The photographs always look good. The question is whether what you were promised is actually there when you arrive.
What a place is actually like is not fixed. It changes with the season, the day of the week, sometimes the weather. Somewhere that was right last October can be a different place on a Saturday in high season, and no photograph will tell you that.
I go and see it in person, at the times that matter, and report back what is there.
A client based in Doha was choosing between two beach clubs and two hotels for a trip with his entourage. The cost was not his concern. What he wanted to know was whether the things he had been told about were real: how private the VIP area and the private spaces actually were, how busy it got and when, and whether the staff could handle a group like his. I spent six days visiting all four, on different days of the week, since the same place can be unrecognisable on a Tuesday and on a Saturday. I reported what I found, and he decided from there.