"...I mean you'd get one person writing about how it was great the way the staff kept out of the way and didn't make their presence felt, and te next one would complain about the very same thing. And the couple who commented that a place was pretty, apart from the bedbugs..."

I have always assumed that the so-called customer reviews on websites were written either by the owner ("unmatchably charming") or by their nearest competitor ("plague-laden bedbugs").

I do not see any way to mitigate this situation, aside from ignoring my carefully cultivated and preciously guarded sense of cynicism.

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