TikTok is becoming a popular port of call for travel tips, but can you trust what they say on social media? Photo / Getty Images
With TikTok expanding into the travel space, Marianna Hunt throws caution to the wind and lets the social media platform plan her trip.
Whether we realise it or not, algorithms rule pretty much every single part of our lives – from the bus routes we use to the price of our car insurance. So if an algorithm can co-ordinate a missile defence, surely it can plan my holiday?
In recent years the social media app TikTok has burst on to the global stage. It monitors what videos you watch and, as on the app, then uses an algorithm to suggest content it thinks you'll enjoy.
TikTok now has more than a billion active users and, although it started life as a platform for sharing lip-sync videos, it is fast expanding into the travel sphere. Holiday hacks that have gone viral on the platform range from videos on how to use vacuum bags to beat Ryanair's hand luggage allowance to air hostesses giving tips on travelling safely alone.
But it's not foolproof. Recently people from America, Australia and beyond flocked to Coventry to sample a meal deal at Binley Mega Chippy after it went viral on TikTok.
So how good are its recommendations? I decided to test it out by travelling to a completely unfamiliar city and following only the tips I found on TikTok.
I'm very old school in my travel style. My dream holiday involves being led around by guidebooks heavier than the Bible and crusty tour guides who look like they may moonlight as a medieval minstrel. This is quite a departure.
I punt for New York as my destination. The city has one of the highest numbers of TikTok users anywhere so there should be no shortage of content. I start off by getting the algorithm used to me – liking and following things I'm interested in (art, architecture, food, Swindon Town FC).
Hoping the app has seen deep into the inner workings of my mind, I then search "best hotels New York". The first video I come across recommends three – one of which, The Williamsburg Hotel, has a rooftop pool. I LOVE swimming and, without doing any further research, book in.
Landing at JFK a few weeks later, I'm delighted. It was everything I would have chosen had I bothered looking – all exposed brickwork, velveteen armchairs and live jazz by a log fire in the bar. On the rooftop is a mock water tower (actually a swanky cocktail bar) – ticking the architecture boxes – and more points for the excellent roll-top bath in the room.
The app also managed to plonk me in the most "me" area of the city. The Shoreditch of NYC, Williamsburg's main artery is Bedford Avenue – lined with trendy coffee shops, craft breweries, wood-panelled bars that look like 19th-century apothecaries and hipsters selling antiques.
I hadn't heard of Williamsburg and, if organising myself, would have probably booked somewhere in Manhattan. That's one-nil to TikTok - although prices for a double room at The Williamsburg Hotel start from US$249 ($447 a night so at least some research is recommended to avoid busting your budget. thewilliamsburghotel.com
First stop: Food. Searching for "best restaurants New York", one of the first videos I come across is of lasagne filling being swaddled in pasta sheets with as much love as if it were the baby Jesus himself. Tasting this oozy messiah – apparently the lasagne della nonna at restaurant Mark's Off Madison – is surely my next stop (marksoffmadison.com).
Chatting to the couple on the table next door – two Britons who just got married in Central Park – it turns out they're also here after seeing the lasagne on social media. Maybe my idea wasn't so unique after all. Either way, another point to TikTok for the superb dinner tip.
Points also for introducing me to Pink's Cantina – a Mexican-NYC fusion joint with excellent rock music and beers (the barbecue brisket quesadilla is a must-try) – and Russ & Daughters, a more than 100-year-old Jewish institution serving some of the city's best bagels that are piled high with cream cheese and smoked salmon. pinks.nyc
But what about culture, art and music? I adore galleries and wistfully walk past the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim Museum. But alas, TikTok kept schtum. Maybe next time, NYC.
One TikToker tells me to play mini golf, another to go to a board game cafe, a third to visit some coffee shops. I can do these things at home. Finally someone recommends SUMMIT One Vanderbilt – the viewing platform of one of the city's newest skyscrapers, apparently featuring the toilet with the best view in New York.
Going up a tall building was on my NYC bucket list and I probably would have picked one of the better-known ones such as the Empire State Building. Scaling One Vanderbilt meant I could see the Art Deco skyscrapers I was actually interested in – and the viewing platform has been turned into a fun hall of mirrors as an added bonus. Although I haven't visited all of New York's toilets, the view was the best I've seen so far. Again, with prices starting from US$59 for an adult ticket, check before you book to avoid a shock. summitov.com
I fly there and back with Virgin Atlantic and, before leaving, get caught in a final wormhole of videos on how to get upgraded. I try a simple TikTok-suggested approach: asking outright. Sadly it was a fail but the lady at check-in very kindly swapped me to an aisle seat.
So, how did TikTok measure up? Yes, I found some great places and probably went further from the beaten track than I would with a guidebook. But I did miss some key New York sights. And I don't just buy a guidebook for the tips – I want the smell of fresh paper, the joy of perusing on the plane, of flicking back and reminiscing, and lending it to others.
The best guidebooks are more like coffee table trinkets, inviting guests to ask "Oh, Nicaragua … have you been?" so you can regale them with your story about making iguana soup in the jungle.
You also have to question how unbiased all these TikTokers are. They're supposed to declare if they're working in partnership with a business but surely there are some blurred lines. Plus, there are murky questions about who can access your data and know what you're watching given the app's Chinese ownership.
So maybe I'll keep using it – but it won't be my Bible.
For more on New York City, see nycgo.com
This story originally appeared in New Zealand Herald Travel here.
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