Purpose – This study aims to analyze review research in hospitality, identifying the structure and most recent developments in current hospitality review studies while providing exploratory insights for future research in this research area.

Design/methodology/approach – Using bibliometric analysis, content analysis and a quantitative systematic literature review, this study provides a comprehensive review and critical analysis of 128 review studies published in leading hospitality journals (International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management and Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management).

Findings – This paper presents a comprehensive and in-depth discussion based on the title, journal source, author contribution, year of publication, sample size, selected period, database selection, methodology, data collection methods, themes, regional selection, keywords, abstracts and results of the hospitality review studies analyzed. The findings provide new insights to advance the theoretical and practical implications of review studies in hospitality.

Research limitations/implications – This research provides critical insights for both hospitality review studies and academic and industry hospitality personnel.

Originality/value – As a pioneering study in research on review studies, the results of this paper focus not only on a systematic overview and assessment of recent hospitality review works but also on the future agenda of hospitality and review studies.