Travel-hacking-toolkit tripadvisor

Search TripAdvisor for hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Get ratings, reviews, photos, rankings, amenities, and nearby locations via the Content API. Use when evaluating hotels, comparing restaurants, or researching destinations.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/tripadvisor" ~/.claude/skills/borski-travel-hacking-toolkit-tripadvisor && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/tripadvisor/SKILL.md

source content

TripAdvisor Content API

Search and retrieve hotel, restaurant, and attraction data from TripAdvisor. Ratings, rankings, reviews, photos, amenities, subratings, trip types, awards.

Base URL:

https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1

Rate limit: 50 calls per second.

Monthly quota: 5,000 API calls per month. Each curl request = 1 call. A full hotel lookup (search + details + reviews + photos) = 4 calls. Budget accordingly. Prefer search + details (2 calls) and only fetch reviews/photos when specifically needed.

API limits: Up to 10 results per search. Up to 5 reviews and 5 photos per location.

Authentication

Set

TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY

in your

.env

file:

# In .env (gitignored)
TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY=your_key_here

Then source it before calling:

export $(grep TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY .env | xargs)

Endpoints

1. Location Search

Find locations by name. Returns up to 10 results.

curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&searchQuery=NOFO+Hotel+Stockholm&category=hotels&language=en"

Parameters:

Param	Required	Description
`searchQuery`	Yes	Text search query (name of hotel, restaurant, city)
`category`	No	Filter: `hotels` , `restaurants` , `attractions` , `geos`
`phone`	No	Phone number filter (any format, no leading +)
`address`	No	Address filter
`latLong`	No	Lat/long pair, e.g. `59.3127,18.0716`
`radius`	No	Radius from latLong (number)
`radiusUnit`	No	`km` , `mi` , or `m`
`language`	No	Default `en` . Supports 40+ languages.

Response shape:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "location_id": "237656",
      "name": "Nofo Hotel",
      "address_obj": {
        "street1": "Tjarhovsgatan 11",
        "city": "Stockholm",
        "country": "Sweden",
        "postalcode": "116 21",
        "address_string": "Tjarhovsgatan 11, Stockholm 116 21 Sweden"
      }
    }
  ]
}

2. Location Details

Get comprehensive info for a location by ID. This is the richest endpoint.

curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/{locationId}/details?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&language=en&currency=USD"

Parameters:

Param	Required	Description
`locationId`	Yes (path)	TripAdvisor location ID from search
`language`	No	Default `en`
`currency`	No	ISO 4217 code, default `USD`

Response includes:

name

web_url

address_obj

latitude

longitude

timezone

phone

```
rating
```
(string, e.g. "4.6"),
```
num_reviews
```
(string, e.g. "845")

review_rating_count

: breakdown by star (

{"1": "7", "2": "10", ...}

)

ranking_data

ranking

(#10),

ranking_out_of

(168),

ranking_string

("#10 of 168 hotels in Stockholm")

```
subratings
```
: Location, Sleep Quality, Rooms, Service, Value, Cleanliness (each 0.0 to 5.0)
```
price_level
```
: "$", "$$", "$$$", "$$$$"
```
amenities
```
: array of strings
```
styles
```
: array (e.g. "Family", "Centrally Located")
```
neighborhood_info
```
: array with location_id and name
```
trip_types
```
: business, couples, solo, family, friends with count values
```
awards
```
: Travelers Choice, Best of Best, etc. with year and images
```
parent_brand
```
,
```
brand
```
: chain affiliation
```
category
```
,
```
subcategory
```
: hotel/restaurant/attraction
```
photo_count
```
,
```
see_all_photos
```
URL
```
write_review
```
URL

3. Location Reviews

Get up to 5 most recent reviews.

curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/{locationId}/reviews?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&language=en"

Parameters:

Param	Required	Description
`locationId`	Yes (path)	TripAdvisor location ID
`language`	No	Default `en`
`limit`	No	Number of results (max 5 on free tier)
`offset`	No	Index of first result

Response shape:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 123456,
      "lang": "en",
      "location_id": "237656",
      "published_date": "2026-03-15T00:00:00-04:00",
      "rating": 5,
      "text": "Review text...",
      "title": "Review title",
      "trip_type": "Couples",
      "travel_date": "2026-03",
      "user": { "username": "traveler123" },
      "subratings": {}
    }
  ]
}

Note: Reviews may return empty

data: []

for locations with few English reviews. Try different

language

values for international hotels.

4. Location Photos

Get up to 5 recent photos with multiple size options.

curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/{locationId}/photos?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&language=en"

Parameters:

Param	Required	Description
`locationId`	Yes (path)	TripAdvisor location ID
`language`	No	Default `en`
`limit`	No	Number of results (max 5 on free tier)
`offset`	No	Index of first result
`source`	No	Comma-separated: `Expert` , `Management` , `Traveler`

Photo sizes in response:

```
thumbnail
```
: 50x50 cropped
```
small
```
: 150x150 cropped
```
medium
```
: max 250px dimension
```
large
```
: max 550px dimension
```
original
```
: full resolution

5. Nearby Location Search

Find locations near coordinates. Returns up to 10.

curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/nearby_search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&latLong=59.3127,18.0716&category=hotels&language=en"

Parameters:

Param	Required	Description
`latLong`	Yes	Lat/long pair, e.g. `59.3127,18.0716`
`category`	No	`hotels` , `restaurants` , `attractions` , `geos`
`phone`	No	Phone number filter
`address`	No	Address filter
`radius`	No	Radius from latLong
`radiusUnit`	No	`km` , `mi` , `m`
`language`	No	Default `en`

Response includes

distance

(km) and
bearing
(e.g. "northwest") for each result.

Common Workflows

Hotel Research (most common)

# 1. Search for hotel
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&searchQuery=Amerikalinjen+Oslo&category=hotels" | python3 -m json.tool

# 2. Get details with location_id from step 1
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/1234567/details?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&currency=USD" | python3 -m json.tool

# 3. Get reviews (optional, costs 1 call)
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/1234567/reviews?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY" | python3 -m json.tool

# 4. Get photos (optional, costs 1 call)
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/1234567/photos?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY" | python3 -m json.tool

Compare Multiple Hotels in a City

# Search all hotels in city
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&searchQuery=hotels+Copenhagen&category=hotels"

# Then get details for each location_id returned
# Compare: rating, num_reviews, ranking_data.ranking, subratings, price_level, amenities

Find Restaurants Near Hotel

# Use hotel's lat/long from details response
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/nearby_search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&latLong=59.31555,18.078924&category=restaurants"

Destination Research

# Search for attractions
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&searchQuery=things+to+do+Stockholm&category=attractions"

# Nearby attractions from a point
curl -s "https://api.content.tripadvisor.com/api/v1/location/nearby_search?key=$TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY&latLong=59.3293,18.0686&category=attractions"

When to Use

Evaluating hotels (ratings, rankings, subratings, review sentiment)
Comparing restaurants near a hotel or in a neighborhood
Finding attractions and things to do near a destination
Getting TripAdvisor ranking data ("#1 of 168 hotels in Stockholm")
Checking amenities, trip type breakdown, award status
Verifying hotel chain affiliation and neighborhood info

When NOT to Use

Pricing or availability. TripAdvisor Content API has no pricing data. Use
```
serpapi
```
,
```
liteapi
```
,
```
chase-travel
```
,
```
amex-travel
```
, or
```
rapidapi
```
for prices.
Booking. This is read-only data. No booking capability.
Bulk scraping. 5,000 calls/month. Be deliberate.

Key Data Points for Hotel Comparison

When comparing hotels, extract and present:

Field	Path	Example
Rating	`rating`	"4.6"
Review count	`num_reviews`	"845"
Ranking	`ranking_data.ranking_string`	"#10 of 168 hotels in Stockholm"
Location subrating	`subratings.0.value`	"4.7"
Service subrating	`subratings.3.value`	"4.7"
Cleanliness subrating	`subratings.5.value`	"4.8"
Price level	`price_level`	"$$$$"
Trip type leader	highest `trip_types[].value`	"Couples: 381"
Awards	`awards[].display_name`	"Travelers Choice 2025"
Breakfast	`amenities` contains "Breakfast included"	Yes/No
Chain	`parent_brand`	"Worldhotels"

Supported Languages

ar

zh

zh_TW

da

nl

en

en_AU

en_CA

en_HK

en_IN

en_IE

en_MY

en_NZ

en_PH

en_SG

en_ZA

en_UK

fr

fr_BE

fr_CA

fr_CH

de

de_AT

el

iw

it

it_CH

ja

ko

no

pt

pt_PT

ru

es

es_AR

es_CO

es_MX

es_PE

es_VE

es_CL

sv

th

tr

vi

Use

da

for Danish,

no

for Norwegian,

sv

for Swedish when searching Scandinavian hotels for local-language reviews.