you are angry about an experience, it's always best to wait a couple of weeks to let your ego move along to better things. Then if you still have something useful to say, have at it.
2. Don't fill in the rating circles or write the title first.
Once you write a title your brain sets out to prove it. Your review will be more accurate if you write about the experience first, then give it a title and a rating.
3. Be helpful, not hurtful.
No matter how bad your experience was, your goal is to help other travelers make a decision, not to intentionally harm someone's business. Professional travel writers are in the business of building up the travel industry, not tearing it down. Reviewers that write nasty stuff flag themselves as cranks and are usually ignored by readers anyway.

Structure of the actual review:
Lead with a positive statement.
Trust me, we have been in some places where positive statements were scarce, but look hard enough and you will find something nice to say.
Two straightforward facts that are not opinionated.
State the room size, the price range, or maybe meal details. Don't exaggerate or use descriptive terms like huge or tiny. Those are your subjective opinions. If your goal is to be helpful to fellow travelers, or even if your goal is to make a property manager do a better job next time, your review will be taken far more seriously if you are careful to accurately describe what you saw.
Describe your experience in three sentences or less.
Even if it was so wonderful or so horrible that you could write a book, pick your top three things to say. Anything longer and you will lose the reader. Here is where you get to the heart of what you liked or disliked. Be sure to keep future travelers in mind as you write information that is useful. Your sentences should be detailed and descriptive. Don't use meaningless words like beautiful or filthy. Describe the beauty. Exactly what did you see that was dirty? What did the place smell like, what did it sound like? What did the bellhop do that was rude? What did the housekeeper do that was helpful?
Give one travel tip.
Something like "Room 7 has a better view than we had in room 10" or "Call ahead for reservations." Readers want to learn from your experience how to improve theirs, not just hear your story. The travel tip usually works great as a title.

You just wrote a professional review that people will actually appreciate. Maybe you could make a living at this, huh? It's not really a bad gig.