Learn French: Malgré les avis négatifs, la plupart des touristes réservent cet hôtel. - Despite the negative reviews, most of the tourists book this hotel.

Even though la plupart (most / the majority) is technically a singular noun phrase, the verb agrees with the noun that comes right after it. Because it is followed by the plural noun des touristes, the verb takes the plural form réservent. If it were followed by a singular noun, the verb would be singular.

Why is it des touristes and not just de touristes?

With most quantity expressions (like beaucoup or un peu), you only use de without an article. But la plupart is a major exception! It requires the definite article (le, la, or les). Since we are talking about plural tourists (les touristes), we combine de + les to get the contraction des.

Could I use malgré que instead of just malgré here?

No, malgré (despite) must be followed directly by a noun or a pronoun, like les avis négatifs in this sentence. If you want to use a full clause with a verb (like "Even though the reviews are negative"), you would instead use a conjunction like bien que, which is a different grammar topic that requires the subjunctive mood.

Why does the sentence use cet hôtel instead of ?