I have to say that my number one specialty is definitely finding the best of the best when it comes to restaurants, hotels, shops, and city exploring in general! I definitely have a method to figuring out what is good, so I thought I would share a few tips for anyone looking to do some travel research or even explore your own town further.
1. Check the website of the place: I can immediately rule out a place just based off of their website. Call me crazy, but just looking at the font of a menu and the orientation of the site tells me if a place is going to be of high quality or not. Photography is also crucial.
2. Check Yelp: I am a religious user of Yelp and always, always check reviews to see first) if the food or place is good, second) to see if any questions I might have are answered, third) to see what other people took photos of/ordered, etc. I find it so helpful and very reliable!
3. Check Instagram: I always check the business’ Instagram itself, but I often find that many places, restaurants and hotels in particular, only share the staged promotional photos rather than the real stuff. I like to see more natural photos highlighting the areas that aren’t on the website. Therefore I always check the tagged page and even the location tag.
4. Google “Bloggers Guide to ___” : The best bloggers travel guides will naturally come to the top of the search and I find they do the best job of telling you where the Instagram-worthy places are and do so in a more curated, less touristy way.
5. Check major publications’ guides: I always check Vogue, Goop, Conde Nast Traveler, and Bon Appetit for guides to the place I am interested in. Just go on their websites and do a quick search and you are good to go. These publications are my tried and true and always recommend the best of the best! :)
6. Scroll around on Google Maps: I often find just scrolling around and clicking on places is a fun way to discover some place new!