Some reviews can be trusted, and others are fake or written under pressure. We recently trusted a restaurant with a 4.8 average rating, and it didn’t live up to expectations. When the check came, we quickly learned why the reviews were so high.
This experience made us question the reliability of online ratings, especially for travelers in Hawaii. It’s a Hawaii reality check on dealing with star ratings and tip prompts. Here’s how to avoid falling into the same trap and how to free yourself if you do.
The pressure to leave a glowing review.
Once the significant bill was being settled, the waiter brought out the pièce de résistance: a laminated card featuring a QR code. We were asked to leave a five-star review—right then and there.
After deliberation, we politely declined.
The request came again. And again. We were told how important it was to them, and how reviews helped them survive. It was no longer a request. It was an emotional pitch and a veritable demand.
Editor Rob almost went along with it. Jeff, however, stepped in and said we’d handle it later. The mood had changed. The experience turned from being comfortable to strangely unsettling.
This was the moment that made us think beyond just this meal. If this is happening at one restaurant, could it already be happening more pervasively, including throughout Hawaii?
Can Hawaii travelers trust online ratings?
We all use reviews to help plan trips. From fish tacos on the North Shore to boat tours of the Na Pali Coast, the average star rating can make all the difference between booking and skipping.
But if review systems are being gamed through pressure, QR cards, or even staff incentives, then travelers may be trusting something that isn’t honest. And that has serious consequences for how people experience Hawaii.
One commenter wrote that relying on ratings that turned out to fake had started to “kill the desire to explore.” Another shared they now avoid places with only perfect scores, suspecting they’re built on staged reviews or emotional pressure. Now we’ve seen both firsthand.
Multiple commenters pointed out an interesting point. That is because reviews are written by people with totally different expectations. That results in honest deviations. But, a review left under pressure, sometimes even while staff hover over a guest’s shoulder, is an entirely different matter.
This problem is compounded in Hawaii, where misleading reviews can send hundreds of visitors to the wrong experience, while more authentic spots get missed.
The concurrent rise of tipflation in Hawaii adds more pressure.
Not only can there be pressure to leave a glowing review, but also pressure to tip for services you would never have thought to tip for in the past. This kind of tipping pressure is also evident in Hawaii, where we’ve encountered multiple self-serve counters requesting 25+ percent tips, digital readers with a less obvious “no tip” option, and QR codes seeking money that appear before you’ve even received your service. One restaurant had the code displayed at the entrance.
One Hawaii traveler recently told us, “I was paying for groceries I put in the cart, on the belt, and bagged—and there was a tip jar at the register.” Another commenter shared a surprising moment when a $9,000 repair bill on their Hawaii condo cleanup came with a request to add a tip. “I thought that was out of line,” they said—and they’re not alone.
The idea of “guilt tipping” is becoming familiar. A recent survey reported that two-thirds of Americans now tip because they feel pressured, rather than because of the quality of the service. That emotional ask is often quietly inserted into the payment moment, right when travelers feel least comfortable saying no.
How to avoid the review and tipping traps on your Hawaii trip.
Hawaii is full of exceptional places that don’t need to push in order to receive good reviews or tips. But not every experience is as real as it appears online, and tipping culture is rapidly evolving.
Here’s how to avoid falling into the trap:
- Read between the lines in reviews. Specific, descriptive feedback says more than general praise.
- Be cautious of places with only perfect scores. A lack of honest critique can be a warning sign.
- Don’t feel obligated to tip or review just because someone asks. If it wasn’t great, you don’t owe more.
- Take your time deciding. Solid places earn trust without asking for it in advance.
- Update your review later if you feel you were under pressure and then say so in your remarks.
- And if you’re not sure whether tipping is appropriate? Ask—or wait until service is complete. One Hawaii reader said it best: “Tips should equal the value of the service or product provided. Don’t let yourself be pressured.”
Why this matters more in Hawaii.
Hawaii trips are special. For many, they’re once-in-a-lifetime. If a bad review misleads someone into booking an overpriced, underwhelming meal—or hotel—it isn’t just annoying. It’s a memory lost.
For travelers spending thousands on a Hawaii vacation, false reviews or forced gratuities aren’t harmless. They can mean wasted time, missed experiences, and a trip that didn’t live up to the dream.
Review manipulation and tipping pressure aren’t just personal annoyances. They’re part of a growing shift in the travel industry. Hawaii, like other places, is already feeling the effects.
One person in comments summed it up best: “If you want every Hawaii experience to be 5-star worthy, you’re just sabotaging yourself.” Hawaii deserves better than that—and so do you.
What are your experiences?
We walked away without posting anything—yet.
What do you do when someone asks for a glowing review—or a tip—before anything has been earned?
Share your story in the comments—we want to hear how you’re navigating this new travel landscape, especially in Hawaii. Mahalo!
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
We live in west Maui part time. Post Covid, we’ve had difficult luck getting a good mea,l yet the tip entitlement is prevelent. Service is all over the map. Example, we tried the Ritz in Kapalua, hosting a guest. We ordered the fresh, whole fish (opakaka-our fav but not always available). An alternative fish was brought to the table- not opakaka. The chef came out to explain they were out of that fish but this fish was even better. The ‘bait & switch’ @$175 per whole fish and of course, tips were expected. The event caused a raucous, the waiter was embarrassed and the chef was indignant. We decline the email. This was the first and last time we went to the Ritz. Our main-stay restaurants no longer serve quality entrees and have limited menus. The checks arrive with ‘suggested’ tip amounts starting at 22%. We no longer dine out in West Maui – too many disappointing meals and service with often poor attitudes and entitled tip expectations. No thanks.
I stopped tipping. It’s ridiculous now. Most of the time the service doesn’t warrant a tip.
Some restaurants I have discovered also base their suggested tips on the total bill including taxes. I think that is totally unresponsible. Who would think we should pay a tip on the tax???
Going forward, I only base my tips on the subtotals without tax. In terms of the guilt, I highly recommend that you choose how and where to tip and then when you encounter those questionable times, follow your guidance. Don’t feel guilty!
I agree. I used to calculate the tip ton the pretax total, but I think everything changed after Covid, especially in Maui …most put a “suggested” 18, 20 or 25% tip at the bottom of the receipt and although I never calculated if that was with the tax, it probably is.
The problem of a suggested tip based on a post tax amount is not limited to Hawaii. We get it the same way in the state of Washington. I either base my tip on the pre-tax amount, or lower the tip a couple percentage points to make up for it. That assumes I leave a tip, of course. The option of providing a tip for a meal where I had to order it standing up results in a no-tip.
This isn’t just a Hawaii thing. Chain restaurants and coffee shops across the mainland do the same guilt-tipping and guilt-review-begging thing. Customers need to use their judgement on what kind of tips and reviews to leave and use the same judgement when reading online reviews. I don’t trust “star ratings” anymore and try to look at the words that the customer actually wrote. I also sort reviews by date to get a better idea of what the business is like right now instead of months ago when the menu, employees, or even owners may have been different.
Yes, it’s pervasive and ridiculous. I always read the 1 star reviews first. I don’t need the glowing nonsense. Everything is great until it’s not…then what happened?
You gotta read the 3 star reviews. I feel 1 star reviews are more vindictive then helpful. But 3 star reviews are usually pretty solid information. I do this with everything, restaurants, online purchases etc. With online purchases I look at any included pictures to see what people actually get, which sometimes works with restaurants or activities etc.
I agree tipping has gotten so far out of hand and the pressure to leave a good review as well. I tip based on overall cost and experience and only leave reviews that I want to, which isnt often.
We did a scuba diving activity and to get a sticker the required a review… however, at one of our favorite bars to frequent while in hawaii, I was asked to leave a review to counter a negative review by some crazy person that was telling lies, I was there to witness things. So I did without question because we love the bar and that particular bartender! I was happy to help!
Sadly tipping is a complex issue. Hawaii has two minimum wage rates. $12.75 for servers and $14.00 for others. Many states have servers rates as low as $2.13. So if you do not tip people in the $2.13 or one with a rate of say $3.50 states, they get royally hurt. I live in Canada and they all get identical rates as regular employees and unlike the USA servers there is no set taxing of the tips earned. Many servers in Canada report no tips at all. US servers have to report a minimum of 8 % of sales and if they do not the owner is responsible to ensure they do. In fact they must tell him every month and they get deductions taken off accordingly. People like the ones in the states that are at $2.13 per hour often never get a pay cheque. They just get a statement of deductions. I also wonder why we tip a %age when prices for meals can be so different. A steak can cost $10 or $20 or $50 or even $150. So why would we tip the $10 one $2 and the $150 one $30 for the exact same service.
I live in the 9th Island. This is an issue for local and state government. We have a universal minimum wage of $12 per hour, including tipped employees because we have a strong culinary union. Whether I care for culinary’s politics, I respect the gains they make for their constituents. And there isn’t a lawmaker in this state who doesn’t listen to them and consider the cost of defying them.
Listen, I and many many, especially baby boomers like us, worked extremely hard from age 16 and on. We were raised to clean, and help others at a very early age. We were taught to go to Church on Sunday and anyone could trust us in their own home. With this said, when we patronize any establishment, we expect to receive the service we paid for. The tip at 20Percent will be provided accordingly. I usually just pay cash for tip as I dont like the pressure of clicking on their tiny little tip app. If I cant pay for it in cash, I click the no tip and still leave my cash and move on. If there is any pressure to tip, the amount will be lowered, but it has not happened yet. I Am Tired Of The Politics Of The World, and my enjoyment time wont be ruined by the tip monsters. Do your job well, in the kitchen and service and the tip will reflect that.
As a business owner I get asked all the time do you charge a fee to use my credit card when I say no the customer always comments I hate places that do that.
Like many suggested paying your staff a living wage, tipping or credit card fees are all the cost of doing business, so instead of breaking out fees I adjust our pricing to remain profitable.
If the customer offers a tip I tell my staff to except it as it’s an insult to not do so.
Review wise if you’re giving excellent customer service it will bare out in posted reviews. Again as a business owner I want honest opinions about how consumers perceive us. I check reviews daily make adjustments as necessary and personally reach out to reviewers to either thank them or address any concerns listed in the review.
Thank fully I don’t have to address concerns very often, because we give excellent customer service.
I wonder if BOH allows you to say what business you have …are you in Maui by any chance? Love to support a local business.
We visited Kona on the Big Island last year for nine days. Soon after, we heard parking rates went up to $21.00 per hour. That alone caused us to reevaluate a return trip. If we do, we sure as heck won’t be shopping or dining downtown. Being charged so much for parking to go shopping or dine in Kona just says to me l’m a money cow to be milked hard.
Fake reviews are like number of clicks on YouTube , Instagram, Reddit, etc. you have to find a trusted reviewer and go with them until they prove themselves wrong .
Hey, if you don’t believe you received good service, for food, hairdressers, any personal service, you do not have to tip. ‘tips’ is shorthand for ‘to ensure prompt service’. If you do not believe you have received the level of service you prefer, tipping is not required. It is voluntary. Don’t let personnel force you into tipping. Tipping is a
G r a t u I t y. Not required. Don’t patronize that location again if you felt the service was below par for you.
Only tip when earned. Only leave a glowing review when earned. Don’t cave in to pressure. Be honest.
I think BOH did some article on a restaurant resort fee to dine at some restaurant as a manditory 15% seating fee or so called reservation fee added to a restaurant on Kauai. I have had where POS systems embed gratuity to a restaurant bill and then Hawaii state taxes are charged even to the tip amount. No authorization, notice, or approval from the customer. Restaurant employee’s just state your total is $$$$. Do you want to pay with cash, credit card etc. IMO reviews that are negative seem to have too much legal reprocussions for a patron from a business so the majority of reviews are more positive than negative. If I experience a bad
uneasy or disrespectful occurance I just don’t go back.
If the service and product you received didn’t meet your expectations, tip (or not) accordingly. Don’t let pressure, pleas, or stink eye sway you. Whose money is it anyhow?
Best Regards
Aloha – In general all reviews should be taken with “grain of salt” whether in Hawaii or any other location around the world. Hotel concierge’s are the worst they send you to restaurants that they get “perks” from the establishment.
Tipping is out of control everywhere.
>> How to avoid the review and tipping traps on your Hawaii trip.
Answer: with ever greater frequency, we simply skip dining out. We either prepare food at our STR, or we order take-out and no tip. Rarely we’ll hit a happy hour within walking distance if the values are decent during the week. This applies to all trips across the United States, and the world.
Hawaii? The entire state is a hard pass. We no longer will pay highest-in-the-nation transient occupancy taxes, skyrocketing resort fees, horrendous car rental fees and taxes, parking fees, beach reservations, exorbitant dine-in prices, and at every turn, utterly ridiculous tip demands.
Call us cheap. Call us losers. We don’t care. The country is huge, the world bigger still, and there are many, many places where your travel currency goes much, much further. Tons of places have excellent weather, many things to see and do, and a cost structure that is — no exaggeration — one-fourth to one-third of Hawaii’s daily rate.
Jack. I love your reply. I ditto that!
I really hope Hawaii’s government leaders see this. Visitors have many choices. Keep adding fees and costs to a vacation here and people will go elsewhere.
Well said Jack!
Fake reviews are Everywhere. As a matter of practice, whether I’m looking at service industry location (like a restaurant), or shopping site like Amazon, I read the Negative reviews first because you know they are real, so I look for any type of negative pattern in the reviews.
Like multiple reviews saying the service was terrible, or the product has some kind of consistent defect.
After an awful experience in Portland last December, I stopped tipping -now don’t get me wrong. I’ll tip for Service, but at reasonable rates and no more tipping for no service or even bad service. We were at Nostrana in Portland with our staff. The bill was $2000. The waitress calmly explained that there’s a 20% service charge included which goes to the entire staff, but if I would like to tip her separately for her service I could add it on. There was even a message inside stating exactly so An expected 40%+ service charge and tipping on top of a $2000 bill That is insane. That’s when I said enough is enough. I’m done with tipping. I was ok with it during COVID as workers chose to be at risk. Waitresses now get a living wage they don’t need a tip, especially 25%. Simply doing their job isn’t enough. A tip is appreciation for going above and beyond. Sadly nowadays it is just an expectation.
I think just being honest about the service in the meal is what it’s all about, if you had poor service and not a great meal, tip minimum, and give a review worthy of the service, simple as that, if I’m pressured the star rating and the tip just went down🤙🤙
Keep it up and soon there will be nobody giving tips or reviews
One thing that the current administration could do to earn high praise would be to issue an executive order to eliminate All tipping + require employers to pay the appropriate wages. The world would cheer! Tip jars would be banned too.
And while at it, ban the resort fees etc at hotels- list the actual price and no add-ons permitted – for all.
No tipping in newzealand
The tipping culture is out of control in this country. Why can’t establishments simply pay a living wage and adjust their pricing accordingly? We have a no-tipping brewery and restaurant where I live and everyone is happier – staff and customers alike and it does sway our decision when selecting where we go for dinner.
Tipping isn’t a thing in most of the rest of the world (we spent 5 weeks in Australia and New Zealand and not having to deal with tipping was wonderful).
Lastly, If I’m standing up to place my order, I’m not tipping – Sorry.
I have always distrusted website reviews particularly from
Tripadvisor. Only if they are balanced with good and bad with specific points will I bother reading. Bots started to make them valueless and AI will make them completely pointless.
Aloha! My family has been traveling to Hawaii since our honeymoon in 1995. For many years we have used the Revealed Travel Guidebooks (also know in my family as the blue book). We have several copies for each island. I often let my friends borrow the books for their vacations. I even went as far as creating my own list of my favorite things from the book for each island to send to friends and family to use. We have found the Revealed Travel Guides to be very accurate. If we see a glowing review on a website we always see if it is in the “blue book”, if not we proceed with caution. Mahalo for all you do for us travelers!
This hasn’t happened to me yet, but I am with Jeff. Unless it was an actual outstanding experience and food, I would actually tell them that their request is hurting their business. That said, I am well aware that google and other reviews can be “bought”. We managed a property with 3 tenants and they weren’t happy when we deducted $300 from their security deposit (on a $4K rental), so each one of them put a bad review for our property manager. Shortly thereafter, I received calls from google, yahoo and other sites telling me that I could “pay” to improve the ratings …I didn’t, but asked our property manager to contact other tenants to post reviews (bad or good), so we now have 4 stars (not 5, but also not 1 or 2!). Just an example to show this is happening with a business google site when you don’t pay them …
Thinking of tipping, I’ve noticed that many restaurants are starting to add an automatic 3% tip for kitchen staff. Should that be Included as a percentage of the tip or separate?
Hi Mike, no that is not the norm to add a percentage to the kitchen staff. When I waited tables many years ago, you were obligated to tip a percentage of your “sales”, not a percentage of your tips received. This tip was dispersed amongst the cooks, busy boys and bartenders. Tipping on your total sales encouraged workers to do their best. Tipping nowadays has gotten way out of hand.
I always deduct the kitchen workers’ mandatory ‘tip’ amount from my overall tip. I think it’s a ridiculous racket and refuse to be bullied.
A separate tip for kitchen staff is preposterous. Typically the tip given is shared by the waiter/waitress, kitchen staff, and sometimes host/hostess or bartender.
I consider the “kitchen staff tip” part of my tip – not additional. Most restaurants that I know split the tips with the “house” without mentioning it. I also do not pay a tip on taxes which most restaurant POS systems seem to be set up to do. I agree with Bob K. in not tipping if I have to stand at the counter to order or pick up my food. I do tip if I have had a good past experience.
The house taking any tip is considered a wage violation by the federal government. Getting caught can be very expensive for a business.
I believe the fine is 1X the value of the take wages and the employees are owed 3X what was taken.