Misleading or overly retouched photos on hotel Web sites are a growing problem for travelers who book online

As anyone who has ever tried online dating knows, there is a big difference between what people look like on the screen and when they're sitting across from you in a restaurant. The same is true of hotel Web sites. Those sunsets, beaches, rooms, and fitness centers may not look quite so appealing without the benefit of heavy photo retouching. So the next time you book a hotel you've never visited before, don't be surprised if what you saw isn't always what you get.

As digital photo editing software becomes more affordable and widespread, it is easier to transform a drab image into a more alluring one—and travelers are feeling ripped off. A visit to the comments pages on such travel Web sites as TripAdvisor and Yahoo! Travel reveals numerous complaints about misleading photos and information on hotel Web sites.

For example, in 2007, a contributor wrote on Yahoo! Travel of a hotel in Narragansett, R.I.: "The Web site photos of the hotel are misleading, the hotel is separated from the beach by a large parking lot and a busy street. Ocean views if you don't mind leaning out your window, craning your neck, and squinting through one eye."

And in 2008, user Kevin Hin wrote of a hotel in France on hotel reservation site Venere.com: "Beware the very misleading 'hotel front view' photo," pointing out that "the hotel is the small, almost invisible building by the sea that looks like a shack with a barely distinguishable 'hotel' sign, the more attractive 2-story building behind it is actually across the main road that runs behind and [has] nothing to do with it—a very clever camera angle."
 

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