Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss some common pitfalls in experimental research in the field of hospitality and tourism. It aims to offer recommendations on how to avoid such problems to enhance theory development. Findings This paper highlights some common pitfalls in hospitality research regarding manipulations, samples and data analyses. The challenges imposed by the global pandemic are also discussed. Research limitations/implications Researchers in hospitality are recommended to refine their experimental designs, to recruit appropriate and sufficient samples and to avoid the abuse of “researcher degrees of freedom” in data analysis. Originality/value This is the first study to review common mistakes in experimental research in hospitality research and to recommend some remedies. The findings of this study can contribute to stronger theory development.